Conditions of employment
- Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
- Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service or exempt.
- Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
- Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served. Refer to the Next Steps section for more information.
- Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
- Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit E-Verify.
Qualifications
In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards.
Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. Transcripts must be provided for qualifications based on education. Provide course descriptions as necessary.
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.
Note on Experience: Your resume must clearly document the following for each block of work experience; the beginning day, month and year the work assignment started and ended; the hours worked per week; position title, and series and grade if applicable; and description of duties performed. This information must be provided for each permanent, temporary or seasonal appointment/work assignment or volunteer work and should be clearly documented as a separate block of time. Incomplete, inaccurate or conflicting work history may not be credited for qualifications purposes. This can result in an applicant not being considered for the position.
This is an interdisciplinary position and may be filled in any of the job series listed below.
Basic Requirement for the Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences Series, 0401:
A. Degree: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included a major field of study in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position.
OR
B. Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in a major field of study that included 24 semester hours in course work in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. Related course work generally refers to courses that may be accepted as part of the program major.
OR
C. Combination of education and experience --combination of education and experience that included 24 semester hours in course work in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position, AND experience sufficient to demonstrate that you possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform work in the occupation that is comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of a full 4-year course of study with a major in the appropriate field needed to perform the work of the occupation.
Basic Requirement for the Physical Science Series, 1301:
A. Degree: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included a major field of study in: physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics.
OR
B. Combination of education and experience -- education equivalent to one of the majors shown above that included at least 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
In addition to meeting the basic requirements described above, you must also possess experience in the amounts listed below.
Specialized Experience Requirement:
GS-11: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-09 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as three or more of the following: Monitoring natural resource management plans and quality assurance and quality control plans for air management projects; and/or Serving as the point of contact on long-range and annual work plans for the natural resources programs/projects; and/or Maintaining an air quality monitoring database to provide data and reports to various users; and/or Participating on interdisciplinary teams to carry out routine environmental studies and evaluations to determine the effect of forest management activities on air quality; and/or Reviewing permits, contracts, or work plans to ensure the design criteria or mitigation specified in National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) decisions were incorporated into the implementation plan.
OR
3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree (coursework directly related to position being filled).
OR
An appropriate combination of specialized experience and graduate level education (beyond what is required for a master's degree, i.e., more than 36 semester hours leading to a Ph.D.).
GS-12: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as three or more of the following: Advising and building relationships with air resource entities from federal, state, county, and city governments and outside air quality interest groups on air resource management, regulatory compliance and resource protection from air pollution affecting forest ecosystems; and/or Assisting with prescribed fire projects to provide adequate analysis of emissions to meet National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Federal Conformity Regulations; and/or Analyzing and developing solutions to highly controversial and/or unique problems relating to flora, fauna, water, visibility, and other resources at risk from air pollution; and/or Assisting with incorporating air resource management in the revision of forest plans.
To receive consideration for this position, you must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of the announcement.
Education
See Qualifications section above for education that may be qualifying for this position.
Additional information
Final determination of the duty station will be made by the selecting official at the time of the job offer.
Pay rates vary depending on location. The salary shown is for the Rest of the U.S. See OPM.gov for additional information on pay rates.
The USDA Forest Service has legislative authority to recruit and fill Permanent (Career/Career-Conditional), Temporary, and Term Appointments under the USDA Demonstration Project. Under this authority, any U.S. citizen may apply.
Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority List (RPL), or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP eligibles must meet the agency's definition for a quality candidate as provided in the How You Will Be Evaluated section of this announcement to be considered.
PROMOTION POTENTIAL: If you are selected for a position with further promotion potential, you will be placed under a career development plan, and may be non-competitively promoted if you successfully complete the requirements and if recommended by management. However, promotion is neither implied or guaranteed.
Positions filled from this announcement may be a bargaining or a non-bargaining unit position represented by either NFFE, AFGE or NAGE.
This position is not eligible for telework. This position may be eligible for flexible work arrangements as determined by agency policy and any applicable collective bargaining agreements.
Government housing and federal day care facilities may be available. Availability as it relates to this be position may not be determined until time of selection.
We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies.
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.
Help A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
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 in accordance with the category rating procedure as defined in the USDA Demonstration Project Plan. Applicants who meet the basic minimum qualification requirements established for the position will be placed in the Eligible category. You will be further evaluated against criteria for placement in the Quality category. This evaluation is based on the level of your experience, education, and/or training as determined by your responses to the Assessment Questionnaire. Individuals with veterans' preference are listed ahead of applicants who do not have veterans' preference within each category.
Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities, or you may be found ineligible. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action up to including removal from the Federal service.
To view the application form, visit:
https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12878609