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Wildland Firefighter (Planning)

Department of the Interior
Bureau of Land Management
BLM Fire - Colorado
This job announcement has closed

Summary

Explore a new career with the BLM - where our people are our most precious resource.

At management's discretion this position may be physically located within any BLM State, District, or Field office. Negotiable after selection.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
09/17/2025 to 09/26/2025
Salary
$96,598 to - $125,582 per year

See additional information section for additional details.

Pay scale & grade
GW 12
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Any BLM State, District, Field Office
Location Negotiable After Selection
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—Suitable for telework only during an emergency or natural disaster.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Travel is required to attend training, conferences, workshops, and/or field visits. Frequent/Extensive travel will be required during peak fire activity.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Temporary promotion - This is a temp promotion/detail assignment for a period not-to-exceed 1 yr. It may be extended without further competition but may not exceed 5 years. At management's discretion, this assignment may be made permanent without further competition.
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
Yes
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
FAMP-25-12802603-LG
Control number
846173200

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

All current BLM employees with competitive eligibility. CTAP eligibles within the local commuting area only. Current or former time-limited employees eligible under PL-114-47, Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA).

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Duties

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  • Advises leadership and staff at the regional and field level on fire management policy and implementation strategies.
  • Provides strategic long-range planning, leadership, guidance, coordination, and evaluation for regional/state wildland fire programs.
  • Analyzes and assesses existing Departmental and Bureau policy and procedures to evaluate overall effectiveness in meeting Bureau objectives at the regional and/or state level
  • Works with interagency and intra-agency wildland fire management cooperators at the state/regional level to develop, draft, and propose mutually effective wildland fire and aviation management policy and standards.
  • Provides program leadership and consultation for strategic and consistent fire management planning, assessments (e.g., wildland fire risk, prevention, etc.), interagency and/or unit Fire Management Plan (FMP) development.
  • Establishes and maintains cooperative relationships with public and private groups, state, tribal, local governmental groups, and other federal agencies in coordinating wildland fire management planning activities.
  • Manages and provides state or regional oversight and guidance on the full range of analytical tools (decision support, wildland fire reporting, values at risk) used for Bureau and interagency fire management planning.
  • Provides guidance to the field units on collection and evaluation of fire hazard risks, fuels, historic fire occurrences, fire effects, climatology, and weather.
  • Responds to data requests from internal and external entities by utilizing specialized software and modeling to evaluate the effectiveness of fire management strategies and requirements.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship is required.
  • Be sure to read the HOW TO APPLY and REQUIRED DOCUMENTS Sections.
  • You cannot hold an active real estate license; nor can you have an interest or hold stocks in firms with interest in Federal Land.
  • Direct Deposit Required.
  • Background Investigation Required.
  • Appointment will be subject to a favorably adjudicated background/suitability investigation/determination. Failure to possess or obtain a favorable determination will result in the cancellation of the offer or will be grounds for termination.
  • May require completion of a one year probationary period.
  • Driver’s License required – GSA Form 3607 will be required to be completed during onboarding process.
  • An applicant appointed to this position must possess and maintain a valid state driver’s license while employed in this position.
  • Applicants tentatively selected for this position will be required to submit a urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use and to pass the test prior to appointment. In addition, this position is subject to random testing for illegal drug use.

Qualifications

Specialized Experience Requirements: In order to be rated as qualified for this position, we must be able to determine that you meet the specialized experience requirement(s); please be sure to include this information in your resume. No assumptions will be made about your experience. To be creditable, this experience must have been equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade of the position to be filled.

To qualify for the GW/GS-12 grade level, Applicant must have one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS/GW-11 grade level in the Federal service (obtained either in the private or public sectors) performing the following: Examples of work experience include, but are not limited to: analyzing and applying fire management strategies; reviewing and evaluating prescribed fire, fire management plans, and preparedness actions; participating in fire planning program reviews; utilizing analytical tools used for fire planning and budgeting; and/or providing data collection and analysis.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

There is no substitution of education for experience at the GS-12 and above grade levels.

Employees who currently hold a position at the advertised grade level or higher, will be placed on a detail at the grade level advertised. If selected, the applicant will not receive an increase or decrease in pay; however, Request for Personnel Action (SF-52) will be completed and placed in their e-OPF as documentation of holding this position.

Current federal employees are subject to time-in-grade requirements in addition to specialized experience. You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.

Physical Demands: The work is primarily sedentary, although a level of physical fitness is required which will allow for work during periods of extended stress.

