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Wildland Firefighter (Smokejumper) (Detail/Temporary Promotion)

Department of the Interior
Bureau of Land Management
This job announcement has closed

Summary

Explore a new career with the BLM - where our people are our greatest natural resource.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is looking for employees to work as career seasonal Smokejumpers (Forestry Technicians) in Boise, Idaho or Fairbanks, Alaska.

For information on Boise Smokejumpers, visit their website, or view this video.

For information on Fairbanks Smokejumpers, visit their website.

Please See **Alaska Pay Differential** in "Additional Information" Section.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
11/12/2025 to 12/02/2025
Salary
$52,431 to - $74,224 per year
Pay scale & grade
GW 5 - 6
Locations
Few vacancies in the following locations:
Fairbanks, AK
Boise, ID
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
76% or greater - Extensive travel will be required during peak fire activity.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Multiple - This is a Detail/Temporary Promotion not to exceed 6 months (may be extended based on agency needs). May be made permanent without further competition.
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
6
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-25-12793441-HM
Control number
849929200

Videos

Duties

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  • Parachutes into rugged terrain and perform fire suppression and related duties.
  • Maintain smokejumper and firefighting equipment, tools, and supplies.
  • Repair, pack, and maintain parachutes and related equipment.
  • Utilize fire behavior knowledge and firefighting experience to perform wildland fire suppression and prescribed fire operations safely and effectively in accordance with identified appropriate management response.
  • May direct fire line activities and tactics for firefighters, equipment, aircraft and other resources.

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 Lands.
  • Direct Deposit Required.
  • Appointment will be subject to a favorably adjudicated background/suitability investigation/determination.
  • Your resume must contain enough information to show that you meet the qualification requirements as defined in the announcement. In addition, your responses to the questions must adequately reflect in your resume.
  • An applicant appointed to this position must possess (or obtain within 30 days of entrance on duty) and maintain a valid state driver's license while employed in this position.
  • Passage of a pre-employment physical is required. You must also pass the work capacity test for arduous positions.
  • This is a Drug Testing Designated Position. You will be required to submit to screening for illegal drug use and pass prior to appointment. This position is subject to random testing for illegal drug use.
  • You must be 18 years of age or older to be assigned to a hazardous position.

Qualifications

Selective Placement Factors (SPFs):

This position is a Primary Firefighter position and is subject to a maximum entry age (MEA). Applicants must not have reached age 37 at the time of appointment, unless proof is provided for prior Federal service in another primary covered position, OR proof of land management workforce flexibility act (LMWFA) eligibility (see required documents section for more information on proof for LMWFA), OR you are a preference eligible veteran, OR between the ages of 37 and 40 and willing to submit a request for an MEA waiver. If you meet any of the previous exemptions to MEA you must provide the required documents.

This position requires special qualifications that has been determined to be essential to perform the duties and will be used as a screen out element. Those who do not provide evidence they possess the following selective factors will be rated not qualified:

In addition to the basic qualifications listed above, you must have possessed the following National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) incident management qualification and experience to be considered eligible.

GW-0456-05 Selective Factors:
  1. Firefighter Type 1 (FFT1) - You must provide the required document as instructed in the 'Required Documents' section of this announcement.
GW-0456-06 Selective Factors:
  1. Firefighter Type 1 (FFT1) - You must provide the required document as instructed in the 'Required Documents' section of this announcement.
  2. Prior smokejumping experience - This experience must be documented with specific dates in the resume.

Specialized Experience:
In order to be rated as qualified for this position, we must be able to determine that you meet the minimum qualification requirements - please be sure to include this information in your resume. No assumptions will be made about your experience.

To qualify for the GW-05 grade level, you must have one (1) full year of creditable specialized experience equivalent to the GW-04. Examples may include the following: Experience in forest and range land fire suppression and fuels mitigation as a member of a hand crew, helitack crew, engine crew, or fire use module; instructing or leading firefighters with both fire and non-fire assignments.
-OR-
Education: Successful completion of a 4-year course study above high school leading to a bachelor's degree, from an accredited college or university, in Fire Science, Fire Training, Fire Technology or other related fields.
-OR-
Combination of Education and Experience: You may meet qualifications requirement for this position with an equivalent combination of specialized experience and appropriate undergraduate education.

To qualify for the GW-06 grade level, you must have one (1) full year of creditable specialized experience equivalent to the GW-05. Examples may include the following: Experience in forest and range land fire suppression and fuels mitigation as a member of a hand crew, helitack crew, engine crew or fire use module; instructing or leading firefighters with both fire and non-fire assignments; experience as a qualified smokejumper using Ram-Air parachutes.

Substitution of education is not applicable at the GW-6 level or above.

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.

You must meet all qualification requirements by closing date of the announcement.

Federal employees in the competitive service are also subject to the Time-In-Grade requirement in accordance with 5 CFR 300.604. If you are a current Federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must have completed a minimum of 52 weeks at the next lower grade level.

There are no qualification requirements for a detail assignment. However, employees must meet any positive education/licensure requirements in order to be detailed to positions with these requirements. Detail assignments do not include additional compensation, and the selectee will not earn time-in-grade at the higher grade level.

Medical Requirements:
Please see the U.S. Office of Personnel Management website for the Medical Standards for Smokejumper Positions, please note this link is for the 0462 series and some of the information does not apply to the 0456 series: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0400/forestry-technician-series-0462/

Please see the Department of Interior Medical Standards Program website for the Federal Interagency Wildland Firefighter Medical Standards for your position: http://www.nifc.gov/medical_standards/index.html.

