Park Ranger

Clarification from the agency

Open to the following groups within the local commuting area of Winter Harbor, ME: Current Department of the Interior Career or Career-Conditional Employees in the competitive service; Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) eligibles; Public Land Corps (PLC) members; CTAP/ICTAP; and Veterans' Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) eligibles

Duties

Research, develop, and present programs on a variety of interpretative and educational themes. Plan, schedule, prepare and effectively conduct education programs; workshops, seminars, and conferences to promotes the parks education program to include, distance learning. Assist in coordinating special projects (special events, youth initiatives, teacher workshops) from beginning to end. Develop and present formal and informal audience and learner centered interpretive experiences using interpretive skills, techniques, and tools delivered in person and through interpretive media and technology. Train, mentor, coach, and evaluate a broad range of interpretive and educational programs and products conducted by fellow interpreters, critiques these activities and recommend individual or program improvements.
Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level. 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.

The National Park Service has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework only during an emergency or natural disaster.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

U.S. Citizenship required. Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication. Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males 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 will be required to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of your official duties; a valid driver's license is required. You will be required to submit a Motor Vehicle Operator's License and Driving Record. You must also submit (within a State sealed envelope or submitted directly by the State authorities), and at your own expense, all certified driving records from all States that disclose all valid driver's licenses, whether current or past, possessed by you. You will be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided. You may be required to work evenings, weekends, holidays, and overtime. If you are a new employee or supervisor in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period. Applicants must be at least (1)18 years old or (2) at least 16 years old and: (a) Have graduated from high school or been awarded a certificate equivalent to graduating from high school; or (b) Have completed a formal vocational training program; or (c) Have received a statement from school authorities agreeing with their preference for employment rather than continuing their education; or (d) Be currently enrolled in a secondary school and either work only during school vacation periods or work part-time during the school year under a formal student employment program.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-07/03/2024-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 for each federal position listed as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of qualifying 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. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying 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-07 grade level, you must possess at least 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-05 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: knowledge of interpretive principles, practices, techniques, and themes to convey, connect, and facilitate shared learning experiences to in-person and virtual audiences using interpretive skills, techniques, and tools; ability to prepare and deliver structured and informal presentations to diverse audiences; and ability to assist in coordinating special projects. Examples of specialized experience may include, but not limited to the following: park guide or tour leader, education technician, education specialist, history and/or cultural resources educator or teacher, Park Ranger (Interpretation) and/or similar work. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least one full year of graduate study in one of the following fields: natural resource management, natural sciences, marine biology/sciences, earth sciences, history, archaeology, anthropology, park and recreation management, law enforcement/police science, social sciences, wetlands ecology, or other closely related subjects pertinent to the management and protection of natural and cultural resources. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Meet the criteria for Superior Academic Achievement (S.A.A.) as evidenced by one of the three following methods: I am in the upper third of my graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses; OR I have a GPA 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum, or 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in my major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; OR I am a member in one of the national scholastic honor societies.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, having six months of the specialized experience described above (50% of the experience requirement), and 27 semester hours or 41 quarter hours of directly-related graduate level college study in an accredited institution (50% of the qualifying education). The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include transcripts.

To qualify for this position at the GS-09 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-07 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: implementing a visitor services program, developing curriculum-based education programs, developing and conducting interpretive presentations, and delivering presentations to a variety of audiences. Examples of specialized experience may include, but not limited to, develop and present a wide variety of formal and informal audience and learner-centered interpretive experiences; train, mentor, coach, and evaluate a broad range of interpretive programs and products conducted by fellow interpreters; actively engage and interact with local communities through on and off-site representation and interpretive programming; coordinate the development and implementation of special projects from beginning to end. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least 2 full academic years of progressively higher level graduate education or I have a masters or equivalent graduate degree related to the occupation (such as natural resource management, natural sciences, earth sciences, history, archeology, anthropology, park and recreation management, law enforcement/police science, social sciences, museum sciences, business administration, public administration, behavioral sciences, sociology, or other closely related subjects pertinent to the management and protection of natural and cultural resources. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, having six months of the specialized experience described above (50% of the experience requirement), and 1 full academic year of progressively higher-level graduate education in a field directly related to the work of the position (50% of the qualifying education). 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.

This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if identical vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.

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.

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