Skip to main content
U.S. flag
Back to results
 

Aviation Safety Inspector (Airworthiness) (Fire Support)

Department of Agriculture
Forest Service

Summary

This position is located within the Washington Office Fire and Aviation Management (WO-FAM) AD Aviation unit.

This position serves as an expert in providing technical expertise and knowledge on all airworthiness issues regarding aircraft and aviation maintenance and works on projects of the National Airworthiness program.

For additional information about the duties of this position, please contact Russel Knight at russel.knight@usda.gov.

Overview

Help
Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
03/03/2026 to 03/13/2026
Salary
$106,437 to - $138,370 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 13
Locations
Location Negotiable After Selection
1 vacancy
Redmond, OR
1 vacancy
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
75% or less - You may be expected to travel for this position. Work requires frequent and extensive overnight travel away from home base to accomplish the surveillance, inspections, reviews and audits of Agency owned, operated, and contracted aircraft. Travel may be on short notice and over weekends and holidays.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Job family (Series)
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
26-FIRE-WO-12897619-13G-MB
Control number
859508100

Videos

Duties

Help
  • Duties listed are at the full performance GS-13 grade level.
  • Serve as team member for projects of the National Airworthiness Program.
  • Inspect and approve contractor and cooperator aircraft, fuel service vehicles, support equipment, and maintenance personnel.
  • Participate on Aviation Safety Assistance Teams (ASAT).
  • Participate in contract evaluation panels, review teams, and audits.
  • Ensure maintenance on Working Capital Fleet (WCF) aircraft.
  • Monitors and plans inspection programs including periodic field audits and reviews.
  • Exercises authority for oversight of one or more contract operators, which collectively employ a fleet of aircraft, powered by turbine or piston engines.
  • Serves as Contracting Officer's Representative on aviation maintenance/support contracts.

Requirements

Help

Conditions of employment

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
  • Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
  • Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
  • Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served. Refer to the Next Steps section for more information.
  • Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
  • Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit e-verify.gov
  • Must possess and maintain a valid state driver's license.
  • Must hold a current and valid Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airframe and Power plant (A and P) Certificate. A copy of the certificate is required.
  • Must hold a current and valid Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Inspection Authorization (IA). A copy of the certificate is required.
  • This is a drug testing designated position. You will be subject to pre-employment and random drug testing. Appointment is based on a negative result. This announcement constitutes 30 days advance notice.
  • Willing to live/work in remote locations (volatile/unpredictable).
  • There may be additional Conditions of Employment not listed here; however, applicants will be notified of any specific requirements at the time a tentative job offer is made.

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards.

Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements.

Note on Experience: Your resume must clearly document the following for each block of work experience; the beginning day, month and year the work assignment started and ended; the hours worked per week; position title, and series and grade if applicable; and description of duties performed. This information must be provided for each permanent, temporary or seasonal appointment/work assignment or volunteer work and should be clearly documented as a separate block of time. Incomplete, inaccurate or conflicting work history may not be credited for qualifications purposes. This can result in an applicant not being considered for the position.

Basic Requirement for the Aviation Safety Series, 1825:

Applicants must meet all of the following requirements:

General Requirements:
1. Not more than two separate incidents involving Federal aviation regulations violations in the last 5 years;
2. Valid State driver's license;
3. Fluency in the English language;
4. No chemical dependencies or drug abuse that could interfere with job performance; and
5. High school diploma or equivalent.

Medical Requirements:
1. Have good distant vision in each eye and be able to read printed materials the size of typewritten characters (glasses and contact lenses permitted) without strain;
2. Have the ability to hear the conversational voice (hearing aid permitted);
3. Not have any physical condition that would cause them to be a hazard to themselves or others or that would interfere with their ability to climb in, on, crawl under or fly as passengers in a variety of aircraft.

Specialized Experience, Training, and Certification Requirements:
When the predominant work involves general aviation maintenance, applicants for Aviation Safety Inspector (Airworthiness) positions must meet all of the following requirements.

  1. Experience involving the maintenance and repair of airframes, power plants, and aircraft systems with responsibility for certifying airworthiness.
  2. Experience involving the maintenance and repair of FAA civil certificated airframes, power plants, and systems of multi-engine aircraft of 12,500 pounds or less maximum certificated takeoff weight OR more than 12,500 pounds maximum certificated takeoff weight maintained under an airworthiness maintenance and inspection program.
  3. Aircraft maintenance experience in a repair station; air carrier or airline repair facility; military repair facility; or local, state or Federal governmental agency.
  4. Aircraft maintenance work experience within the last 3 years.
  5. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Mechanic Certificate with Airframe and Power Plant (A&P) ratings
  6. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Inspection Authorization (IA) certificate.
In addition to meeting the requirements described above, the following additional experience is required for the grade specified.

