Archeologist

Summary

These 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

• The duties listed below are at the full performance level.
• Perform archeological inventory to identify and assess the resources within the area that may be impacted by proposed projects.
• Design inventory strategies to support land use planning.
• Interpret heritage and cultural resources to the public and professional contacts through presentations at visitor facilities and professional conferences.
• Provide heritage and cultural resource management orientation to personnel on statutes, regulations and purpose of work to be performed.
• Develop contract specifications for heritage and cultural resource work.
• Coordinate the budget and project plan of work for archeological and cultural activities.
• Prepare maps of heritage and cultural resource areas.
• Write technical documents for a wide range of heritage program activities.

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. This is an interdisciplinary position and may be filled in any of the job series listed below. Basic Requirement: GS-0193 - Archeology: Degree: Successful completion 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 3 semester hours in each of 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; AND 6 semester hours of related course work in: geography, geology, or cultural geography; history, histography, or historical archeology; environmental studies; scientific writing (nonfiction English composition); and/or surveying; AND archeological field school. OR Successful completion a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in a related curriculum such as anthropology (with emphasis on ethnology, physical anthropology, or scientific linguistics), history, American studies, or a related discipline, provided the curriculum supplied academic course work sufficiently similar to the requirements in the previous statement (including archeological field school). OR A combination of education and experience -- education equivalent to a major in Archeology as described above, plus appropriate technical experience or additional education. OR 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-07: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as one or more of the following: Conducted routine field reconnaissance searches, identified and marked archeological sites, prepared site location maps, recorded findings, photographed artifact findings, and prepared sites sketches as necessary; and/or Assisted in searching for and examining historical records and findings of other archeological experts. OR Successful completion at least one year (18 semester/27 quarter hours) of graduate education leading toward a Master's degree or higher that included coursework directly related to this position. OR An appropriate combination of graduate level education and specialized experience, courses equivalent to a major in Archeology as described above, plus appropriate technical experience or additional education. OR Superior Academic Achievement (to determine eligibility, go to: http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/policy/ApplicationOfStds-04.asp). The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. For the GS-09: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as one or more of the following: Assisted in conducting background studies and document reviews pertaining to archeological project development; Participated in archeological survey and site evaluation work and preparation of technical reports; Interpreted cultural resources to public contacts in one-on-one conversations; Received formal and on-the-job instructions and training on the practical application of archeological principles, theories, methods, practices, and techniques; and/or Developed and coordinated networks and contacts beneficial to the successful performance of archeological work assignments, such as interacting technically with colleagues and supervisors, and demonstrating the ability to work cooperatively with other persons. OR Successful completion of 2 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or have received a master's or equivalent graduate degree in archeology or directly related coursework. OR An appropriate combination of graduate level education (beyond 18 semester hours) and specialized experience that is directly related to this position that together meets the qualification requirements for this position. 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 Qualifications section for educational requirements.

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.