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 for referral is 11:59 pm (EST), December 31, 2023.

Duties

The primary purpose of these positions is to assist with the implementation of fish population monitoring throughout the park. These positions will serve on a field crew conducting backpacking electrofishing surveys in mountain stream habitats. During monitoring surveys, fish will be captured, identified, measured, weighed, and released. Additional duties include assisting with all aspects of the monitoring protocol including netting fish, fish identification, measuring stream habitat, and collecting information on water quality and quantity. Standardized software is used for data entry and summaries. The GS-06 position will serve as assistant crew lead on the field crew conducting backpacking electrofishing surveys within mountain stream habitats. Additional duties include leading and assisting with all aspects of the monitoring protocol including netting fish, fish identification, measuring stream habitat, and collecting information on water quality and quantity. This position will also assist with aquatic macroinvertebrate monitoring for six weeks at the beginning of the season. The assistant crew lead will be responsible for maintaining and repairing equipment. This position will work from mid-April through early September 2024. The GS-05 positions will be focused on fisheries monitoring and will work from late-May through early-September 2024. THESE POSITIONS INVOLVE 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 & HUMIDITY, COLD, WIND, RAIN, STINGING INSECTS, AND TICKS (INCLUDING TICKS THAT CARRY LYME DISEASE). SELECTEE MUST BE CAPABLE OF LIFTING, CARRYING AND PACKING OBJECTS AND LOADS OF 40-50 POUNDS. THE POSITIONS REQUIRE FREQUENT STRENUOUS ACTIVITY. It is anticipated there will be four positions filled at the GS-05 level and one position filled at the GS-06 level. These positions are covered by the RUS Salary Table. GS-05 salary is $18.06 PH. GS-06 salary is $20.14 PH. 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; which is a small rural community in the Shenandoah Valley with all the usual facilities and services including grocery stores and restaurants, and a population of about 5000. Nearby local towns include Harrisonburg, 33 miles; Winchester, 44 miles; and Charlottesville, 66 miles. Shenandoah National Park contains 197,000acres 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 Evan Childress ([email protected]). When inquiring by email please include the job announcement number NE-1612-SHEN-24-12217596-DE in the subject line.

Requirements

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-04/26/2024-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 comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-04 level in the federal service. Specialized experience is experience conducting fisheries, animal or plant inventory and monitoring work, and that demonstrates knowledge of fisheries, animal or plant inventory and monitoring techniques and included performing duties such as conducting environmental monitoring and management activities related to fishery and/or wildlife by making field observations, conducting surveys, and recording and entering data into databases (such as Microsoft Access and ESRI ArcMap, or comparable software). You must include hours per week worked. -OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least 4 years of education above high school leading to a bachelor's degree in an accredited institution, with major study or 24 semester hours in biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture, or mathematics. At least 6 semester hours must be in fisheries study, such as ichthyology, aquatic ecology, aquatic entomology, biology, ecology, environmental science or natural resource management. You must include transcripts. -OR- COMBINATION 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 (beyond the second year) is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. One full academic year of study {30 semester hours} beyond the second year is equivalent to 6 months of specialized experience.) For example, 6 months of specialized experience as described above (50% of the experience requirement), and 3 years of college study from an accredited institution as described above (50% of the education requirement). 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 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-05 level in the Federal service. This experience MUST HAVE BEEN in the Biological Technician field in the specialization of fisheries. Examples of specialized experience related to fish may include, but is not limited to: assisting with project management of resource management projects; assisting in the development of resource management project reports, including literature research, descriptions of methods, summary of results; entering and modifying biological data in a computer database; performing a variety of behavioral or measured data collection activities such as monitoring and managing tasks related to breeding species, etc.; or utilizing various techniques to gather biological samples. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- EDUCATION: Successfully completion of at least one full year of graduate education in an accredited educational institution (18 semester hours) of fisheries coursework directly related to the work of the position (such as ichthyology, aquatic ecology, aquatic entomology, biology, environmental science, or natural resource management). 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 specialized experience (50% of the experience requirements) combined with 6 months of directly related graduate education (50% of the graduate education requirements). 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]