Archeologist

Summary

Positions may be filled at one or more of the duty locations included in this announcement. Final determination of the duty location will be made at the time of the job offer. For additional questions about the duties of these positions, refer to the Additional Information Section for names and email addresses for points of contact by Region.

Duties

• Duties listed are at the full performance level GS-12.
• Serve as Forest Historian with responsibility for providing historical information not only as part of cultural resource compliance needs, but also in terms of interpretive information services to the public in various forms.
• Write, edit, and prepare cultural resources interpretive information.
• Interpret scientific research and data regarding cultural resources into formats appropriate for Forest recreational users and special interest groups.
• Work with the Forest Public Information Officer and District Rangers to ensure that all cultural resources interpretive information reaching the public is scientifically accurate and conforms to Forest and Regional policy.
• Act as liaison between the forest and Native American groups on the forest policy regarding Native American concerns and requests for archeological information.
• Administer the cultural resources program including compliance surveys and clearances, interpretation, coordination with other resources, stabilization, permits, and priority of work assignments.
• Identify the cultural resources requirements to be met in preparing environmental and planning documents.
• Advise the Forest Supervisor and Management team on the requirements, impacts, and consequences of current legislation and directives affecting cultural resource management.
• Coordinate and consult with State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPO). Works closely with SHPOs in carrying out historic preservations mandates, interpretive initiatives, National Register nominations, and overall program development.
• Supervisory Responsibilities less than 20%.

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. Basic Requirement GS-0193 - Degree that included 3 semester hours each in the following course areas: History of archeology. 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. Theory and methods of archeology. Methods include, but are not limited to, typology, classification, sampling, cultural evolution, diffusion, dating, and analytical techniques. 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. Archeology of a major geographical area such as North America or Africa. 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. 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 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. In addition to meeting the basic requirement, you must also possess experience and/or directly related education in the amounts listed below. Specialized Experience Requirement: For the GS-11: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as one or more of the following: Performed standard tasks or portions of larger projects of an archeological program, such as conducted performance studies and examined historical research documents pertaining to project development; interpreted cultural resources to public and professional audiences through presentations, exhibit development, or publication in professional journals; assisted professional archeologists in developing/enhancing archeological program components, such as scientific reporting, records and database management, and cultural resource condition monitoring; and/or evaluated problems associated with archeological site protection and implemented corrective measures within the framework of archeological program and legal requirements. OR Successfully completed 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree that is directly related to the work of this position. OR A combination of specialized experience, as reflected in A., 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.). For the GS-12: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as one or more of the following: Developed and implemented moderately complex programs such as cultural resource survey and evaluation, State Historic Preservation Office and Tribal agreement formulation, cultural resource condition monitoring, or records and artifact collections management; Developed and implemented work such as scientific evaluation of archaeological site significance, repatriation of Native American human remains, or preparation of interpretive information; Evaluated a wide range of problems such as the accurate reporting of cultural resource survey, testing and monitoring findings, and implemented corrective measures; Provided strategy for the integration of heritage program goals with other natural resources program objectives and input to protect or mitigate impacts to cultural sites. 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.

Requirements

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. 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. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may 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. 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.

Education

See above for education that may be qualifying for the GS-11. There is no substitution of education for specialized experience for the GS-12.

How to apply

Please view Tips for Applicants - a guide to the Forest Service application process. Please read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (7:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Mountain Time Zone, Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, contact the Agency Contact listed below well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages must be complete and submitted no later than noon ET on the closing date of the announcement to be entered into the system prior to its closing. Resumes must not exceed two pages. This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis. Contact the Agency Contact to request this. To begin, click "Apply" and follow the instructions to complete the Assessment Questionnaire and attach your resume and all required documents. Please verify that documents you are uploading from USAJOBs transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded documents must be less than 5MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, TXT or Word (DOC or DOCX). Do not upload Adobe Portfolio documents because they are not viewable. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration. Please ensure your resume does not exceed two pages. Applicants who submit a resume that exceeds two pages will be removed from consideration. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, your system failure, etc.