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Seasonal Archeologist

Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NPS Regions 6,7,8

Summary

These positions may be filled for a six month seasonal period, but can vary due to weather conditions, project needs, or funding. Anticipated Entry on Duty: March-July 2026

For more park(s) information, please visit find a park.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
11/25/2025 to 12/16/2025
Salary
$29.28 to - $29.28 per hour

Salary does not include locality pay. For specific wage information, reference the OPM Salaries and Wages link under Additional Information.

Pay scale & grade
GS 9
Locations
Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site
Eads, CO
1 vacancy
Colorado National Monument
Fruita, CO
2 vacancies
Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site
La Junta, CO
1 vacancy
Mesa Verde National Park, CO
1 vacancy
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
25% or less - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Temporary - Not to Exceed 1039 hours
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
IM-1541-IMAO-26-12832619-DE
Control number
850902900

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Duties

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  • Perform fieldwork in frontcountry and backcountry settings, which may include inclement weather, wildlife, and working in low desert and/or mountainous terrain above treeline.

  • Backpacking to remote field locations, requiring up to 10 nights of overnight travel monthly and the ability to carry up to 50 pounds for at least 10 miles.

  • Complete extensive archival research and database searches in an office setting to write cultural contexts for archaeological reports.

  • Work with GIS software and GPS field collection equipment, manipulating data to produce accurate maps of sites and inventory.

  • Provide leadership and guidance to junior team members and volunteers, and monitor the status of assigned tasks.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship required.
  • Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
  • Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males.
  • Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
  • Depending on location, government housing may be available.
  • You may be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
  • You may be required to work evenings, weekends, holidays, and/or overtime.
  • You may be required to travel overnight away from home occasionally.
  • You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority.
  • You may be required to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of your official duties. Prior to your first official motor vehicle operation, and again every year thereafter (or more frequently if management determines such need exists), you will be required to sign an affidavit certifying to your possession of a valid State issued driver's license that is current and has not been revoked, suspended, canceled, or otherwise disqualified in any way to prohibit your operation of a motor vehicle. You will also submit a photocopy of your valid state-issued driver's license.
  • Applicants must be at least 18 years old.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-12/16/2025-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (month/year), and the resume must reflect full and/or part-time or total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time). If part-time, the hours must be annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount of qualified specialized experience.

To qualify for this position at the GS-9 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications and one of the following basic education requirements by close of the announcement:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT:

  • SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 professional level in Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors) that required the following types of duties: Conducted archeological investigations at a crew chief level or higher; prepared reports on archeological investigations; prepared Section 106 compliance documentation for submittal to the State Historic Preservation Office; conducted surveys using GPS mapping techniques and preparing GIS maps and overlays; and having experience conducting historical and archeological field investigations and report preparation. Technical experience alone may not be creditable to meet this specialized experience requirement.
-OR-
  • GRADUATE EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least two full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or higher, or completion of all requirements for a Master or equivalent graduate degree. To be qualifying, graduate study must have been in archeology, anthropology, or other closely related field. The total education offered to meet this provision must have provided you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to successfully perform the work of this position. To receive credit, you should describe how their specific course work, research projects, dissertation, theses, etc. demonstrate the ability to perform the duties of this position (Eighteen semester hours or 27 quarter hours or the number of credit hours the school attended has determined to represent one year of full-time study is considered to be equal to one full year of graduate education).
-OR-
  • Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, and applicant with 6 months of appropriate experience equivalent to the GS-07 (50 percent of the education requirement for the GS-09, in excess of that required for GS-07) would be qualified for a GS-09 position (assuming that there is no evidence that the attended college or university requires more than 18 semester hours as equivalent to a year of graduate study). PLEASE NOTE: If you are using education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts, including the bachelor's degree. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify.
-AND-

BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENT:
  • Successful completion a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included 3 semester hours each in the following course areas: 1. History of archeology, 2) Archeology of a major geographic area such as North American, 3) Regional Archeology, archeological cultures, or sites in a specific part of a major geographical area to acquire or develop a foundation for regional specialization for professional development, 4) Theory and methods of archeology. Methods include, but are not limited to, typology, classification, sampling, cultural evolution, diffusion, dating, and analytical techniques, 5) Archeological field school, to provide a basic understanding of theoretical and practical approaches to research design implementation, field preservation techniques, and report preparation by participation in actual field work. AND 6 semester hours of related course work in: 1) geography, geology, or cultural geography; 2) history; historiography, or historical archeology; 3) environmental studies; 4) scientific writing (nonfiction English composition); and/or 5) surveying; AND Archeological field school.
-OR-
  • Successful completion a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in a related curriculum: Anthropology (with emphasis on ethnology, physical anthropology, or scientific linguistics); history; American studies: or a related discipline, provided the curriculum supplies academic course work sufficiently similar to the requirements in A, including archeological field school.
-OR-
  • A combination of college-level education or training that provides the knowledge equivalent to that described above, plus appropriate technical experience or additional education.
-OR-
  • At least 4 years of archeological work experience that demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the fundamental principles and theories of professional archeology. The work experience must have included archeology field experience, which may include that gained in an archeological field school. Field experience should have included a combination of professional experience in archeology survey, excavation, laboratory analysis, and preparation of written materials. Applicants with such field experience should, after additional experience under the direction of a higher graded archeologist, be able to demonstrate the ability to be a crew chief, directing the work of others at a single location as part of a larger archeological project.
Volunteer Experience: 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.

Education

To qualify based on education, you must submit a legible copy of transcripts from an accredited institution with your name, school name, credit hours, course level, major(s), and grade-point average or class ranking. Transcripts do not need to be official, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.

If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet qualification requirements, you must show that your education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.

Additional information

A selectee receiving a first appointment to the Federal Government (Civil Service) is entitled only to the lowest step of the grade for which selected. The display of a salary range on this vacancy shall not be construed as granting an entitlement to a higher rate of pay.

Click here for the OPM Salaries and Wages to calculate locality pay.

This job opportunity announcement will be used to fill one or more additional selections at any time without notification.

Non-Competitive Rehire Eligibility: Temporary seasonal employees can only maintain their non-competitive rehire eligibility if they work no more than a combined total of Temporary NTE less than 1040 hours anywhere in the National Park Service (NPS) within their established service year. Accordingly, non-competitive rehire eligibility allows for re-appointment to the same position or another position appropriate for temporary appointment with the same qualification requirements (5 CFR 316.402[b][7]), based on series and grade, anywhere in the major subdivision (NPS).

If you have held a temporary seasonal appointment in the past 12 months and have already worked the maximum temporary appointment less than 1040 hours during that period, you are still welcome to apply. However, please be aware that exceeding the limit of 1040 hours in your established service year will result in the loss of your non-competitive rehire eligibility.

The limit can be exceeded by working multiple temporary seasonal positions that result in a combined total greater than 1040 hours. The limit also can be exceeded by working a single temporary seasonal appointment that exceeds 1040 hours, unless granted an exception by OPM.

Employment may be terminated at any time due to fluctuations in funding levels, project needs, employee performance, or other considerations.

Physical Demands:
This position may require strenuous physical activity including periods of standing, walking, climbing, and lifting and carrying heavy objects. Some activities may occur in physically dangerous areas or settings. Documentary research and report writing work are sedentary, which entails the ability to concentrate and write for long periods of time.

Work Environment: Work is performed both indoors and outdoors in all types of weather. Assignments may be performed in potentially hazardous areas including steep slopes, rocky terrain, volcanoes, caves, fire lines, arctic environments, swamps, deserts, and forests. Flying in fixed-winged aircraft and helicopters is possible.

The National Park Service has determined that most temporary positions are suitable for telework only on a situational basis or during an emergency or natural disaster.

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.

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement.

Resumes must not exceed two single-sided pages and resumes longer than two pages will not be accepted. You may only submit one resume. Only the document submitted as the "Resume" under the Documents section will be used to determine your qualifications/eligibility and for rating purposes. In the event you submit more than one resume, only the latest submission will be reviewed.

A review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the Assessment Questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job. If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses provided in the Assessment Questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation, you will be rated 'ineligible', 'not qualified', or your score will be adjusted accordingly. If a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications or experience, you can lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully; errors or omissions can affect your rating.

Candidates will be rated and ranked using Category Rating procedures. These procedures place candidates with veteran's preference above non-preference eligibles within each category. Veterans with a service connected disability of at least 10 percent are listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher. Under Category Rating, candidates will be rated and ranked into one of three categories:

  • Best Qualified - applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are highly proficient in all requirements of the job and can perform effectively in the position
  • Well Qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in most of the requirements of the job
  • Qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in some, but not all of the requirements of the job.
You will be evaluated on the following competencies:
  • History and Archaeology
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Standards
  • Technology Application

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