Specialized Experience Requirement:

For the GS-13 grade level: Applicant must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-12 level. Specialized experience is defined by one or more of the following: Provided oversight as a representative for maintenance and parts contracts servicing agency owned Working Capital Fleet (WCF) aircraft; and/or Scheduled, participated in and approved agency carding inspections and maintenance actions of assigned aircraft; and/or Inspected and provided surveillance and oversight of agency owned, contracted or cooperator aircraft, which have undergone major overhaul, alterations, or repairs; and/or Compiled and reported findings, making recommendations on repairs and modifications to agency owned, contracted or cooperator aircraft; and/or Determined appropriate maintenance activity level for complex and critical maintenance issues to agency owned, contracted or cooperator aircraft.

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.

TIME IN GRADE REQUIREMENT: If you are a current federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirements of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled. This requirement must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

To receive consideration for this position, you must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of the announcement.

Education

There is no education qualification or substitution for this position.

Additional information

Two positions are being filled through this announcement.

  • 1 in Redmond, OR
  • 1 Location Negotiable Upon Selection

Final determination of the duty station will be made by the selecting official at the time of the job offer.

Pay rates vary depending on location. The salary shown is for the Rest of the U.S. See OPM.gov for additional information on pay rates.


Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority List (RPL), or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP eligibles must meet the agency's definition for a quality candidate as provided in the How You Will Be Evaluated section of this announcement to be considered.

Veterans who are preference eligible or who have been separated from the armed forces under honorable conditions after three years or more of continuous active service are eligible for consideration under the Veteran's Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA).

Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) provides current or former temporary or term employees of federal land management agencies opportunity to compete for permanent competitive service positions. Individuals must have more than 24 months of service without a break between appointments of two or more years. Service must be in the competitive service and have been at a successful level of performance or better. Part-time and intermittent service will be credited only for time actually worked. Non-pay status such as leave without pay is credited for up to six months in a calendar year; anything beyond six months is not credited. Applicants are responsible for providing sufficient information/documentation to determine if the 24 month criteria is met.

Farm Service Agency (FSA) County Employees: Permanent County employees without prior Federal tenure who are selected for a Civil Service position under Public Law 105-277 will be given a career-conditional appointment and must serve a 1-year probationary period.

For more information on applying under special hiring authorities such as the certain military spouses, etc., explore the different Hiring Paths on the USAJOBS website.

Physical Effort: Physical requirements of the position include the ability to lift, hold, and position light parts. Ability to climb, stoop, crawl in and around aircraft, and recognize color codes through normal color perception.

Work Environment: Work is done in an office setting or in aircraft maintenance facilities with considerable time spent in field conditions and in areas of wildfire where the employee is exposed to discomforts and hazards, such as smoke, adverse weather and risks resulting from supporting fire related activities.

Positions filled from this announcement may be a bargaining or a non-bargaining unit position represented by either NFFE, AFGE or NAGE.

This position is not eligible for telework. This position may be eligible for flexible work arrangements as determined by agency policy and any applicable collective bargaining agreements.

Availability of government housing and federal day care facilities may be available. Availability as it relates to this position may not be determined until time of selection.

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.

Your application, including the online assessment questionnaire, will be reviewed to determine if (a) you meet minimum qualification requirements and (b) your resume supports the answers provided to the job-specific questions.

Your resume must clearly support your responses to all the questions addressing experience and education relevant to this position.

If you meet the qualification requirements, your Accomplishment Record narrative(s) which were submitted in the online assessment questionnaire will be reviewed to determine the degree to which you possess the competencies listed below:

  • Aircraft Maintenance
  • Compliance Inspection
  • Project Management


If you are among the best qualified, you will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration. Noncompetitive candidates and applicants under some special hiring authorities must meet minimum qualifications to be referred.

Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you inflated your qualifications and/or experience, your rating may be lowered to more accurately reflect the submitted documentation. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action.

To view the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12897619

Your session is about to expire!

Your USAJOBS session will expire due to inactivity in 8 minutes. Any unsaved data will be lost if you allow the session to expire. Click the button below to continue your session.