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

Cartographer

Department of the Interior
Geological Survey
Cartographic Data Services

Summary

What General Information Do I Need To Know About This Position?
Location Negotiable - must report to government facility.
Salary dependent upon the agreed upon duty location of the position. Locality pay tables can be found here.

Open to current or former Federal employees: USGS-RES-26-12947521-ST-AW

Overview

Help
Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
05/18/2026 to 05/29/2026
Salary
$107,446 - $139,684 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 14
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Location Negotiable After Selection
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
25% or less - You may be expected to travel up to 2-4 nights per month for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Secret
Drug test
Yes
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
USGS-RES-26-12947520-DE-AW
Control number
869398500

Videos

Duties

Help

As a Cartographer within the Cartographic Data Services, some of your specific duties will include:

  • Define strategies and guidelines for delivery of The National Map (TNM) geospatial data and services.
  • Develop long range plans for TNM systems, geospatial viewer capabilities, and data delivery approaches.
  • Serve as a senior technical and strategic advisor to National Geospatial Program (NGP) leadership, bureau executives, Department of the Interior (DOI) leadership, and interagency partners.
  • Oversee the operational, applied research, and systems development activities that support TNM delivery, including new methods, technologies, data services, and viewer capabilities.
  • Lead enhancements to TNM products and services such as base maps, download APIs, cloud based dynamic services, and future service designs.
  • Improve public and commercial sector usage of TNM services through FAQs, training materials, and service documentation.
Conditions of Employment for this Position:
As 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.

This probationary period is an extension of the appointment process and therefore requires the agency to determine if continued employment would advance the public interest, meet the organization goals and mission of the agency, and/or otherwise promote the efficiency of the service. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, the agency will consider:
- your performance and conduct;
- the needs and interests of the agency;
- whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
- whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Under applicable law, the employment of an individual serving a probationary or trial period automatically terminates when that period ends unless the agency affirmatively certifies, in writing, that the individual's employment should continue and that their appointment should be finalized. In the absence of agency action to affirmatively certify continued employment beyond the probationary or trial period, such appointments are terminated.

Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Requirements

Help

Conditions of employment

Key Requirements:

  1. Applicants must be U.S. Citizens.
  2. Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation.
  3. Selectee may be subject to serving a one-year probationary period.
  4. More requirements are listed under Qualifications and Other Information.
Are There Any Special Requirements For This Position?
  • Prior to appointment, the selectee will be required to take and pass, at Federal expense, a urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use. From thereon, the individual may be subject to random drug testing.
  • Because this position requires travel for official business, the selectee will be required to apply for a charge card within 30 calendar days of appointment. Individuals who have delinquent account balances from a previous Government charge card will be required to satisfy their existing obligation before a new card can be issued.
  • A background investigation will be required for this position. Continued employment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet these requirements will be grounds for termination.
  • Throughout the recruitment and hiring process we will be communicating with you via email; therefore, it is imperative that the email address you provide when applying for this vacancy remains active. Should your email address change, please notify the point of contact identified in the vacancy announcement as soon as possible so that we can update our system.

Qualifications

BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENT: Applicants must meet A or B below to satisfy the basic education requirement for Cartographer, all grade levels. A. Degree: cartography; or a major that included or was supplemented by at least 30 semester hours in cartography and/or directly related science, and related mathematics. Such course work includes, but is not limited to, cartography, astronomy, geodesy, photogrammetry, physical and geological oceanography, computer science, land surveying, geophysics, physical geography, and remote sensing. The 30 semester hours must have included at least 6, but no more than 15, semester hours of college level, non-business mathematics or statistics (i.e. college-level algebra, trigonometry, calculus, or scientific mathematics or statistics requiring equivalent college-level courses as prerequisites).

