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Archeologist

Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Fort Vancouver National Historical Site; Cultural Resources

Summary

You will serve as an Archeologist Fort Vancouver National Historical Site in Vancouver, WA.

Please visit find a park for additional park information.

This is a Permanent, Competitive, Full-time, Career-Seasonal appointment.

Career-Seasonal appointments are permanent positions and include the same benefits as permanent appointments, but do not provide work on a year-round basis.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$80,462 - $104,610 per year

First time hires to the Federal government normally start at the step 1 rate.

Pay scale & grade
GS 11
Promotion potential
None
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 5 nights per month. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
Appointment type
Permanent - Career-Seasonal (Please see "Additional Information" section for more details)
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
PW-1545-FOVA-26-13033414-DE
Control number
880818900

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Duties

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At the full performance level (GS-11) the major duties of this position include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Performs or directs substantive, project-oriented work in the field of archeology.
  • Makes significant contributions to the preparation of historic preservation documentation, compliance, and background materials for clearances, permits, licenses, compliance, plans, etc.
  • Identifies, independently sorts, classifies, and analyzes archaeological artifacts

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Must provide proof of U.S. citizenship.
  • Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
  • Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
  • Direct Deposit participation required.
  • Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more, visit www.dhs.gov/EVerify/.
  • Must have and maintain a valid driver's license throughout employment.
  • You are required to wear a uniform and comply with the uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
  • You must be at least 18 years of age or older to operate government vehicles.
  • 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.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement -08/27/2026- unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST state either 40 hours a week or Part-Time with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST state:

  1. the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position;
  2. starting and ending dates of employment (month/year); and
  3. total hours worked (as indicated above).
  4. If position was developmental in nature, resume must breakdown duties and start/end dates per grade level.

Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications:

Basic Educational Requirements: In addition to the specialized experience requirements for this position, you must meet at least one of the following:

1. Education - all appropriate transcripts must be submitted for proper crediting

A. Degree: Completed a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's degree or higher that included:
3 semester hours or the equivalent in EACH of the following course areas:
  • History of archeology; and
  • Archeology of a major geographical area such as North America or Africa; and
  • Regional archeology, archeological cultures, or sites in a specific part or portion of a major geographical area to acquire or develop a foundation for regional specialization for professional development; and
  • Theory and methods of archeology. Methods include, but are not limited to, typology, classification, sampling, cultural evolution, diffusion, dating, and analytical techniques; and
  • Archeological field school, to provide a basic understanding of theoretical and practical approaches to research design implementation, field preservation techniques, and report preparation by participation in actual field work;
AND
6 semester hours of related course work in: geography, geology, or cultural geography; history, historiography, or historical archeology; environmental studies; scientific writing (nonfiction English composition); and/or surveying;
AND
Archeological field school.

-OR-

B. Related curriculum: Degree in anthropology (with emphasis on ethnology, physical anthropology, or scientific linguistics), history, American studies, or a related discipline may be accepted as satisfying in full the educational requirements, provided the curriculum supplied academic course work sufficiently similar to the requirements in A above (including archeological field school)

-OR-

2. Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of college level education or training that provided knowledge equivalent to that described in A above, plus appropriate technical experience or additional education.)

-OR-

3. Experience: 4 years of archeological work experience that demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the fundamental principles and theories of professional archeology. The work experience must have included archeology field experience, which may include that gained in an archeological field school. Field experience should have included a combination of professional experience in archeological survey, excavation, laboratory analysis, and preparation of written materials. Applicants with such field experience should, after additional experience under the direction of a higher-grade archeologist, be able to demonstrate the ability to be a crew chief, directing the work of others at a single location as a part of a larger archeological project.


Specialized Experience Requirement: In addition to meeting the Basic Education requirements for this position, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors):

  • Specialized experience includes:
  • Planning field work for archeological and historical sites;
  • Assisting in the development of compliance policy and procedures for cultural resources preservation and tribal consultation in the state;
  • Providing archaeology and cultural resources technical assistance, guidance and training to various personnel;
  • Conducting archeological investigations at proposed project sites to assure archeological and historical resources are identified and proper preservation procedures are followed


-OR-

Three full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a PhD or equivalent graduate degree, in archeology, anthropology, or other closely related field.

