This position is located on the Ecological Sciences Staff in a state, area, or field office of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Department (USDA). The mission of NRCS is to provide leadership in a partnership effort to help people conserve, maintain and improve their natural resouruces and environment.

Duties

Prepares and maintains all technical guides and information dealing with cultural resources. Keeps abreast of developments and research in Archeological methods and procedures. Carries out field investigations and produces professional quality cultural resources investigation and assessment reports. Identifies necessary cultural resources studies, develops specifications for scopes of work, determines cultural and scientific significance of identified resources in accordance with the guidelines and national Register of Historic Places criteria. Prepares technical cultural resource sections of contracts, environmental documents, agreement documents and other instruments of agency intent.

Requirements

• You must be a US Citizen or US National.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
• Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check. If selected you will be sent instructions on obtaining fingerprints. Please note we are not able to reimburse any fees incurred for fingerprints.
• Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served.
• Subject to one-year supervisory/managerial probationary period unless prior service is creditable. New USDA supervisors must successfully complete all components of the required training program before the end of their probationary period.
• Direct Deposit: 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 at https://www.e-verify.gov/.
• Must possess and maintain a valid state motor vehicle operator's license for the type of vehicle(s) operated to perform the duties of this position.

Qualifications

Applicants must have one year of specialized experience at the next lower grade to be considered for the next higher grade (e.g.one year at the GS-11 grade level for consideration for the GS-12 grade level). You must possess the Basic Requirements indicated below, plus additional specialized experience and/or education to be considered eligible for this position. Your application or resume must clearly show that you possess the appropriate specialized experience requirements. The following link provides more information on the qualifications for these positions: Professional and Scientific Positions Basic Requirements: A. Education 1. Degree: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included a major field of study that included 3 semester hours each in 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, 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. 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. 2. 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 B. Combination of Education and Experience: College-level education or training that provided knowledge equivalent to that described above, plus appropriate technical experience or additional education. OR C. 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 the requirements described above, the following additional experience is required: Specialized experience GS-12:You must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience, equivalent to GS-11 level in the Federal Service or comparable experience not gained through Federal Service. For this position, Specialized experience is defined as experience assisting in conducting background studies and document reviews pertaining to archeological project development. Examples of specialized experience include: Developing compliance policy and procedures for cultural resources preservation and tribal consultation in the state; Managing archeology field experience with a combination of archeological survey, excavation, laboratory analysis, and preparation of written materials; Providing archaeology and cultural resources technical assistance, guidance and training to various personnel; Evaluating the significance of archaeological, historical, and traditional cultural resources. Note: There is no education substitution for the GS-12 level. For more information on the qualifications for this position, click here: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=GS-PROF 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 and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Education

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
You must submit a copy of your transcripts to include course number, title, completion and grade. Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. If a relevant course is not clearly qualifying (e.g. special topic, seminar, research, thesis, obscure or misleading course title, etc.), please submit an official course syllabi and/or detailed course description from the university/college for that particular course to ensure you are properly evaluated. Please note that qualifications determinations are based solely on the information submitted for each particular vacancy announcement.

Important: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. Click on this link for more information.

Failure to provide all of the required documents/information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

Contacts

• Address Natural Resources Conservation Service 1400 Independence Ave SW Washington, DC 20250 US
• Name: Shakita McLean
• Phone: 443-482-2774
• Email: [email protected]