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Seasonal Landscape Architect

Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Cultural Resources, Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

Summary

As a Landscape Architect for Cultural Resources, Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation. Cultural landscape preservation focuses on preserving a landscape's physical attributes, biotic systems, and use when that use contributes to its historical significance.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Posted today · Apply by 07/15/26
Due by 11:59 p.m. ET on July 15, 2026
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
No
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$40.53 - $52.69 per hour
Pay scale & grade
GS 11
Promotion potential
None
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
Not required
Appointment type
Temporary - Not to Exceed: 1039 Hours
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Represented by a union
No
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Financial disclosure required
No
Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.
Announcement number
SSO-1611-FRLA-26-12991807
Control number
875335400

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Duties

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This is a temporary appointment intended for seasonal work that is less than 6 months or 1040 hours from the date of appointment/service year. It is expected this position will be terminated upon completion of the seasons work. The agency may non-competitively rehire an eligible temporary seasonal worker in subsequent years who works less than 6 months or 1040 hours in their service year.

As a Seasonal Landscape Architect your duties will include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Participate in the documentation, review, design, treatment and monitoring of historically significant cultural landscapes with diverse climatic, geographic and environmental conditions.
  • Review horticultural operations and landscape preservation activities for adherence to agency policies, guidelines, standards, and procedures.
  • Advise park managers, horticulturists, arborists and facility staff in parks and regional offices on best practices in cultural landscape management.
  • Engage in the practice of planning, designing, and adapting of outdoor features, taking into consideration recreation planning, regulatory requirements, aethetic, cultural and historic values, and compatiblity with context
  • Use Geographic Information System (GIS) technology to respond to inquiries, execute project work, and manage maintenance efforts

About the Olmsted Center: The Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation strengthens the capacity of parks and historic properties to manage cultural landscapes as part of our national heritage. Working in partnership with national parks, universities, government agencies, and non-profit organizations, the Olmsted Center provides a full range of technical assistance in cultural landscape research, planning, stewardship, and education. Founded at the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, the Olmsted Center perpetuates the traditions of the Olmsted Offices and Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr.'s lifelong commitment to people, parks, and public spaces.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship required.
  • Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
  • Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males.
  • Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
  • You may be required to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of your official duties. Prior to your first official motor vehicle operation, and again every year thereafter (or more frequently if management determines such need exists), you will be required to sign an affidavit certifying to your possession of a valid State issued driver's license that is current and has not been revoked, suspended, canceled, or otherwise disqualified in any way to prohibit your operation of a motor vehicle. You will also submit a photocopy of your valid state-issued driver's license.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-07/15/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (month/year), and the resume must reflect full and/or part-time or total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time). If part-time, the hours must be annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount of qualified specialized experience.

In order to qualify for this position you must possess both the Basic Requirement and Specialized Qualification.

Basic Requirement: Landscape Architect-0807
Education: A degree in landscape architecture or landscape design.
- OR -
Combination of Education and Experience: For each year short of graduation, one year of experience under professional leadership and guidance of such character and diversity as to be a satisfactory substitute for the required education. This experience must have included original landscape design.

- AND -

To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level, you must possess all of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:

Specialized Experience: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: conducting cultural landscape research involving historical documents, photographs, maps, and drawings to support identification, documentation, analysis, evaluation, and treatment; reviewing and assessing design development, construction drawings, cost estimates and specifications prepared by others for technical accuracy, adequacy, and compliance with applicable policies, guidelines, laws, and regulations; developing scopes of work and cost estimates for landscape architecture work; providing GIS data in support of planning and compliance activities; and offering technical guidance on historic landscape preservation, both independently and as part of an interdisciplinary team. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
Education: Successful completion of at least 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify. For example, 3 months of experience would be 25% of the required 12 months. 45 semester hours of graduate education out of the required 54, would meet 50% of the 18 semester hours beyond what's required of the GS-09 grade level. You must include transcripts.

Volunteer Experience: 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.

