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Program Specialist (Fire Support)

Department of Agriculture
Forest Service

Summary

This position is assigned to a Forest Service, Region 5 Pacific Southwest office.

This position provides oversight and administration of interagency emergency fire equipment and service contracts.

For additional information about the duties of this position, please contact Brian Grabowski at brian.grabowski@usda.gov or Deirdre Cherry at deirdre.cherry@usda.gov.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
03/30/2026 to 04/09/2026
Salary
$89,508 - $116,362 per year

Salary range as shown is the locality pay area od Rest of U.S. (RUS). For more information, refer to the opm.gov - Salary and Wages web page.

Pay scale & grade
GS 12
Locations
1 vacancy in the following locations:
Vallejo, CA
Region 5
Location Negotiable After Selection
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected tofor site visits, meetings, and/or training.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Supervisory status
Yes
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
26-EHT-FIRENC2-FS6565-12FS
Control number
862765400

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Applications will be accepted only from current permanent Forest Service (FS) employees with competitive status; Land Management eligible candidates whose last appointment was with the FS; and CTAP/RPL eligible candidates.

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Duties

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  • Serves as the primary Fire and Aviation Management contact for program contract administration regarding heavy equipment, heavy equipment with water, water handling, and other miscellaneous support services.
  • Participates in incident management assignments and conducts field inspections of contracted resources.
  • Serves as the Fire and Aviation Management contracting officer’s representative for regional emergency incident blanket purchase agreements, contracts (exclusive of aviation), incident blanket purchases, and Memorandums of Understanding.
  • Serves as a primary contact for incident management personnel in resolving issues and concerns with contracted resources.
  • Adapts, modifies, or creates agency guidelines and utilizes own interpretations to provide oversight to the contract resource program area.
  • Coordinates with national and regional Fire and Aviation Management personnel to develop and implement contract resource inspection procedures and process.
  • Develops, implements, and oversees records management and qualification validation processes for contracted resources.
  • Fosters an inclusive workplace where diversity and individual differences are leveraged to achieve the vision and mission of the organization.

Requirements

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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

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.

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.

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.

Specialized Experience Requirement:

Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as three or more of the following: Providing administration and oversight of the emergency contracts and incident blanket purchase agreement (IBPA) program; and/or Serving as a contact for incident management personnel in resolving issues and concerns with contracted resources; and/or Reviewing statements of work and contract specifications to ensure they are vetted through appropriate operational and contracting personnel; and/or Performing contract administration for heavy equipment, heavy equipment with water, water handling, or related equipment/activities.

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

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

Position(s) will be located at the Region 5 Forest Office location listed above or at another Forest Office within Region 5. 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) or Reemployment Priority List (RPL): To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section. When assessed through a score-based category rating method, CTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100.

Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) provides current or former temporary and term employees the 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 and the last temporary or term appointment must have been with the Forest Service. 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.

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

This is a non-bargaining unit position.

This position is not eligible for telework. This position may be eligible for flexible work arrangements as determined by agency policy.

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.

We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies.

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 your qualifications for this position as evidenced by the experience, education, and training you described in your application package, as well as the responses to the Assessment Questionnaire to determine the degree to which you possess the competencies listed below:

  • Contracting/Procurement
  • Project Management
  • Writing


Your application, including the online Assessment Questionnaire, will be reviewed to determine if you meet (a) minimum qualification requirements and (b) the 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 and are determined to be 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/12920869

Forest Service

A career with the Forest Service will challenge you to manage and care for more than 193 million acres of our nation's most magnificent lands, conduct research through a network of forest and range experiment stations and the Forest Products Laboratory, and provide assistance to State and private forestry agencies.

It's an awesome responsibility - but the rewards are as limitless as the views.

Agency contact information

HRM Contact Center
Phone
1-877-372-7248 X2
Email
HRM_Contact_Center@usda.gov
Address
USDA Forest Service HRM Contact Center
DO NOT MAIL IN APPLICATIONS, SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE ANNOUNCEMENT.
Albuquerque, NM 87109
US

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