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Due to BLM Hiring Controls, priority consideration will be given to all current BLM non-competitive applicants for this position.
This announcement may be used to fill more than one position at this duty location.
For additional information about the BLM, please visit Our website. The duty location will be determined at time of selection.
11/05/2019 to 11/19/2019
$74,596 - $115,313 per year
GS 12 - 13
1 vacancy in the following location:
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Occasional travel - Occasional travel may be required to attend meetings or to visit field sites.
Yes—Travel and relocation expenses will be paid consistent with the Federal Travel Regulation, Chapter 302, and Departmental policy. The use of a relocation service company and home marketing incentive will not be offered.
Permanent - This is a permanent position
Full-time - Work Schedule is Full Time.
Competitive
13
No
No
NV Merit-2020-0005
550819200
Current or former competitive service federal employees.
Federal employees who meet the definition of a "surplus" or "displaced" employee.
Individuals eligible under a special authority not listed above, but defined in the federal hiring regulations.
Certain current or former term or temporary federal employees of a land or base management agency.
Current/former federal employees with competitive/reinstatement eligibility; CTAP/ICTAP eligibles within the local commuting area; Veteran Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA); Veterans Recruitment Appointment (VRA); Veterans more than 30% disabled eligible; Persons eligible under Special Hiring Authorities, Schedule A and/or individuals w/disabilities; Public Land Corp eligibles; and Current/former time-limited employees eligible under PL-114-47, Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA).
The incumbent serves on the Washington Office’s Wild Horse and Burro (WH&B) Program Staff and reports to the On-Range Branch Chief located at the Nevada State Office in Reno, NV. The incumbent is a skilled and experienced professional specializing in wildlife and rangeland science; wild equid/wildlife population management and control; population estimation; habitat assessment; statistical analysis of the data; contract administration; and writing and reviewing National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents. The incumbent serves as the senior technical specialist in the areas of wild horse and burro population management control, estimation, and setting population management goals.
Physical Demands: Work is a combination of office and field work. Incumbent must be in reasonable good physical condition with stamina required for occasional arduous physical exercise under a wide variety of environmental conditions. Any required field work may involve strenuous walking, riding horseback, and climbing over rough and mountainous terrain, working in a variety of weather conditions ranging from subzero to over 100 degrees above zero. Position requires emotional and mental stability and composure to deal with controversial and emotionally charged situations. Some travel may be required.
Work Environment: Office work is performed in a lighted and ventilated room. Field work is done in country varying from flat to steep and rock terrain, in corral with problem footing and the hazards of working with untamed animals in confined spaces. Working in temperatures from subzero to over 100 degrees above zero. Safety precautions may require use of protective safety apparel.
The Wild Horse & Burro Specialist falls under the Group qualification standards for Professional and Scientific positions in conjunction with the Individual Occupational Requirements (Basic Requirement) for the Natural Resources and Biological Sciences standard.
You will need to clearly state your undergraduate/graduate degree(s) and submit all your college transcripts or a listing of your college courses that includes hours and grades.
In order to be rated as qualified for this position, we must be able to determine that you meet the specialized experience requirement - please be sure to include this information in your resume. To be creditable, this experience must have been equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade of the position to be filled.
Basic Education Requirement:
Degree: biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position.
OR
Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major, as shown above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
You will need to clearly state your undergraduate/graduate degree(s) and submit a copy your college transcripts or a listing of your college courses that includes hours and grades.
Specialized Experience:
For GS-12: In addition to meeting the Basic Education Requirement described above, applicants must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11). Specialized experience at this level is defined as assisting with preparation of policies, procedures and standards for program operations for the WH&B program. This includes researching regulations, manuals, and/or instructional memoranda for the management, study, capture, handling, and population estimation, etc., of wild horse and burros to provide input for the draft policies, procedure standards for the WH&B program.
For GS-13: In addition to meeting the Basic Education Requirement described above, applicants must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-12). Specialized experience at this level is defined as experience as working with management and staff assisting with preparation of policies, procedures and standards for program operations for the WH&B program. This includes the drafting of regulations, manuals, and/or instructional memoranda for the management, study, capture, handling, and population estimation, etc., of wild horse and burros.
You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement.
Federal employees in the competitive service are also subject to the Time-In-Grade requirement in accordance with 5 CFR 300.64. If you are a current Federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must have completed a minimum of 52 weeks at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled.
This position has a positive education requirement. See qualification section for description of the Basic Education Requirement (BER). Additionally you must submit copies of transcripts or a list of all college courses that include hours and grades from an accredited U.S. college/university. If your degree is from a Foreign Institution, See Foreign Education
Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)/Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP): CTAP provides eligible surplus and displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. Information about CTAP/ICTAP eligibility is available from OPM's Career Transition Resources website at CTAP or ICTAP. If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration or that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) This vacancy is within your CTAP/ICTAP eligibility; 2) You apply under the instructions in this announcement; and 3) You are found well qualified for this vacancy. You must provide proof of eligibility with your application to receive selection priority. Such proof may include a copy of your written notification of CTAP/ICTAP eligibility, or a copy of your separation personnel action form.
CTAP and ICTAP eligibles will be considered well qualified if they receive a minimum score of 90 based on the rating criteria used for this position.
Reemployment Priority List (RPL): The RPL is the mechanism agencies use to give reemployment consideration to their former competitive service employees separated by a RIF or who have fully recovered from a compensable injury after more than one year. If you are currently on a Reemployment Priority List, you may be given priority consideration.