Work Environment: Although work is generally performed in an office setting. Field work involves exposure to temperature extremes, both from weather and fire conditions were falling trees and the presence of smoke and/or dust conditions create hazardous conditions. The nature of fire investigation work requires that protective clothing (boots, hard hats, etc.) be worn. The incumbent must exercise a variety of safety practices and precautions for the well-being of self and of others.

This is a secondary/administrative firefighter position under the special retirement provisions of 5 U.S.C. 8336(c) (CSRS) and 5 U.S.C. 8412(d) (FERS). While secondary positions are not subject to the maximum entry age policy, the selectee must have prior service in a primary position (3 years of service in primary/rigorous position(s)) and meet the transfer requirement for movement from a primary to secondary position to be eligible for special retirement coverage. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure this office has enough information to determine your retirement status to ensure you do not lose benefits (normally through submission of your SF-50). YOU MUST LET US KNOW IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY IN A PRIMARY POSITION.

FACT SHEET for Fire Positions: Information on Special Retirement.

Education

See Qualifications Section.

Additional information

The new Special Base Rate (SBR) Salary Table for Federal wildland firefighters, General Wildland Firefighter (GW) pay plan effective March 23, 2025 was used to indicate the salary in this announcement. Salaries may vary dependent upon location selected. You can access the new pay schedule here.

DOI uses E-Verify to confirm employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit www.dhs.gov/e-verify.

Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered for Selective Service.

This is a not-to-exceed 1 year detail/temporary promotion assignment to be filled at the GW-12 level. At the expiration of this assignment, or whenever your services are no longer needed, you will be returned to your position and agency of record.

Travel and relocation expenses will not be paid by the Department of the Interior. Any travel, transportation and relocation expenses associated with reporting for duty in this position will be the responsibility of the selected employee.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP): CTAP provides eligible surplus and displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) This vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility; 2) You apply under the instructions in this announcement; and 3) You are found well qualified for this vacancy. You must provide a copy of your written notification of CTAP eligibility with your application. Information about CTAP eligibility is available from OPM's Career Transition Resources website at CTAP.

CTAP eligibles will be considered well qualified if they receive a minimum score of 90 based on the rating criteria used for this position.

Reemployment Priority List (RPL): The RPL is the mechanism agencies use to give reemployment consideration to their former competitive service employees separated by a RIF or who have fully recovered from a compensable injury after more than one year. If you are currently on a RPL, you may be given priority consideration.

Certain incentives, such as, Recruitment, Relocation, or Student Loan Repayment, may be authorized to eligible selectees. If eligible and qualified, you may be offered a recruitment or relocation incentive. The decision to offer an incentive will be made on a case-by-case basis, and is neither promised nor guaranteed. For information visit: Recruitment Incentives (OPM.gov), or Relocation Incentives (OPM.gov), or Student Loan Repayment (OPM.gov)

Government facilities are required to provide a smoke free environment for their employees. Smoking will be permitted only in designated areas.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

PLEASE LIMIT YOUR RESUME TO NO MORE THAN 2 PAGES. IF MORE THAN 2 PAGES ARE SUBMITTED, ONLY THE FIRST 2 PAGES WILL BE REVIEWED TO DETERMINE YOUR ELIGIBILITY/QUALIFICATIONS. Help with New 2 Page Resume Requirements

You will be evaluated based on how your application materials reflect the qualification requirements of this position. Once the application process is complete, HR will review your application to ensure you meet eligibility and minimum qualifications. To determine if you are minimally qualified for this position, HR will complete a review of your resume, supporting documentation and responses to the online questionnaire.

In addition to meeting the minimum qualifications requirement(s), this position requires successful completion of the following additional assessment: Subject Matter Expert Review. This assessment will measure the critical competencies and/or job elements listed below that are required to successfully perform in the position.

  • Fire Management - Knowledge of the concepts, principles, and theories of fire management, including the characteristics, behavior, and ecology of fire; methodologies, strategies, and equipment used in prescribed fires; fire detection, prevention, and suppression strategies; and integration of fire with natural resource management.
  • Technical Competence - Understands and appropriately applies procedures, requirements, regulations, and policies related to specialized expertise (for example, engineering, physical science, law, or accounting); maintains credibility with others on technical matters.
  • Administration and Management - Knowledge of planning, coordination, and execution of business functions, resource allocation, and production.

In the evaluation process, due weight will be given to job related experience, education, training, incentive awards and performance appraisals. Applicants must have a performance rating of at least the equivalent of fully successful to be eligible for promotion or placement. Applicants may provide a copy of a performance appraisal of record dated within the last 18 months. If the applicant is unable to provide a performance appraisal of record dated within the last 18 months, the applicant may provide a written explanation as to why.

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