Land Law Examiner

Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open to all U.S. Citizens, Status Candidates (Merit Promotion, Land Management, and VEOA Eligibles) and Non-Competitive Authority Eligibles.

Duties

The Land Law Examiner is assigned to the Division of Operations within the Medford District BLM and provides service to the three field offices in the district.

The incumbent reviews, adjudicates a full range of lands cases for accuracy and completeness. Performs a variety of independent case actions in all or several of the following areas: Recreation and Public Purposes Act (R&PP); rights-of-way; Color-of-Title applications; Indian allotments; withdrawal applications; land exchanges and acquisitions; occupancy and use grants and sales; Oregon and California (O&C) Lands Act reciprocal right-of-way applications, assignments, permits, terms and conditions, license agreements, and other related activities.

Develops facts and evidence and applies appropriate laws and policies for specific cases. Prepares official correspondence. Reviews corporate documents to understand structure and authority, reviews application, makes decisions and recommendations to ensure compliance with pertinent regulations.

Performs research of BLM and other land records to determine land ownership, types of ownership, rights, encumbrances, withdrawals, restrictions, and other land status for case processing or public inquiries. Reviews private title documents and title insurance policies for processing acquisitions, identifies objectionable encumbrances.

Utilizes data, systems, and applications to collect, enter, manipulate, update, and maintain data according to prescribed Bureau and program standards. Ensures data quality and integrity by adherence to quality control standards and procedures.

Adjudicates reports of road use associated with timber haul over BLM owned and/or controlled road systems and creates accurate invoices for use. Creates other invoices for various realty case actions as appropriate.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

U.S. Citizenship required. May be required to complete background investigation. Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males. Must provide resume and supporting documents (See required documents) prior to the closing date of this announcement. You cannot hold an active real estate license, nor can you have an interest or hold stocks in firms with interest in Federal Lands. If you are a new employee or supervisor in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period. Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program. Status applicants must meet time-in-grade requirements. You may be required to occasionally travel overnight away from home. You must be eligible to obtain a government charge card for travel purposes. Please follow all instructions carefully; errors or omissions may affect your rating.

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the experience and/or education requirements described below. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience. If qualifying based on education, a copy of your unofficial transcripts must be provided with your application.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you have the required specialized experience and/or education for the respective grade level in which you are applying.

GS-05:
General Experience: Three (3) years of general experience, one (1) year of which was equivalent to at least the GS-4 grade level in the Federal service (obtained either in the private or public sectors) that provided a familiarity with legal land descriptions, land status, land titles, tract maps, and legal documents, or other experience that involved explanation, application, or interpretation of regulations, policies, etc. Such experience may have been gained in positions such as clerk, administrative professional, claims examiner, contact representative, or other work dealing with rules, regulations, procedures, etc.
OR
Education: Successfully completed at least a 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree in any field of study from an accredited college or university. (NOTE: You must submit a copy of your transcripts.)
OR
Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of
experience by 36. Then divide your total number of completed undergraduate semester hours (or equivalent) by 120. Add the two percentages. (NOTE: You must submit a copy of your transcripts.)

GS-07:
Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-05 grade level in the Federal service (obtained either in the private or public sectors) performing 3 of the 4 following duties: (1) determining the accuracy and proper execution of applications or claims; (2) determining the qualifications of applicants for legal rights as requested; (3) adjudicating routine lands, mining, or mineral leasing applications; (4) preparing routine correspondence.
OR
Education: Successfully completed at least one year of graduate level education from an accredited college or university in a field directly related to the work of the position (including law school) that included or was supplemented by 12 semester hours of course work related to the administration of land laws. Examples include course work in land surveying, cartography, land use law, real estate law, land appraising, land use planning, water rights, mining laws, or legal instrument review and interpretation. This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. (NOTE: You must submit a copy of your transcripts.)
OR
Superior Academic Achievement (SAA) : Successfully completed all of the requirements for a bachelor's degree in a curriculum that is qualifying for this position as described above from an accredited college or university, and meets one of the requirements for Superior Academic Achievement based on the following: (1) class standing (upper third standing in the graduating class of a college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses); (2) grade-point average (3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0) as recorded on the official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or (3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; (3) election to membership in a national scholastic honor society.(NOTE: You must submit a copy of your transcripts.)
OR
Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) by 18. Add the two percentages.(NOTE: You must submit a copy of your transcripts.)

GS-09:
Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service (obtained either in the private or public sectors) performing 3 of the 4 following duties: (1) adjudicating applications and agreements related to lands, mining, or mineral leasing; (2) processing operator designation for unit cases; (3) adjudicating or examining of applications for the disposal, use of, or title to public lands, issuance of leases, licenses, or permits for land or resources use; (4) title searching, abstracting, or interpreting land records, survey plats, or tract indexes and books.
OR
Education: Successfully completed at least two years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or a master's degree or equivalent graduate degree from an accredited college or university in a field directly related to the work of the position (including law school) that included or was supplemented by 12 semester hours of course work related to the administration of land laws. Examples include course work in land surveying, cartography, land use law, real estate law, land appraising, land use planning, water rights, mining laws, or legal instrument review and interpretation, from an accredited college or university in a field directly related to the work of the position. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. (NOTE: You must submit a copy of your transcripts.)
OR
Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the first year (total graduate semester hours minus 18) by 18. Add the two percentages.(You must submit a copy of your transcripts.)

Status merit promotion applicants must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements to be considered eligible. (Must submit your SF-50 that shows Time-in-Grade eligibility and reflects your title, series, and grade. No award SF-50 will be accepted).
One year at the GS-05 is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-07 level.
One year at the GS-07 is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-09 level.

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s).

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

Qualifications: (Continued from above)

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".

A review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the Occupational Questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job. If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses provided in the Occupational Questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation, you will be rated 'ineligible', 'not qualified', or your score may be adjusted accordingly. If a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications or experience, you may lose consideration for this position.

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the additional assessments required for this position.

Education:
To qualify based on education, you must submit a legible copy of transcripts from an 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 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.

PASS/FAIL COURSES: If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) were taken on a pass/fail basis, your claim of superior academic achievement must be based upon class standing or membership in an honor society.

GRADUATE EDUCATION: One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study.

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