Positions are TEMPORARY seasonal not to exceed 1039 hours of work in a service year. This is an open continuous vacancy announcement. Applicants will be referred periodically throughout the announcement period. Final application disposition will be completed once all positions have been filled or the announcement reaches the end of the open period stated in this announcement. The first cut-off date is 11:59 pm (est), December 22, 2023.

Duties

The purpose of this position is to perform human-wildlife conflicts management in Shenandoah National Park. Performs as a field assistant to park biologists and a Lead Biological Technician to implement a human-wildlife conflict/aversive conditioning program (primarily black bear). Major duties include: assessing habituated or food-conditioned black bear and white-tailed deer behavior in developed areas; perform basic aversive conditioning on habituated bears and deer throughout the park's developed areas. Basic aversive conditioning includes the ability to safely use air horns, paintball guns, beanbag rounds, and projectile noisemakers for the purposes of hazing primarily habituated black bear and deer. conduct (or assist with) food-conditioned bear culvert-trapping and will assist with relocations; assist with food-conditioned bear free-range capture work (including tagging and collaring) and also live-trap nuisance raccoons and skunks; conduct surveillance for potential chronic wasting disease (CWD) positive deer and conducting opportunistic CWD surveillance by sampling road-killed deer throughout the park; maintains wildlife management equipment and performs data entry into customized computer databases; use standardized software for preliminary wildlife data analysis and summary; reports natural resource-related violations to law enforcement staff ; may assist with wildlife monitoring, forest pest management, peregrine falcon management work and park search and rescue operations. THESE POSITIONS INVOLVE SOME LONG DISTANCE HIKING, up to 5 miles a day in steep, mountainous terrain in all types of weather. There may be frequent exposure to high heat and humidity, cold, wind, rain, stinging insects, and ticks that may carry Lyme disease. Must also be capable of lifting, carrying and packing objects and loads of 40-50 pounds and will require frequent strenuous activity such as loading a bear culvert trap into a pickup truck bed. It is anticipated that up to two positions will be filled at the GS-05 level and one position will be filled at either the GS-06 level or the GS-07 level. These positions are covered by the RUS Salary Table. GS-05 salary is $18.06 PH. GS-06 salary is $20.14 PH. GS-07 salary is $22.37 PH. Physical Demands and Working Conditions: The work is performed in an office, laboratory, and in the field. Field work includes frequent exposure to extreme weather conditions including high heat and humidity, cold, wind, and rain and terrain; and exposure to pesticides, poisonous plants, biting insects, ticks (including ticks that carry Lyme disease), and wild animals. The positions involve some long distance hiking, up to 5 miles a day in steep, mountainous terrain in all types of weather. Must be capable of lifting, carrying and packing objects and loads of 40-50 pounds; also requires the ability to load a bear culvert trap into the back of a pickup truck. Laboratory work may involve exposure to hazardous chemicals. POSITION LOCATION: These positions will be with the Division of Natural and Cultural Resources, Shenandoah National Park Headquarters Complex. Headquarters is located approximately 4 miles from Luray, Virginia; a small rural community in the Shenandoah Valley with all the usual facilities and services including schools, and a population of about 4900. Nearby local towns include Harrisonburg, 33 miles; Winchester, 44 miles; and Charlottesville, 66 miles. Shenandoah National Park contains over 197,000 acres along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northern Virginia. The Park's backcountry consists of more than 500 miles of trails, including 95 miles of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, and nearly 80,000 acres of federally designed wilderness. Skyline Drive, the famous scenic tour road through the Park, follows the ridge crest for 105 miles from Front Royal to the Blue Ridge Parkway near Waynesboro. Over a million people visit the Park each year to enjoy views from the Skyline Drive, hike trails, fish for trout, camp in campgrounds or in the backcountry, or stay overnight in one of the Park's rustic lodges or backcountry cabins. Park forests support a variety of wildlife, including deer, black bear and bobcats, and the mountain streams are inhabited by numerous species of fishes, including brook trout. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: For additional information regarding this announcement or how to apply, please contact the HR Office at the number or email provided under the "agency contact information" section. For specific questions pertaining to the position being advertised, please contact [email protected]. When inquiring by email please include the job announcement number NE-1612-SHEN-24-12219053-DE in the subject line.