**OR

B. Combination of education and experience-courses equivalent to a major in cartography, or a minor that included or was supplemented by at least 30 semester hours in cartography, and/or directly related science, and related mathematics, as shown in "A" above, plus appropriate experience and/or additional education for a total of 4 years. The education or combined education and experience must be comparable in type, scope and thoroughness to that acquired through successful completion of a 4-year course of study as described in "A" above.

For GS-14:

In addition to the basic education requirement as stated above, applicants must have one year of appropriate professional experience in cartography that is equivalent to at least the GS-13 level in the Federal service.

Examples of such experience could include serving as a senior expert involved in cartographic work for which technical problem definitions, methods and/or data were highly incomplete, controversial, or uncertain and whose evaluations and recommendations were accepted by others as those of a technical expert in cartography. At this level, cartographers typically represent an authoritative source of consultation for other scientists and program specialists, are called upon to resolve issues that significantly affect cartographic programs, make long range and controversial proposals and defend their findings and recommendations in public or high level forums.


You must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements for the position by the closing date of the announcement.

Education

  • 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 completed in colleges or universities outside the United States may be used to meet the above requirements. You must provide acceptable documentation that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated, visit:https://www.usgs.gov/human-capital/how-foreign-education-evaluated-federal-jobs

Additional information

Other Information:

  • This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional similar vacancies in other U.S. Geological Survey offices.
  • Applicants who include vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate language or information in their application package will be ineligible for further consideration for this position.
  • Under Executive Order 11935, only United States citizens and nationals (residents of American Samoa and Swains Island) may compete for civil service jobs. Agencies are permitted to hire non-citizens only in very limited circumstances where there are no qualified citizens available for the position.
  • USGS employees are subject to Title 43, USC Section 31(a) and may not: (a) have any personal, private, direct or indirect interest in lands or mineral wealth of lands under survey; (b) have any substantial personal, private, direct or indirect interests in any private mining or mineral enterprise doing business with the United States; or (c) execute surveys or examinations for private parties or corporations.
  • The application contains information subject to the Privacy Act (P.L. 93-579, 5 USC 552a). The information is used to determine qualifications for employment, and is authorized under Title 5, USC, Section 3302 and 3361.
  • DOI uses E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit www.dhs.gov/E-Verify.
  • As part of the application process, a series of four short essay questions will be included. Applicants must certify that their own words were used to answer the questions.
  • Applicants who apply under this job opportunity announcement agree to have their application, associated documents and applicable personal information shared with other Bureaus/Offices within the Department of the Interior (DOI) who have vacancies within the same occupational series, grade, full performance level and in the same geographic location(s), including within the same metro/commuting area. Applying to this announcement does not replace the need to apply to other job opportunity announcements for which you wish to receive consideration.
Agency Benefits:

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.

--Resume Length:
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.

--Basis of Rating:
Category rating will be used in the ranking and selection process for this position. The quality categories are Best Qualified and Qualified. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents) and the result of the assessment(s) required for this position. Veterans' preference rules for category rating will be applied.

Resume Review Assessment Required: If you meet the eligibility and basic qualification requirements for this position subject-matter-experts will perform a structured review of your resume to evaluate your knowledge, skills, abilities, and competences as they directly relate to the duties of this position.

As part of the online application process, you will be assessed on your possession of the following knowledge skills, abilities and/or competencies:

  • Problem Solving
  • Influencing
  • Negotiating
  • Decision making
  • Customer service

--NOTE: If it is determined that you have rated yourself higher than is supported in your description of experience and/or education as described in your resume/application, or that your resume or application is incomplete, you may be rated ineligible, not qualified, or your score may be lowered.

To preview the announcement questionnaire, click here: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12947520

Geological Survey

Agency contact information

Kathy Falino
Phone
703-648-7408
Email
kathy_falino@ios.doi.gov
Address
CARTO DATA SRVCS
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
Mail Stop 600
Reston, VA 20192
US

Visit our careers page

Learn more about what it's like to work at Geological Survey, what the agency does, and about the types of careers this agency offers.

https://www.usgs.gov/about/about-us

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.