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 (Aviation) (Branch Chief) your duties will include but are not limited to the following:

• Performs the full range of first-line supervisory responsibilities for wildland firefighting and aviation personnel of which the base level of work supervised is GW-12 or GW-13.
• Plans and assigns work to subordinates based on program priorities, complexity of assignments, and the capabilities of employees.
• Serves as a senior wildland firefighter in aviation, managing the coordination, scheduling, and implementation of aviation resources for the USWFS.
• Provides national leadership and establishes program goals and objectives, develops long-range strategies, and allocates resources.
• Collaborates with various federal and state partners to align USWFS standards with broader operational needs.

Conditions of employment

Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.

Suitability for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation.

Direct Deposit Required.

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.

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.

The 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.

Supervisory Probationary Period: You will be required to serve a one-year supervisory/managerial probationary period for this position.

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.

Subject to frequent extended travel up to 14 nights per month particularly during fire season, and you must obtain a government charge card for travel.

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

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.

Prior firefighting experience: This is an administrative position in an organization having a firefighting mission and is clearly 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. Applicants must have documented prior primary firefighting experience, with substantial service defined as either:

• At least one full fire season working in a primary wildland firefighting role (e.g., Engine Crew, Fire Effects Crew, Prescribed Fire/Fuels Crew, Hand Crew, Helitack Crew, Hotshot Crew, Smokejumper, Wildland Fire Modules or Fire Suppression Crews, etc.) with a federal, state, tribal, local, or private-sector organization;- OR -
• At least 14 days of on-the-ground fireline experience (cumulative or consecutive).

Prior primary wildland fire experience must be clearly documented in your resume. Note: an IQCS Master Record or equivalent document will not be used to determine or calculate prior primary wildland fire experience eligibility for this requirement.

(Firefighter Special Retirement Secondary Coverage): This is a secondary/administrative fire 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 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.

Specialized Experience: In addition to meeting the basic entry requirement, applicants must have specialized experience to be found qualified. In order to be rated as qualified for this position, we must be able to determine that you meet the specialized experience requirement - please be sure to include this information in your resume. To be creditable, this experience must have been equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade.

To qualify for the GS-14 grade level, 1 year of creditable specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 is required. Examples of work include, but are not limited to the following:

• Manages a regional/national program that supports wildland fire and aviation operations, including development of policies, guidance documents, and SOPs.
• Provides leadership and technical authority for aviation operations used in wildland fire management and related operations.
• Supervises an aviation team (base work GW-12/13), setting performance standards, conducting administrative functions, and overseeing a branch-level budget and procurement.
• Establishes interagency partnership and collaborates on national level groups to develop interagency standards.

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, 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.
• Risk Management: Knowledge of the principles, methods, and tools used for risk assessment and mitigation, including assessment of failures and their consequences.
• Technical Competence: Understands and appropriately applies procedures, requirements, regulations, and policies related to specialized expertise; maintains credibility with others on technical matters.
• Team Building: Manages group processes; encourages and facilitates cooperation, pride, trust, and group identity; fosters commitment and team spirit; works with others to achieve goals.