Requirements

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-02/23/2024-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (month/year), and the resume must reflect full and/or part-time or total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time). If part-time, the hours must be annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount of qualified specialized experience. To qualify for this position at the GS-05 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement: EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-04 level in the Federal service that includes performing biological technician duties that included conducting wildlife inventory, monitoring, or management activities on mammals/wildlife. Examples include conducting field surveys in remote locations to document and assess mammal presence, abundance, reproduction, and/or population dynamics using established protocols and standard scientific equipment; conducting or assisting with nuisance black bear management culvert trapping and/or aversive conditioning; conducting white-tailed deer management in a professional work or research setting. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of a a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with major study or 24 semester hours of course work in a related field of scientific or technical study, such as biology, wildlife ecology, wildlife management, zoology, entomology, botany, animal husbandry, wildlife survey techniques, mammalogy, ornithology, dendrology, or natural resources management. At least 6 semester hours of courses must be in wildlife ecology, wildlife management, wildlife survey techniques, mammalogy, or wildlife biology (or other course work that is directly related to the specialized focus of this position - wildlife management). You must include transcripts. -OR- COMBINIATION OF EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. (NOTE: Only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours of a course of study leading to a bachelor's degree is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirements.) For example, I have 6 months of the specialized experience described above (50% of the experience requirement), and 3 years (90 semester hours) of college study that included at least 12 semester hours of the required courses (50% of the qualifying education/coursework). Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include transcripts. To qualify for this position at the GS-06 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement: EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-05 level in the federal service that includes performing biological technician duties that included conducting wildlife inventory, monitoring, or management activities on mammals/wildlife. Examples include conducting field surveys in remote locations to document and assess mammal presence, abundance, reproduction, and/or population dynamics using established protocols and standard scientific equipment; conducting food-conditioned black bear culvert trapping (or free-range capture) and habituated black bear aversive conditioning; conducting white-tailed deer management including Chronic Wasting Disease surveillance/sampling in a professional work or research setting. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least one full year of graduate education concentrated in a field that is directly related to the work of this position such as wildlife ecology, wildlife management, wildlife survey techniques, mammalogy, wildlife biology, or other course work directly related to the specialized wildlife management focus of this position. You must include transcripts. -OR- COMBINATION OF EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, I have 6 months of the specialized experience described above (50% of the experience requirement), and 9 semester hours of graduate study described above (50% of the qualifying education). The percentages must total at least 100. You must include transcripts. To qualify for this position at the GS-07 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement: EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-06 level in the federal service that includes performing biological technician duties that included conducting wildlife inventory, monitoring, or management activities on mammals/wildlife. Examples include conducting field surveys in remote locations to document and assess mammal presence, abundance, reproduction, and/or population dynamics using established protocols and standard scientific equipment; conducting food-conditioned black bear culvert trapping (or free-range capture) and habituated black bear aversive conditioning; conducting white-tailed deer management including Chronic Wasting Disease surveillance/sampling in a professional work or research setting. This work should demonstrate experience that directly affects the design, operation, and adequacy of natural resource activities (independently resolving problems; selecting the best course of action for planning and executing work; and applying a wide range of conventional methods and solutions to new situations). You must include hours per week worked. -OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least one full year of graduate education concentrated in a field that is directly related to the work of this position such as wildlife ecology, wildlife management, wildlife survey techniques, mammalogy, wildlife biology, or other course work directly related to the specialized wildlife management focus of this position. You must include transcripts. -OR- COMBINATION OF EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, I have 6 months of the specialized experience described above (50% of the experience requirement), and 9 semester hours of graduate study described above (50% of the qualifying education). The percentages must total at least 100. You must include transcripts. 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. 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 85 or above on the rating criteria for this position.

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.

Contacts

• Address Shenandoah National Park 3655 Hwy 211 East Luray, VA 22835 US
• Name: Debbie Truax
• Phone: 540-999-3500 (3479)
• Email: [email protected]