SELECTIVE SERVICE: Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must certify that they have registered with the Selective Service System, or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. To register or verify your registration go to the Selective Service System website.
BLM may use certain incentives, currently offered by the Federal government, to attract high quality applicants.
May require completion of a one year probationary period.
Government facilities are required to provide a smoke free environment for their employees. Smoking will be permitted only in designated areas.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Upon receipt of your complete application package, a review of your application will be made to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. Your rating will be based on your responses to the Job Specific Questionnaire and the information stated in your resume. If qualified, your score may range from 70-100 points. In addition, interviews may be conducted for this position. The interviews may be conducted on a pass/fail basis or may be scored. The job specific questions relate to the following knowledge, skills and abilities required to do the work of this position.
KSA 1: Expert knowledge of natural resources, rangeland, and environmental management laws, policies, regulations, and precedents applicable to the administration of the BLM's WHB program in order to update and/or prepare new policy based on careful analysis, interpretation, and evaluation.
KSA 2: Knowledge of animal husbandry principles, and practices, and procedures in order to assess animal conditions in the field. Knowledge of environmental assessment standards, practices, a procedures in order to calculate carrying capacities and assess environmental conditions of WHB facilities in the field.
KSA 3: Knowledge of Federal financial, budgetary, and contractual procedures and planning processes in order to develop and assist with operating budgets for assigned program activities, national contracts, interagency agreements, and cooperative/assistance agreements related to WHB program management.
KSA 4: Ability to effectively communicate orally and in writing in order to clearly articulate ideas, concepts, and complex procedures to staff at all levels of the organization as well as interact with diverse individuals and groups. Skill and ability to communicate in writing in order to prepare reports, recommendations, and other written products in order to prepare supporting documentation for wild horse and burro briefing and information papers.
Resumes must show relevant experience and other information. Your resume must list your education and work experience including the dates (mm/yyyy) of each employment along with the number of hours worked per week and salary information. Your resume will be used to validate your responses to the assessment tool(s). You are welcome to submit a cover letter (optional). If you wish to do so, include it with your resume.
In addition to the online application (resume and responses to the questionnaire), you are required to submit the following forms:
Current and former federal career and career-conditional employees: submit a copy of your recent (non award) SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, or equivalent document that verifies tenure (block 24, code 1 or 2) and Competitive Status (block 34, code 1). This office may use SF-50s to determine the applicant meets Time in Grade (TIG) or highest previous grade held requirements. Please submit multiple SF50s (if applicable) to verify you have satisfied all job announcement requirements.
Former PLC Member: Submit a copy of your “Certificate of Eligibility for Noncompetitive Hiring” along with a copy of your “PLC Participant Verification Work Hours Sheet.”
Veterans Special Appointing Authorities: To be eligible for a VEOA appointment, a veteran must be honorably separated and either a preference eligible or have substantially completed three or more years of active service. A VEOA eligible who is separated 30 days or less prior to completion of the three-year active duty service requirement is eligible to receive consideration for BLM vacancies Submit documentation to support your claim for VEOA or preference veteran (DD-214 that shows discharge as honorable or general, SF-15, Veterans Administration Letter). If you are currently on active duty, you must provide an official statement of service from your command, or other official documentation (e.g., documentation of receipt of a campaign badge or expeditionary medal) that proved your military service was performed under honorable conditions. You must clearly identify your claim for veterans' preference on your application. For more information on veterans' preference, please go to OPMs website at: Feds Hire Vets.
If you are applying for this position based on eligibility under other noncompetitive special appointing authorities, you MUST submit proof of this eligibility.
Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) eligibles: documentation verifying your CTAP/ICTAP eligibility - this includes a copy of the agency notice and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level and duty location.
You may submit your documents either via Auto-Requested Fax or by uploading your documents from your USAJOBS Profile.
Auto-Requested Fax: allows you to submit required documentation that will be electronically displayed along with your resume.
Uploading Documents: instead of faxing your documents you may use the uploading procedures thru Applicant Manager. Do not use both options.
Hard copy paper supplemental documents, submitted without prior Human Resources approval, will be considered as an incomplete application.
Required documentation must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, on the closing date of this announcement.
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.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
To receive consideration for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package, which includes ALL of the following items: 1. Your responses to the Assessment Questionnaire; 2. Your resume; and 3. Applicable supporting documents specified in the Required Documents section of this job announcement.
Click on the button "Apply Online" and login to MY USAJOBS.
If you haven't already registered with USAJOBS, the system will require you to create a user name and password, complete a questionnaire and upload, paste or type a resume into USAJOBS.
If you have already registered with USAJOBS and forgot your login information, select the "Did you forget your username and/or password" link from the right side menu.
Your application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM Eastern Time by the closing date of this announcement.
If you need assistance in applying on-line, please contact the HR Office at (775) 861-6412 or email us at nvjobs@blm.gov. If applying on-line poses a hardship for you (i.e. you do not have access to the internet) you must contact us prior to the closing date of the announcement for an alternative method of applying.
You will be notified of the status of your application as the qualification review process is conducted.
You may also check the status of your application by viewing your MY USAJOBs account.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/550819200. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
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BLM is seeking a dynamic and energetic individual to join the team to Division of Wild Horse and Burros team!
The BLM manages more land - 245 million surface acres - than any other Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western States, including Alaska. The BLM, with a budget of about $1 billion, also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.
