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), January 8, 2024.

Duties

These positions will assist the park botanist by performing biological science technical support functions including plant identification, detailed plant monitoring, data entry, equipment management, and specimen processing. Projects include long-term forest monitoring, rare plant monitoring, meadow monitoring, and plant protection activities. Technicians collect and organize natural resources data, and enter data into computer spreadsheets and databases daily or weekly. Data summary and basic report writing is required. Some protective barrier repair, and replanting of confiscated plants may also be required. Duties include: Actively participate on a field crew of 2-5 people to gather vegetation MONITORING data in forest and rare plant plots and provide periodic field leadership to technicians/interns gathering vegetation monitoring data. Provide assistance with program administrative duties such as data entry, image management, and GIS information management in support of vegetation MONITORING projects. Develop field reports and summaries using literature reviews, images, graphs, and maps. Use vehicles and equipment safely and care for specialized sampling equipment used for vegetation MONITORING data collection. (GS-07) Serve as a plant identification and vegetation sampling field methods expert to other employees engaged in field MONITORING tasks. (GS-07) Provide daily work planning and supervision to 5 technicians and interns to ensure completion of technically complex and physically demanding field and office tasks by established deadlines. Required to use chemical tick bite prevention measures (Permanone) on exterior of clothing and equipment. It is anticipated that up to three positions will be filled at the GS-05 level and one position will be filled at the GS-07 level. GS-05 salary is $18.06 per hour. GS-07 salary is $22.37 per hour. POSITION LOCATION: Shenandoah National Park preserves and protects more than 300 square miles of nationally significant natural and cultural resources, scenic beauty, and congressionally designated wilderness within Virginia's northern Blue Ridge Mountains; and provides a broad range of opportunities for public enjoyment, recreation, inspiration, and stewardship. Within just 90 miles of Washington D.C. the Park provides visitors the ability to explore mountain peaks, hidden hollows, cascading streams, accessible wilderness, and stunning natural beauty. Approximately 40% of the Park is designated wilderness with over 500 miles of hiking trails and the iconic Skyline Drive, SHEN was established as an eastern Park that provided a "western Park experience". Due to the Park's easy accessibility to D.C and other highly populated areas along the east coast, visitation exceeds 1.4 million visitors annually which results in significant resource protection and visitor management issues and incidents. 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] and include the job announcement number NE-1612-SHEN-24-12236294-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 comparable in scope and responsibility to at least the GS-04 level in the federal service performing inventory, monitoring, or management activities on vegetation/plants. Examples include field surveys to document and assess vegetation composition, abundance, growth, and health using established protocols and standard scientific equipment; conducting or assisting with terrestrial vegetation monitoring in forest or meadow/grassland habitats; conducting or assisting with invasive plant management in forest or grassland/meadow areas in a professional work or research setting. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least four years of study above high school (120 semester hours) leading to a bachelor's degree with major study or at least 24 semester hours of course work in a related field. Related fields of study include biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture, or mathematics. (At least 6 semester hours of this course work must have been in subjects that were directly related to the work of this position, such as botany, plants, or other natural resource topics related to vegetation monitoring.) You must include transcripts. -OR- EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION COMBINATION: 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. Two full academic years of study, or 60 semester hours, beyond the second year is equivalent to one year of specialized experience.) 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 from an accredited institution as described above (50% of the qualifying education) which included at least 12 semester hours of related coursework as specified above of which at least 3 semester hours was in plant, botany, or natural resource related subjects (50% of the related coursework required). 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-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 at least the GS-05 level in the federal service performing inventory, monitoring, or management activities on vegetation/plants. Examples include field surveys to document and assess vegetation composition, abundance, growth, and health using established protocols and standard scientific equipment; conducting terrestrial vegetation monitoring in forest or meadow/grassland habitats; conducting or assisting with invasive plant management in forest or grassland/meadow areas in a professional work or research setting. This work should demonstrate experience that directly affects the operational planning and staff supervision needed to complete natural resource activities (independently resolving problems; selecting the best course of action for planning and executing work; directing assistants 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 botany, plants, or other natural resource topics related to the specialized vegetation monitoring focus of this position. You must include transcripts. -OR- EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION COMBINATION: Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, 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). Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. 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.

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]