Clarification from the agency

Applications will be accepted from any U.S. Citizen. DIRECT HIRING AUTHORITY will be used to fill this position. Veteran's preference and traditional rating and ranking of applications do not apply. All qualified applicants will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration for this position.

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As a Supervisory Wildland Firefighter (Assistant Fire Management Officer) - Direct Hire Authority your duties will include but are not limited to the following:

• Coordinate operations with cooperating agencies on multi-jurisdictional wildland fires addressing risk to human safety and potential for damage to resources and improvements.
• Analyze fire management plans and initiate changes or make recommendations
• Responsible for long-range fire management planning activities by interacting with all disciplines (interdisciplinary teams) as well as subordinate leadership, employees of the organization, and cooperators from other federal, state, tribal, and local agencies.
• Assist with all phases of the fire management program and may be responsible for its planning, program direction, coordination and evaluation.
• Assign and review work on a regular basis, assuring that production and accuracy requirements are met.

Conditions of employment

Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.

Suitability for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation.

Direct Deposit Required.

You will be required to submit to a drug test and receive a negative drug test result prior to appointment. In addition, this position is subject to random testing for illegal drug use.

Selectees may need to pass a pre-employment medical examination and may be subject to post-employment medical examinations to determine if they are maintaining the fitness standards for this position.

This position requires the incumbent to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of their official duties. Selectee must hold and maintain a valid state driver's license throughout their employment in this position.

A condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest will be evaluated.

Supervisory Probationary Period: Selectees who have not previously completed a supervisory probationary period, will be required to serve a one-year supervisory/managerial probationary period for this position.

Individuals assigned male at birth after 12-31-59 must be registered for the Selective Service. To verify registration visit SSS.gov.

You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work.

Subject to frequent extended travel up to 25 % of the time, particularly during fire season, and you must obtain a government charge card for travel.

You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority.

Qualifications

In order to qualify for this position you must possess the Minimum Qualification requirements listed below.

Selective Placement Factor(s): This position requires a special qualification 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 factor(s) will be rated not qualified.

This position has been identified as one of the key fire management positions under the Interagency Fire Program Management (IFPM) Standard. This position has been categorized as a Unit Fire Program Manager- High Complexity, and requires selectee to meet the minimum qualification standards for IFPM prior to being placed into the position. Detailed information regarding IFPM positions can be found here: Interagency Fire Program Management (IFPM). To meet IFPM requirements, you must have possessed all of the following National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) incident management qualifications and training requirements to be considered eligible for this position (currency not required at time of referral, but may be required to obtain and maintain currency if selected):

Pathway #1
A.) Division/ Group Supervisor (DIVS); AND
B.) Incident Commander Type 3 (ICT3); OR Prescribed Fire Burn Boss Type 2 (RXB2)

-OR-

Pathway #2
A.) Air Support Group Supervisor (ASGS); AND
B.) Incident Commander Type 3 (ICT3)

To meet additional IFPM training requirements, as a "condition of employment", you must complete the following within one year of the entry on duty date:

• Fire Program Management (M-581)

In addition to the requirements described above, the following additional experience is required.

Only experience and education obtained by 03/16/2026 will be considered.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. Please be sure to include this information in your resume. No assumptions will be made about your experience.

Minimum Qualification

For the GW-12 level:

At least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GW/GS-11 level, or higher, in the Federal service, or equivalent, which includes all of the following: Examples of specialized experience include: advising high level management officials on fire management planning at the district or state level or equivalent; reviewing wildland fire preparedness actions and operating plans; coordinating and implementing policy to support wildland fire management programs and operations.

IMPORTANT - PLEASE NOTE: There is not an option to qualify for the 0456 series utilizing education at the GW-12 grade level.

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.

*Applicants must meet all minimum qualification requirements for the position of interest by the closing date of the Job Announcement.

Secondary Firefighter Retirement Coverage - Applicants for this secondary administrative fire fighter position under the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 8336 (c) (CSRS) and 5 U.S.C. 8412 (d), must possess knowledge of the principles, methods, and techniques of wildland firefighting as demonstrated by direct wildland firefighting experience. In order to receive credit, you must provide a written description of your experience in wildland firefighting. Education without hands-on wildland firefighting experience does not meet this requirement. Periods of wildland firefighting experience, gained through militia and rural fire departments, can also be credited. Wildland fire is defined as any non-structure fire that occurs in the wildland. Two distinct types of wildland fire have been defined and include wildfire and prescribed fires as follows: Wildfire: Unplanned ignitions or prescribed fires that are declared wildfires. Prescribed Fires: Planned ignitions. This description includes only fire line experience on a Prescribed Fire; it does not include experience in the planning stages. Prescribed fire experience must be supplemented by fire suppression experience in order to be creditable as previous wildland firefighting experience.

Physical Demands: Normally the work is sedentary but often requires physical exertion while overseeing fire suppression activities including walking over rough, steep, uneven terrain in all types of weather. The incumbent is faced with emergency situations at all hours and must respond quickly. The position may require long shifts or multi-day assignments under primitive living conditions during emergencies. During the fire season, extended fire assignments away from the unit may be required under very stressful conditions.

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

How you will be evaluated

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

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 minimum qualification requirements of this position. Once the job opportunity announcement closes, your resume and all supporting documents will be reviewed by HR to determine if you are minimally qualified for the position. If an applicant's resume is incomplete or does not support the requirements for minimum qualifications or specialized experience a rating of "ineligible" or "not qualified" will be applied and no consideration for employment will be granted. Due to this vacancy being filled through OPM's Direct Hire Authority, Veterans Preference and traditional rating and ranking of applicants does not apply to positions filled under this announcement. Applications received as a result of job fairs, recruitment events, and emergency hiring mechanisms in support of this hiring initiative will also be accepted during the duration of the announcement. All minimally qualified candidates will be referred for consideration. Please note that the hiring office may conduct interviews at their discretion. Interviews may be conducted on a pass/fail basis.

The competencies below provide an overview of what this position entails once encumbered:

• Planning and Evaluating - Determines objectives and strategies; coordinates with other parts of the organization to accomplish goals; monitors and evaluates the progress and outcomes of operational plans; anticipates potential threats or opportunities.
• 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.
• Leadership - Inspires, motivates and guides others toward goal accomplishment; coaches, mentors, and challenges subordinates; adapts leadership styles to a variety of situations; models high standards of honesty, integrity, trust, openness, and respect for the individual by applying these values to daily behaviors.