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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One position will be filled with the Rocky Mountain Geographic Area with a duty location of Grand Junction, CO or Ft. Collins, CO.

One position will be filled with the Northern Rockies Geographic Area with a duty location of Billings, MT.

One position will be filled with the Northwest Geographic Area at an established duty location in the Northwest Geographic Area.

Please select EACH Geographic Area you wish to be considered for during the application process. You will only be considered for the Geographic Area(s) you select.


As a Aviation Manager your duties will include but are not limited to the following:

• This is a supervisory code 4 position and the primary purpose of this position is to provide senior level aviation management expertise to the field that includes coordination between USWFS units concerning several areas in the aircraft operations program.
• Provides senior level aviation management expertise to the field, as well as coordination between USWFS units concerning safety, operations, investigation, direction, training, and compliance for the conduct of aircraft operations program activities.
• Analyzes and guides aviation program activities in order to assure safe and cost-effective use of aviation resources throughout the USWFS that comply with DOI existing statutes, regulations and policies.
• Develops and supports implementation of the aviation safety training program within WFS to ensure Federal Aviation Administration policy requirements are followed.
• Evaluates organizational performance in terms of the application of safe and accepted flight procedures and recommends corrective action or additional training.
• Performs a key role in periodic aviation reviews in order to respond to safety and operational issues.

Conditions of employment

Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.

Suitability for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation.

Direct Deposit Required.

Prior on-the-line firefighting: This experience must be clearly documented in your resume with specific to and from dates, description of work performed, and hours worked per week in order to be considered. Candidates must possess substantial wildland firefighting experience, gained through fire line work in containment, control, suppression or use of wildland fire. The Department of the Interior defines wildland firefighting experience as any non-structure fire that occurs in the wildland. Wildland firefighting experience is gained through work on the fire line in containment, control, suppression or use of wildland fire. This experience can be met by serving in a temporary, seasonal, or equivalent private sector fire position. Wildland fires are categorized into two distinct types: (1) Wildfires - Unplanned ignitions or prescribed fires that are declared wildfires; and (2) Prescribed Fires - Planned ignitions. This description includes only fireline 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.

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.

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.

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 travel overnight away from home up to 14 nights per month. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.

Qualifications

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

Only experience and education obtained by 06/22/2026 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 Qualifications Requirement for the GW-13 level:

At least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GW-12 level, or higher, in the Federal service, or equivalent, which includes all of the following: Examples of specialized experience include: preparing and editing state/regional level aviation plans, oversight of Uncrewed Aviation Systems (UAS), processing and providing management input into SAFECOMs, leading aviation reviews.

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 - This is a secondary/administrative firefighter position under the special retirement provisions of 5 U.S.C. 8336(c) (CSRS) and 5 U.S.C. 8412(d) (FERS). While secondary positions are not subject to the maximum entry age policy, the selectee must have prior service in a primary position (3 years of service in primary/rigorous position(s)) and meet the transfer requirement for movement from a primary to secondary position to be eligible for special retirement coverage. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure this office has enough information to determine your retirement status to ensure you do not lose benefits (normally through submission of your SF-50). YOU MUST LET US KNOW IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY IN A PRIMARY POSITION.

This is an administrative position in an organization having a firefighting mission and is in an established career path. Prior firefighting experience, as gained by substantial service in a primary firefighter position or equivalent experience outside the Federal government, is a MANDATORY PREREQUISITE.

Physical Demands: Most of the work is sedentary in nature and requires sitting for long periods. The position requires intermittent physical exertion while inspecting field operations or participating in accident/incident investigations. On occasion, it may be required to perform field work requiring long walks over rough, rocky terrain for long hours during high temperatures. Substantial travel to meeting locations in other cities and to remote field locations for assignments up to two weeks in duration is common. Mode of travel may be by aircraft, ground vehicle, and horseback and on foot.

Working Conditions: Most of the work is performed in an office or meeting room setting. The incumbent will be assessing direct applications of aviation needs and activities in the field program. These activities often require the person to be at the location engaged in actual aviation activities in the air and on the ground. The work can be expected to include periodic assignments of long duration in remote airports, heliports and field camps. At times the incumbent may be required to inspect aviation operations on wildland fires, prescribed fires, or other resource management activities.

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:

• Fire Management - Knowledge of the concepts, principles, and theories of fire management, including the characteristics, behavior, & ecology of fire; methodologies, strategies, & equipment used in prescribed fires; fire detection, prevention, and suppression strategies; and integration of fire with natural resource management.
• Planning and Evaluating - Organizes work, sets priorities, and determines resource requirements; determines short- or long-term goals and strategies to achieve them; coordinates with other organizations or parts of the organization to accomplish goals; monitors progress & evaluates outcomes.
• 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.
• Technical Competence - Uses knowledge that is acquired through formal training or extensive on the job experience to perform one's job; works with, understands, and evaluates technical information related to the job; advises others on technical issues.