Job Information

National Park Service Environmental Protection Specialist in Fort Collins, Colorado

Summary This position is located in Natural Resources Stewardship and Science, in the Resource Protection Branch. The incumbent works primarily to assist park staff with planning, implementing, and monitoring restoration projects. Open to the first 50 applicants or until 12/13/2024 whichever comes first. All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration. Responsibilities The major duties of the Environmental Protection Specialist position include, but are not limited to, the following: Restoration Project Manager for assigned projects Service-wide, providing guidance, support, and tracking of project accomplishments and funds for Park staff to ensure compliance with SURPA, NEPA, ESA, NHPA, and other applicable laws and regulations. Provides technical assistance as needed to planning groups, contracting office, consulting firms, park and regional staff, and other federal and state trustee agencies. Serves as an assistant to the Damage Assessment Case Officers, working as required with other DOI bureaus, federal and state agencies, and responsible parties to conduct NRDA activities in accordance with NPS, DOI, and Federal government policies and procedures. Upon designation as a COR, assumes responsibility for execution and monitoring of contract work by developing products such as task orders and scopes of work, monitoring professional performance, reviewing invoices, and ensuring timely and professional execution of the projects. Participates and assists in response or damage assessment activities during emergency situations such as oil spills and chemical releases. Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level. Requirements Conditions of Employment U.S. Citizenship required. Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication. Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males. Complete the initial online assessment and USAHire Assessment, if required. Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program. Any individual who is currently holding, or has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet time-in-grade requirements (must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent in the Federal service); with few exceptions as outlined in 5 CFR 300.603(b). Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal civilian employees applying for reinstatement who have had a break in service of less than one year, as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointments. Time-in-grade does not apply to new excepted service appointments. Time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work. You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 3 nights per month. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes. You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority. You will be required to complete a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report, OGE-450 on an annual basis. Qualifications All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-12/13/2024-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of specialized experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected. To qualify for this position at the GS-12 grade level, you must possess all 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-11 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience must include all of the following: (1) Must have direct experience working on a Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) project for a Department of the Interior bureau or other federal or state agency, in support of the project manager. (2) Must have direct experience preparing written technical or scientific reports. You must include hours per week worked. 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. You must include months, years and hours per week worked to receive credit for your work and/or volunteer experience. One year of specialized experience is equivalent to 12 months at 40 hours per week. Part-time hours are prorated. You will not receive any credit for experience that does not indicate exact hours per week or is listed as "varies". Experience listed as full-time will be credited at 40 hours per week. Education There is no substitution of education for experience at the grade level(s) of this announcement. Additional Information A selectee receiving a first appointment to the Federal Government (Civil Service) is entitled only to the lowest step of the grade for which selected. The display of a salary range on this vacancy shall not be construed as granting an entitlement to a higher rate of pay. This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if identical vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate. Promotion to the full performance level is neither guaranteed nor implied and will be based solely on your ability to satisfactorily perform the work of the position, existing work at the higher grade level, and recommendation by the position's supervisor. Physical Demands: Work is primarily sedentary in an office environment but may require limited physical exertion such as long periods of standing; walking over rough, uneven, or rocky surfaces; recurring bending, crouching, stooping, stretching, reaching, or similar activities. Operation of and travel within motor vehicles is required. There may also be some training requirements, such as HAZWOPER training, for on-stie visits or emergency response deployments, that will require physical strength and agility. Working Conditions: Work is primarily performed in an office environment. There is some commercial travel to field offices and site visits which can involve exposure to unfavorable conditions including remote backcountry locations, extreme cold or heat, and hazardous materials and contaminants. The National Park Service has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval. Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Reasonable_Accommodations_for_USA_Hire Documentation for the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) eligibility, submission of ALL SF-50s and performance information for each period of temporary/term employment that qualifies for LMWFA. Performance documentation can be obtained by contacting the supervisors for the positions you served in during your 24 months. If they did not complete performance appraisals ask them to provide a statement of performance for each period of service. The statement must specify the dates for each employment period and your level of performance (dates should match the dates on the SF-50s).