Chief Forester

Summary

This position is located with Bonneville Power Administration, in the Vegetation Management & Forestry (TFBV), Internal Operations (TFB), Transmission Field Services (TF), Transmission Services (T). A successful candidate in the Chief Forester position will be responsible for planning, leading, and managing the Forestry program. The incumbent is delegated valuation authority and the authority to dispose of BPA timber property.

Duties

• As a Chief Forester, you will: Be responsible for appraising rural and urban forest related timber. Exercise unlimited review authority for timber cruise/valuations prepared by government staff or outside private sector Professional Foresters. Establish BPA wide forestry policy and procedural activity. Develop training material on the greater knowledge of timber and utilizes this material as the BPA's principle trainer of Foresters, Appraisers, Realty Specialists, and others regarding the cruising and valuation of timber to the public, peers, management, and other groups associated with timber issues. Provide expert technical assistance to the Chief Appraiser in the valuation and evaluation of forest properties and technical oversight and review of timber cruising and clearing specifications for new or rebuild line construction. Serve as the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) for timber related services undertaken by the BPA and TFBV's vegetation patrol and inspection services contract. Plan work to be accomplished by subordinates, set and adjust priorities, prepare schedules for completion of work and present completed work to their superiors.

Qualifications

BASIC REQUIREMENT: Degree: forestry; or a related subject-matter field that included a total of at least 30 semester hours in any combination of biological, physical, or mathematical sciences or engineering, of which at least 24 semester hours of course work were in forestry. The curriculum must have been sufficiently diversified to include courses in each of the following areas: Management of Renewable Resources -- study of the science and art of managing renewable resources to attain desired results. Examples of creditable courses in this area include silviculture, forest management operations, timber management, wildland fire science or fire management, utilization of forest resources, forest regulation, recreational land management, watershed management, and wildlife or range habitat management. Forest Biology -- study of the classification, distribution, characteristics, and identification of forest vegetation, and the interrelationships of living organisms to the forest environment. Examples of creditable courses in this area include dendrology, forest ecology, silvics, forest genetics, wood structure and properties, forest soils, forest entomology, and forest pathology. Forest Resource Measurements and Inventory -- sampling, inventory, measurement, and analysis techniques as applied to a variety of forest resources. Examples of creditable courses include forest biometrics, forest mensuration, forest valuation, statistical analysis of forest resource data, renewable natural resources inventories and analysis, and photogrammetry or remote sensing. -OR- Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in forestry, or at least 30 semester hours in any combination of biological, physical, or mathematical sciences or engineering, of which at least 24 semester hours were in forestry. The requirements for diversification of the 24 semester hours in forestry are the same as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS A qualified candidate's resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-12) in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position is defined as: 1) performing timber appraisals to determine timber volume, quality, and monetary value for rights-of-way projects; 2) developing short- and long-term forestry, vegetation management projects, or timber clearing work plans for transmission rights-of-way maintenance clearing activities; and 3) serving as a contracting office representative in monitoring performance and compliance with contract specifications. "Experience" refers to paid and unpaid experience. Examples of qualifying unpaid experience may include: volunteer work done through National Service programs (such as Peace Corps and AmeriCorps); as well as work for other community-based philanthropic and social organizations. 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. Time-in-Grade: Current Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement to receive consideration. CTAP candidates: To be considered "well qualified" you must meet all of the requirements as described in this section. You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Requirements

In accordance with Executive Order 14170, applicants are encouraged to respond to four short, free-response, essay questions in the questionnaire. Answer to these questions is not scored or rated. Your answers will be reviewed by the hiring manager and agency leadership if you are referred for selection consideration. When you apply you will be asked a series of questions to determine your eligibility for employment and your qualification for this position specifically. You must answer all of these questions completely and truthfully. Key Requirements: You must be a United States Citizen. This employer participates in the e-Verify program. Males must abide by Selective Service registration requirements. You will be required to report in person to the official duty location. Conditions of Employment: Selectee will be required to complete the Office of Government Ethics Standard of Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OFGE450e) within 30 days of employment and annually. This position requires a valid driver's license as a condition of employment. Work is performed in the office and field. Fieldwork requires moderate physical exertion including hiking through BPA rights-of-way, which includes very steep and uneven terrain. The work is performed in a variety of weather conditions. May be required to serve as Contracting Officers Representative for BPA grants and agreements; this duty includes additional training and certification. Hiring incentives may be authorized for a highly qualified candidate based on budget availability and in accordance with federal regulations. A preliminary background check must be completed before a new employee can begin work. Current Federal employees or other individuals with an existing completed background investigation may not be required to undergo another background check.

Education

This vacancy has a positive education requirement. In order to be rated as qualified, you must provide copies of your college transcripts. Education must be obtained from an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. See Department of Education Accreditation Search to verify school accreditation. Foreign education must be reviewed by an organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For special instructions pertaining to foreign education and a list of organizations that can evaluate foreign education, see the Department of Education website.DO NOT email or mail in any of your application documents. Documents will not be accepted outside of the online application system. Failure to provide copies of your college transcripts may result in a rating of "Ineligible".

How to apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section. A complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on the announcement closing date to receive consideration. The application process is as follows: You must have a login.gov account to sign into USAJOBS: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to/account. To begin the application process in USAJOBS, click the Apply Online button. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all required and supporting documentation. You must click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 pm (ET) on the announcement closing date. After submitting an online application, you will be notified whether or not you are required to take additional online assessments through the USA Hire Competency Based Assessment system. This message will be delivered to you via email notification. The email may be routed to your "Spam" or "Junk" folder. If you are asked to take the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be presented with a unique URL to access the USA Hire system. Access to USA Hire is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Be sure to review all instructions prior to beginning your USA Hire Assessments. Click here for Computer System Requirements Note, set aside at least 3 hours to take these assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue at a later time, you can reuse the URL sent to you via email and also found in your USAJOBS account under the "Track my application" link for the corresponding application. You may update your application, including supporting documentation, at any time during the announcement open period by returning to your USAJOBS account, select Update Application: https://login.usajobs.gov/Account/Login. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To verify the status of your application, during and after the announcement open period, log into your USAJOBS account; applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each application status means, visit: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to/application/status. If you need help with login.gov or USAJOBS (e.g., account access, Resume Builder) visit the USAJOBS Help Center: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to If you experience difficulty applying on USAJOBS, after clicking the Apply Online button, or you are experiencing a significant hardship hindering your ability to apply online, the Agency Contact listed in the announcement can assist you during normal business hours. If you receive any system error messages, take screenshots if possible, to aid technical support.