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 Wildland Firefighter (Fuels) your duties will include but are not limited to the following:

• Program Management: Recommends short-term fire management objectives and strategies based on the effects and behavior of prescribed fire. Reviews existing prescription treatments, monitoring methods, and new technologies and makes improvements to increase the organization's effectiveness relating to fuels management. Adjusts model inputs such as weather and fuels indices to forecast desired fire behavior and fire effects to meet objectives. Reviews and makes recommendations on appropriate sections of the Fire Management Plan pertaining to prescribed fire and fuels treatments.
• Planning: Assesses annual objectives and management direction to prepare treatment schedules to implement prescribed fire and fuels treatment projects. Plans and conducts surveys to evaluate data for the development of fuels treatment prescriptions, and wildland fire monitoring.
• Operations and Safety: Coordinates and implements the technical and administrative aspects of the prescribed fire/fuels plan, ensuring that preparation, ignition, holding, mop-up, and rehabilitation are completed to the standards specified and in accordance with regulations, policies, and guidelines.

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 must 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.

Commercial Driver's License (Great Falls, MT only): Must be able to obtain and maintain a Class A CDL within one year of appointment.

Official U.S. Wildland Fire Service uniform is required.

A condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a [1-year probationary period OR 2-year trial period] during which your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest will be evaluated.

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

You must be 18 years of age or older to be assigned to a hazardous position.

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

Qualifications

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

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 Prescribed Fire and Fuels Specialist - Low 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):

A.) Engine Boss Single Resource (ENGB) or Crew Boss, Single Resource (CRWB) or Firing Boss, Single Resource (FIRB) or Helicopter Manager, Single Resource (HMGB)

AND

B.) Incident Commander, Type 4 (ICT4)

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

Only experience and education obtained by 03/24/2026 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 GW-8/9

For the GW-08 level:

One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GW-07 grade level in the Federal service that demonstrates your ability assisting with planning wildland fire suppression activities; assisting in writing and executing wildland fire management plans, prescribed burn plans, and preparedness plans.

For the GW-09 level:

One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GW-08 grade level in the Federal service that demonstrates your ability to develop and revise fire management planning documents for long range wildland fire control and prescribed burns; organize and complete preparedness activities as it pertains to fire equipment, supplies, and fire personnel; analyze incident objectives, strategies and tactics, safety, cost effectiveness/efficiency; experience working with various resources and agencies in order to accomplish work.

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: Work in the office is primarily sedentary. Field work does require frequent physical exertion, involving walking over rough terrain, sometimes for extended periods, and working under occasionally inclement (hot, cold, snow, wind, etc.) weather conditions. The incumbent must be in good physical condition in order to safety perform field activities. The incumbent must be able to perform duties in areas of uncontrolled wildfire where hazardous conditions exist. The incumbent must be able to fly as a passenger in helicopters and single engine fixed wing aircraft.

Working Conditions: Work is performed in both an office and field setting with field work. Field work involves exposure to temperature extremes, both from weather and fire conditions where falling trees and the presence of smoke and/or dust conditions create hazardous conditions. The
nature of fire management 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 position is considered a career ladder opportunity, with a full performance level of GW-09. If selected at a lower grade level, you may be non-competitively promoted to the next grade level at the discretion of your supervisor and is contingent upon meeting regulatory and legal requirements for promotion, satisfactory performance, and the availability of higher-level work. Promotion is not guaranteed, and no promise of promotion is implied.

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:

• Knowledge of budget policies, procedures, and techniques sufficient to prepare and track budgets.
• Knowledge of policies, directives, guidelines and practices regarding wildfire suppression, and prescribed fire and fuels treatment operations to participate in the technical aspect of planning, implementation, coordination and management of a prescribed fire and fuels management program.
• Knowledge of prescribed fire and fuels management principles, techniques, and tactics sufficient to participate in the technical aspect of planning, implementing, and participating in fuels projects.
• Knowledge of accepted fire safety practices and procedures to ensure the welfare and safety in all aspects of the work for self and others.