ICTAP/CTAP Statement: Current surplus and current or former displaced Federal individuals who have special prior­ity selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) must be well qualified for the position to receive consideration for special priority selection. Well qualified means that the applicant meets the following: OPM qualification standards for the position; all selective placement factors, where applicable; special qualifying conditions that OPM has approved for the position, where applicable; is physically qualified with reasonable accommodation, where appropriate to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position upon entry; and is rated by the organization at least at the well qualified level on all competencies.

Education

To qualify based on education, you must submit a legible copy of transcripts from an accredited institution with your name, school name, credit hours, course level, major(s), and grade-point average or class ranking. Transcripts do not need to be official, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.

If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet qualification requirements, you must show that your education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.

Additional information

A selectee receiving a first appointment to the Federal Government (Civil Service) is entitled only to the lowest step of the grade for which selected. The display of a salary range on this vacancy shall not be construed as granting an entitlement to a higher rate of pay.

Click here for the OPM Salaries and Wages to calculate locality pay.

This job opportunity announcement will be used to fill one or more additional selections at any time without notification.

The locations listed on the announcement anticipate filling vacancies. However, not all grade levels may be filled at all locations. Eligibility and qualifications will be verified if there is a vacancy for the location and grade for which you applied.

Non-Competitive Rehire Eligibility: Temporary seasonal employees can only maintain their non-competitive rehire eligibility if they work no more than a combined total of Temporary NTE less than 1040 hours, or 1560 hours if the position falls under the Exception to the General Time Limits for Temporary Seasonal positions, anywhere in the National Park Service (NPS) within their established service year. Accordingly, non-competitive rehire eligibility allows for re-appointment to the same position or another position appropriate for temporary appointment with the same qualification requirements (5 CFR 316.402[b][7]), based on series and grade, anywhere in the major subdivision (NPS).

If you have held a temporary seasonal appointment in the past 12 months and have already worked the maximum hours during that period, you are still welcome to apply. However, please be aware that exceeding the appointment limit in your established service year will result in the loss of your non-competitive rehire eligibility.

The limit can be exceeded by working multiple temporary seasonal positions that result in a combined total greater than the appointment limit.

Employment may be terminated at any time due to fluctuations in funding levels, project needs, employee performance, or other considerations.


Physical Demands: The work is basically sedentary with occasional physical activity (walking, climbing, bending, stooping) during fieldwork, and may require visits to remote sites which require walking or riding over rough, uneven surfaces. Documentary research and report writing work is sedentary, which entails the ability to concentrate and write for long periods of time.

Work Environment: The work is performed in both an office setting and occasionally in the field as required to perform on-site investigations and inspections.

The National Park Service has determined that most temporary positions are suitable for telework on a situational basis or during an emergency or natural disaster.

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 how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement.

Resumes must not exceed two single-sided pages and resumes longer than two pages will not be accepted. You may only submit one resume. Only the document submitted as the "Resume" under the Documents section will be used to determine your qualifications/eligibility and for rating purposes. In the event you submit more than one resume, only the latest submission will be reviewed.

A review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the Assessment Questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job. If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses provided in the Assessment Questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation, you will be rated 'ineligible', 'not qualified', or your score will be adjusted accordingly. If a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications or experience, you can lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully; errors or omissions can affect your rating.

Candidates will be rated and ranked using Category Rating procedures. These procedures place candidates with veteran's preference above non-preference eligibles within each category. Veterans with a service connected disability of at least 10 percent are listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher. Under Category Rating, candidates will be rated and ranked into one of three categories:

  • Best Qualified - applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are highly proficient in all requirements of the job and can perform effectively in the position
  • Well Qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in most of the requirements of the job
  • Qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in some, but not all of the requirements of the job.
You will be evaluated on the following competencies:
  • Administration and Management
  • Contracting/Procurement
  • Horticulture
  • Landscape Architecture
  • Technical Competence


In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration.

National Park Service

Agency contact information

Seasonal Staffing Office
Email
seasonal_staffing_office@nps.gov
Address
Seasonal Staffing Office-Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
99 Warren Street
Brookline, MA 02146-5998
US

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