Physical Requirements:
Employment in this position is conditional upon your successful completion of the following BLM smokejumper physical fitness performance tests:

When you report for duty, you will be given a physical condition test. The test is given in one time period with a 5-minute break between exercises. The test consists of performing the following exercises:

  • 30 push-ups
  • 6 pull-ups
  • Run 1.5 miles in 10.47 minutes or less and backpacking a 110 pound load three miles in less than 65 minutes.
Work Capacity Test at the Arduous Level: All arduous wildland firefighters must backpack a 45 pound load for three miles in 45 minutes or less.

Work Environment:
The majority of the work is performed out of doors in a wide variety of weather and terrain conditions or in a crowded airplane.

Firefighter Special Retirement (Primary Coverage): This is a primary fire position under the special retirement provisions of 5 U.S.C. 8336(c) (CSRS) and 5 U.S.C. 8412(d) (FERS). The position is subject to maximum entry age (MEA) requirements.

The MEA for this position shall not exceed age 37; unless you have sufficient prior Federal civilian firefighter or you are a preference eligible veteran. If you are a preference eligible veteran, you may be eligible for this position on or after your 37th birthday. You must supply a copy of your Defense Department Form 214 (DD-214) along with Standard Form 15 (if applicable) and any associated documentation in accordance with the instructions in this vacancy announcement. Failure to provide this documentation with your application will result in loss of eligibility to receive a waiver of the maximum entry age requirement.

If over the MEA and you are not a Veteran, proof of prior covered service must be submitted prior to employment. Acceptable proof consists of SF-50s showing beginning and ending dates of covered/creditable appointments and copies of approved letters based on individual claims.

Education

Proof of Education:
All applicants who are using education or a combination of education and experience to qualify must submit copies of official or unofficial transcripts which include grades, credit hours earned, major(s), grade point average or class ranking, institution name, and student name.
If any required coursework is not easily recognizable on transcripts, or if you believe a portion of a particular course can be credited toward meeting an educational requirement, you must also provide a memorandum on letterhead from the institution's registrar, dean, or other appropriate official stating the percentage of the course that should be considered to meet the requirement and the equivalent number of units. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable; however, if you are selected for the position, you will be required to produce the original official transcripts.

Pass/Fail Courses:
If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) were taken on a pass/fail basis, your claim of superior academic achievement must be based upon class standing or membership in an honor society.

Graduate Education:
One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study.

Foreign Education:
If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/

Additional information

**Pay information**
Pay scale for Boise, ID: $52,431 - $80,541
Pay scale for Fairbanks, AK: $59,284 - $91,068


Verify Employment Eligibility (E-Verify): 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.

Travel, per diem, and lodging will not be paid. All travel and lodging expenses associated with reporting for duty in this position will be the sole responsibility of the selected employee.

Telework: This position is not eligible for Telework.

Temporary promotion will be for a period not-to-exceed 180 days, this temporary promotion may be extended without further competition; however, it may not exceed a total of five (5) years. At the expiration of this assignment, or whenever your services are no longer needed, you will be returned to your position or to a position of equivalent pay and grade within your agency of record.

This temporary promotion may be made permanent without further competition.

If selected at the lower grade and position is made permanent, subsequent promotion to the next grade level will be processed without further competition dependent upon administrative approval and the continuing need for an actual assignment and performance of higher-level duties.

Incentives:
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.

THIS IS A DRUG TESTING DESIGNATED POSITION in accordance with Executive Order 12564, and under the Department's Drug Free Workplace Program. Applicant(s) 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.

Firefighter Special Retirement (Primary Coverage): This is a primary fire position under the special retirement provisions of 5 U.S.C. 8336(c) (CSRS) and 5 U.S.C. 8412(d) (FERS). The position is subject to maximum entry age (MEA) requirements.

The MEA for this position shall not exceed age 37; unless you have sufficient prior Federal civilian firefighter or you are a preference eligible veteran. If you are a preference eligible veteran, you may be eligible for this position on or after your 37th birthday. You must supply a copy of your Defense Department Form 214 (DD-214) along with Standard Form 15 (if applicable) and any associated documentation in accordance with the instructions in this vacancy announcement. Failure to provide this documentation with your application will result in loss of eligibility to receive a waiver of the maximum entry age requirement.

If over the MEA and you are not a Veteran, proof of prior covered service must be submitted prior to employment. Acceptable proof consists of SF-50s showing beginning and ending dates of covered/creditable appointments and copies of approved letters based on individual claims.

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.

Once the announcement has closed, a review of your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the qualification requirements listed on this announcement. If you meet the qualifications your resume and supporting documentation will be compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine your level of experience. Note: If a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications or experience, your score may be lowered, or you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully; errors or omissions can affect your rating.

Resumes must not exceed two single-sided pages and resumes longer than two pages will not be accepted. The minimum font size is 10-point for all body text. Headers may be slightly larger but must remain legible. All resumes must maintain a minimum 0.5-inch margins on all sides to ensure readability and prevent excessive content compression. Including supplemental pages or attachments disguised as resume extensions are prohibited and will not be reviewed to determine your eligibility/qualifications.

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: Knowledge of how to do one's job. Refers to specialized knowledge that is acquired through formal training or on-the-job experience.
  • Leadership: Influences, motivates, and challenges others; adapts leadership styles to a variety of situations.

You are welcome to submit an optional cover letter.

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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