-OR-

An equivalent combination of graduate education and specialized experience as described above, that when calculated as a percentage of each requirement and added together, equals at least 100%. Only graduate education beyond the second year is creditable to meet this standard.

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.

Education

This position has a mandatory education requirement. All appropriate transcripts must be submitted for proper crediting.

You must submit a copy of your transcript(s) to support claimed education if substituting education for experience. Transcripts must include your name, school name, grades, credit hours earned, major(s), grade point average or class ranking, and date the degree was conferred, if applicable. A typed list of courses, grades, semester/quarter hours, GPA, etc. will not be accepted. Non-submission may result in being rated not qualified for the position. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.

Foreign Education: To receive credit for education completed outside the United States, you must show proof that the education has been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs. Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | U.S. Department of Education. https://www.ed.gov/about/initiatives/international-affairs/recognition-of-foreign-qualification

Additional information

Additional vacancies may be filled using this job announcement.

Career-Seasonal: When operational needs and/or funds are not available, the employee will be placed in non-pay status. Placement in non-pay status will not be on a sporadic, occasional, or unplanned basis. Selectees are guaranteed to work at least 6 months/year but not more than 50 weeks/year. Work schedule to be determined upon appointment. You will work approximately 25 pay periods and be in a non-pay status for the remainder of the year.
Non-pay status is anticipated to be Dec 17 - 31.

Physical Demands: The position may require strenuous physical activity including periods of standing, walking, climbing, and lifting and carrying heavy objects. Some activities will occur in physically dangerous areas or settings. Documentary research and report writing work are sedentary, which entails the ability to concentrate and write for long periods of time.

Work Environment: Work is performed both indoors and outdoors in all types of weather. Assignments may be performed in potentially hazardous areas including steep slopes, rocky terrain, volcanoes, caves, fire lines, arctic environments, swamps, deserts, and forests. Flying in fixed-winged aircraft and helicopters is possible.

Ethics: All Department of Interior (DOI) employees, their spouses, and minor children may not acquire or retain any claim, permit, lease, small tract entry, or other rights granted by the Department in Federal lands, with limited exceptions. Additional ethics prohibitions can be found here, https://www.doi.gov/ethics/ethics-prohibitions.

Telework: The duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.

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.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g. resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of any additional assessment(s) required for this position.

Your resume must not exceed 2 pages. 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.

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 the following 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 assessed in the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

  • History and Archaeology
  • Remote Sensing
  • Research
  • Technical Competence

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires successful completion of additional assessment(s), including a structured resume review. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job.

Current or former displaced Federal employees who are surplus, displaced, or involuntarily separated have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP). To be considered under CTAP/ICTAP, you must be well-qualified, score at least 85 (i.e., meet the minimum qualification requirements, including any selective placement factors; education, and experience requirements), and be able to perform the duties of the position upon entry.

Providing false or misleading information on your resume or supporting documentation may result in removal from consideration or other action consistent with applicable federal hiring regulations. Applicants who include vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate language or information in their application package will be ineligible for further consideration for this position.

National Park Service

The Department of the Interior protects and manages the Nation's natural resources and cultural heritage; provides scientific and other information about those resources; and honors its trust responsibilities or special commitments to American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and affiliated Island Communities. Click here to learn more about the Department of the Interior and its bureaus.

The mission of the National Park Service (NPS) is to preserve the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. You can make a difference by bringing your unique experience, background, and perspective to our work. Click here to learn more about the National Park Service.

Fort Vancouver is a fast-paced, urban park with dense cultural resources and high visitation. It has been called the premier historical archaeological site in the Pacific Northwest. Over 80 years of professional investigations have resulted in an unparalleled collection of artifacts spanning the indigenous, fur trade, and military eras.

Agency contact information

Elisabeth Crowther
Email
elisabeth_crowther@ios.doi.gov
Address
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
800 Hatheway Rd. Building 722
Vancouver, WA 98661
US

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