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Archeologist

Department of the Interior
Bureau of Reclamation
Wyoming Area Office

Summary

You will serve as a Archeologist for the Wyoming State Office located in Mills, WY.

Overview

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Location
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$61,722 - $97,087 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 9 - 11
Promotion potential
11
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
Not required
Appointment type
Permanent
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
CBVI-26-13061969-DE-EP
Control number
888063700

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Duties

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Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following:

  • Plan and review reports that identify, protect, and preserve archaeological sites and completes archival research (Class I inventories) and write reports for cultural resource surveys.
  • Conduct regular inventories of museum collections.
  • Write or review cultural resource sections for environmental documents (Environmental Assessment, Environmental Impact Statement), resource management plans, Standard Operating Procedures, cultural resource management plans, prepare Memoranda of Agreement with State Historic Preservation Office and Advisory Council on Historic Preservation when cultural resource mitigation is needed.
  • Share cultural resource information clearly and accurately with interested parties.
  • Serve as the Tribal Liaison between the Wyoming Area Office and Tribal Historic Preservation Officers.

Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
  • 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 cannot hold an active real estate license, nor can you have an interest or hold stocks in firms with interest in Federal Lands.
  • You are required to wear a uniform and comply with the uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
  • You are required to complete training, obtain and maintain a government credit card with travel and purchase authority.
  • You must be at least (1)18 years old or (2) at least 16 years old and: (a) Have graduated from high school or been awarded a certificate equivalent to graduating from high school; or (b) Have completed a formal vocational training program; or (c) Have received a statement from school authorities agreeing with their preference for employment rather than continuing their education; or (d) Be currently enrolled in a secondary school and either work only during school vacation periods or work part-time during the school year under a formal student employment program.
  • 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 one 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.
*Additional Requirements located under qualifications*

Qualifications

Requirements Continued...

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-10/16/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST state either "full-time" (or "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.

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

Basic Educational Requirement AND/OR Specialized Experience for the series to which you are applying.

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

A. Degree: that included 3 semester hours each in the following course areas:
  • History of archeology.
  • Archeology of a major geographical area such as North America or Africa.
  • 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.
  • Theory and methods of archeology. Methods include, but are not limited to, typology, classification, sampling, cultural evolution, diffusion, dating, and analytical techniques.
  • 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. You must submit transcripts.
And

Six 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.
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.1 (including archeological field school).

-OR-

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

-OR-
C. Experience: Four 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.

-AND-

GS11:

  • Specialized Experience Requirement: you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS09 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: One year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to at least the GS-09 level in federal including experience providing leadership for a cultural resource or historical architectural program; conducting and overseeing archeological inventories; recommending measures to mitigate potential impacts to historical structures or cultural resources; and presenting results of archeological investigations to a variety of audiences. -OR-
  • Education: 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-
  • Combination of education and experience. To combine education and experience, first take. Then take the number of months of full-time experience and divide by 12 months. Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include hours per week and transcripts.

GS09:

  • Specialized Experience Requirement: you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS09 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: One year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to at least the GS-07 level in federal service including experience providing support for a cultural resource or historical architectural program; conducting archeological inventories; drafting and finalizing archeological reports; and presenting results of archeological investigations to a variety of audiences. -OR-
  • Education: 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree. You must include transcripts. -OR-
  • Combination of education and experience. To combine education and experience, first take. Then take the number of months of full-time experience and divide by 12 months. Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include hours per week and 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.

Education

This position has a mandatory education requirement.

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.

Promotion to the full performance level is neither guaranteed nor implied and will be based solely on your ability to satisfactorily perform the work of the position, existing work at the higher grade level, and recommendation by the position's supervisor.

Physical Demands/Work Environment: Work is primarily in an office setting. Field work may include exposure to adverse weather conditions and/or extremely cold/hot climates, uneven terrain, hiking, potential exposure to dangerous wildlife, vast array of different ecosystems, and other field conditions.. The job requires frequent travel by automobile, with occasional travel by air.

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.

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.

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.

Candidates will be rated and ranked using a Subject Matter Expert Panel and scored based on competencies: History and Archaeology, Interpersonal Skills and Technical Competence. These competencies have a maximum score of 5 for each and minimum of 0 for each. Those that have a combined scored of 5 and higher on all competencies will be referred to the hiring manger. Veteran's preference points will be applied for those that meet preference.

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, 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.

Bureau of Reclamation

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 Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) is to manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public. Click here to learn more about the Bureau of Reclamation.

Agency contact information

Eric Panknin
Email
eric_panknin@ios.doi.gov
Address
Wyoming Area Office
Bureau of Reclamation
705 Pendell Blvd, Mills
Mills, WY 82644
US

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