Clarification from the agency

This position will be filled under the Office of Personnel Management's Direct Hire Authority and is open to all United States citizens and U.S. nationals. 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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Major Duties:

• Directs all aspects of the fuels management program including planning, implementation, coordination, and evaluation.
• Develops and implements short-term fire management objectives and strategies based on the effects and behavior of prescribed fire.
• Analyzes, evaluates, and makes recommendations on all sections of the Fire Management Plan pertaining to prescribed fire and fuels treatments.
• Plans, designs, and conducts project assessments which determine the condition of wildland fuels.
• Plans and administers the technical and administrative aspects of the prescribed fire/fuels plan, ensuring that preparation, ignition, holding, mop-up, and rehabilitation comply with applicable standards, regulations, policies, and guidelines.

Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National
• Suitability for employment, as determined by background investigation
• Drug testing position. 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.
• Official U.S. Wildland Fire Service uniform required
• A condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a [1-year probationary period OR 2-year trial period] during which your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest will be evaluated.
• You must be 18 years of age or older to be assigned to a hazardous position.
• Direct Hire Authority will be used to fill this position
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service. To verify registration, visit SSS.gov.
• DRIVERS LICENSE: Selectee must hold and maintain a valid state driver's license throughout their employment in this position. May require additional specialized training and certification to operate specialized vehicles and equipment.
• You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work. You may be expected to travel overnights on fire suppression or fire related assignments for this position as needed.
• Direct Deposit Required.

Qualifications

This key fire management position is a categorized under the Interagency Fire Program Management (IFPM) Standard as a Prescribed Fire and Fuels Specialist-Moderate Complexity. Minimum IFPM qualification standards must be met prior to being placed into the position. Detailed information regarding IFPM positions can be found at https://www.ifpm.nifc.gov/.

The following qualifications are required:

Primary Core Requirement: Prescribed Fire Burn Boss Type 2 (RXB2)

Secondary Core Requirement: Incident Commander Type 3 (ICT3), -OR- Task Force Leader (TFLD), -OR- Helibase Manager (HEBM)

Once Qualified, Currency not required.

Basic Qualification Requirements:

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.

Secondary Firefighter Retirement Coverage - Applicants for this secondary administrative fire fighter position under the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 8336 (c) (CSRS) and 5 U.S.C. 8412 (d), must possess knowledge of the principles, methods, and techniques of wildland firefighting as demonstrated by direct wildland firefighting experience. In order to receive credit, you must provide a written description of your experience in wildland firefighting. Education without hands-on wildland firefighting experience does not meet this requirement. Periods of wildland firefighting experience, gained through militia and rural fire departments, can also be credited. Wildland fire is defined as any non-structure fire that occurs in the wildland. Two distinct types of wildland fire have been defined and include wildfire and prescribed fires as follows: Wildfire: Unplanned ignitions or prescribed fires that are declared wildfires. Prescribed Fires: Planned ignitions. This description includes only fire line 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.

Only experience and education obtained by 08/25/2026 will be considered.

You may qualify at the GW-11 level, if you fulfill one of the following qualification requirements:

1. One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GW-09 grade level in the Federal service or equivalent pay band in the Federal service. Examples of specialized experience may include Developing, reviewing and evaluating fire management plans for ecological soundness and consistency with fire management goals and objectives; analyzing fuel loadings and determining appropriate fuel treatment methods. Work that involved directing a prescribed fire/fuels management program that includes a full range of fuels management activities and functions at the unit level. These functions include prescribed fire, mechanical and biological fuels treatments, fire effects monitoring, fuels monitoring, and smoke monitoring. Served as the technical expert on fuels management and identifies and analyzes multiple variables such as weather, fuels, topography, fire behavior, smoke impacts, employee, and public safety, in strategically developing and implementing fuels management projects.

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.

Physical Demands: Work in the office is primarily sedentary. Field work does require frequent physical exertion, involving walking over rough terrain, sometimes for extended periods, and working under occasionally inclement (hot, cold, snow, wind, etc.) weather conditions. The incumbent must be in good physical condition in order to safety perform field activities. The incumbent must be able to perform duties in areas of uncontrolled wildfire where hazardous conditions exist. The incumbent must be able to fly as a passenger in helicopters and single engine fixed wing aircraft.

Work Environment: Work is performed in both an office and field setting with field work. Field work involves exposure to temperature extremes, both from weather and fire conditions where falling trees and the presence of smoke and/or dust conditions create hazardous conditions. The nature of fire
management work requires that protective clothing (boots, hard hats, etc.) be worn. The incumbent must exercise a variety of safety practices and precautions for the well-being of self and of others.

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, Leadership, Technical Competence, and Public Planning.