Natural Resources Specialist

Summary This position is located in the Grand Junction Field Office, in Grand Junction, Colorado. This is a Term Appointment not to exceed 13 months however may be extended up to 4 years. Responsibilities Perform a variety of professional and technical functions related to natural resource management. Apply analytical and evaluative methods and techniques to well precedented projects and studies concerning issues or problems of a procedural or factual nature, and/or readily observable condition. Make recommendations to resolve such issues in accordance with established methods, guidelines and precedents. May work on projects with a geographically or organizationally limited scope (e.g. at the field or district office level) or may work on portions of broader studies with guidance and oversight from a higher graded specialist. Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications In order to qualify, you must meet one of the Basic Requirements AND one of the Minimum Qualification Requirements described below. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience. If qualifying based on education, a copy of your unofficial transcripts must be provided with your application. Basic Requirement for the Natural Resources Specialist GS-0401: Education: 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 biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. OR, Combination of Education and Experience: Courses equivalent to a major, as shown above in (biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines), plus appropriate experience or additional education related to the position. AND, MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you have the required specialized experience and/or education for the respective grade level in which you are applying: Specialized Experience GS-09 : Applicants must have one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-07grade level in the Federal service (obtained either in the private or public sectors) performing the following: (1) assisting field level interdisciplinary teams by collecting, recording, and identifying discrepancies in data, (2) drafting and reviewing common natural resource and ecological monitoring information for Field Office documents such as environmental assessments, biological assessments, development of protective stipulations, and resource management plans; (3) providing support to higher graded specialists for all resource programs relating to the monitoring, analysis, and reporting of vegetation, soil, and water resources data; (4) providing monitoring and inventories as assigned to meet planned work accomplishments and/or data collection needs in support of the assessment, inventory, and monitoring program, Land Health Evaluations, RMP Effectiveness, and other permitted uses on BLM managed land. OR, Education GS-09: Successful completion of 2 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree, in a field that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to conduct the work of this position such as biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. OR, Combination Education and Specialized Experience GS-09: An equivalent combination of specialized experience and graduate education as described above, when combined, equals 100% of the total requirement. Please note only graduate education in excess of one year (18 semester hours) may be used to qualify under this option. This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENTS: Merit promotion applicants must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements to be considered eligible. One year at the GS-07 is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-09 level. (Must submit your SF-50 (s) that shows Time-in-Grade eligibility and reflects your title, series, and grade. No award SF-50 will be accepted). Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). 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. You must include months, years and hours per week worked to receive credit for your work and/or volunteer experience. One year of specialized experience is equivalent to 12 months at 40 hours per week. Part-time hours are prorated. You will not receive any credit for experience that does not indicate exact hours per week or is listed as "varies". 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. GRADUATE EDUCATION: One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study. Additional Information Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program. Any individual who is currently holding, or has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet time-in-grade requirements (must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent in the Federal service). Time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Physical Demands: The work requires the incumbent to spend time performing both office and field work. The office work is primarily sedentary and may require walking, standing, and carrying light items, such as books, small instruments or samples, and other similar materials. While at the field office, the incumbent may occasionally lift materials such as fence posts, barbed wire, and seed bags, etc., requiring lifting of loads up to 50 pounds. Field duties involve long hours of driving, hiking, climbing, and other forms of outdoor physical activities in remote locations. Occasional project construction work may be physically demanding, such as building or removing fences, constructing wildlife guzzlers, developing springs, etc. The incumbent is expected to operate a four-wheel drive vehicle in remote areas in complicated terrain. Other modes of transportation such as off highway vehicles may occasionally be used. Working Conditions: The work environment varies from an office setting where the incumbent has regular contact with work associates to a field setting where the incumbent is working alone for extended periods of time in remote situations. Field work will involve outdoor exposure, including some discomfort in extremes of temperature or inclement weather. The incumbent may be subjected to hostile wildlife and physical hazards. Certain incentives (such as Recruitment, Relocation or Student Loan Repayment) may be authorized to eligible selectees. If eligible and qualified, you may be offered a recruitment or relocation incentive. The decision to offer an incentive will be made on a case-by-case basis and is neither promised nor guaranteed. For information visit: Recruitment Incentive or Relocation Incentive or Student Loan Repayment. Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) or Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP): For information on how to apply as an ICTAP or CTAP eligible see http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/ctap_guideline.pdf. To be well-qualified and exercise selection priority for this vacancy, displaced Federal employees must be rated at 90 or above on the rating criteria for this position. If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, please contact San Antonio Services Branch at [email protected] or 816-541-8101.