Archeologist

Clarification from the agency

Current National Park Service Career or Career-Conditional Employees in the competitive service; Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) eligibles; CTAP/ICTAP eligibles in the local commuting area;

1. Provides administrative and technical supervision for the park's Stabilization Program. Recruits, trains, evaluates, and directs employees, ensures workplace safety and equal opportunity practices, handles discipline, and monitors project budgets, schedules, and staff performance.

2. Plans, develops, and manages sensitive and complex archeological preservation projects. Prepares budgets, schedules, and oversees documentation/report production while coordinating logistics, staff, materials, and project implementation.

3. Leads the documentation and preservation of archeological resources and historic structures. Evaluates deterioration and develops treatment approaches in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards.

4. Serves as the park's subject-matter-expert for archeological preservation. Advises Park management on cultural resource issues, identifies threats to resources, and develops and implements long-term preservation and stewardship strategies.

Career Seasonal Career-Seasonal appointments are permanent positions and include the same benefits as Career appointments, but do not provide work on a year-round basis. You will work from approximately Early December to Mid-November (Non-Pay period 11/15-11/28), and you will be in a non-pay status for the remainder of the year.

Telework: 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.

Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship required.
• Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
• Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males.
• Direct Deposit: Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
• Time-in-Grade: 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 and must be met by the closing date of this announcement.
• Driver's License: 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.
• Uniform: You will be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
• Minimum Age Requirement: 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.

*Additional REQUIREMENTS located under QUALIFICATIONS*

Qualifications

REQUIREMENT Continued... Probationary Period: As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest will be evaluated.

This probationary period is an extension of the appointment process and therefore requires the agency to determine if continued employment would advance the public interest, meet the organization goals and mission of the agency, and/or otherwise promote the efficiency of the service. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, the agency will consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Under applicable law, the employment of an individual serving a probationary or trial period automatically terminates when that period ends unless the agency affirmatively certifies, in writing, that the individual's employment should continue and that their appointment should be finalized. In the absence of agency action to affirmatively certify continued employment beyond the probationary or trial period, such appointments are terminated.

Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

QUALIFICATIONS:
All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-06/29/2026-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, you must possess at least one of the following Individual Occupational Requirements (Basic Requirements) by close of the announcement:
1. EDUCATION:
A. Degree - A full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included 3 semester hours each in the following course areas:
1) History of archeology,
2) Archeology of a major geographic area such as North American,
3) Regional Archeology, archeological cultures, or sites in a specific part of a major geographical area to acquire or develop a foundation for regional specialization for professional development,
4) Theory and methods of archeology. Methods include, but are not limited to, typology, classification, sampling, cultural evolution, diffusion, dating, and analytical techniques,
5) Archeological field school, to provide a basic understanding of theoretical and practical approaches to research design implementation, field preservation techniques, and report preparation by participation in actual field work
AND
6 semester hours of related course work in:
1) geography, geology, or cultural geography;
2) history; historiography, or historical archeology;
3) environmental studies;
4) scientific writing (nonfiction English composition); and/or
5) surveying;
AND
Archeological field school.
(You must submit a college transcript (official or unofficial) to verify this claim. Failure to include your transcripts will make you ineligible for this position).
B. Related Curriculum- A full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in a related curriculum: Anthropology (with emphasis on ethnology, physical anthropology, or scientific linguistics); history; American studies: or a related discipline, provided the curriculum supplies academic course work sufficiently similar to the requirements above, including archeological field school (You must submit a transcript (official or unofficial) to verify this claim.
OR
2. Combination of Education and Experience- A combination of college-level education or training that provides the knowledge equivalent to that described above, plus appropriate technical experience or additional education.
OR
3. Experience- Four years of archeological work experience that demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the fundamental principles and theories of professional archeology. The work experience must have included archeology field experience, which may include that gained in an archeological field school. Field experience should have included a combination of professional experience in archeology survey, excavation, laboratory analysis, and preparation of written materials. Applicants with such field experience should, after additional experience under the direction of a higher graded archeologist, be able to demonstrate the ability to be a crew chief, directing the work of others at a single location as part of a larger archeological project.
-AND-
To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:
EXPERIENCE: Have one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Examples of qualifying specialized experience for this position includes Conducted archeological surveys and prepared archeological reports that meet State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) standards which include researching and writing historic contexts; completing archeological site description forms and maps; and making recommendations for determinations of eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places (HRHP); Analyzed archeological materials; Reviewed permits and/or project proposals for National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) compliance; Planned projects for the long-range protection and management of cultural resources; Used computerized systems to process and analyze archeological data, including GIS and cultural resource inventory databases. You must include hours on your resume.
-OR
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or equivalent doctoral degree. To be qualifying, graduate study must have been in archeology, anthropology, or other closely related field. The total education offered to meet this provision must have provided you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to successfully perform the work of this position. To receive credit, you should describe how their specific course work, research projects, dissertation, theses, etc. demonstrate the ability to perform the duties of this position (18 semester hours or 27 quarter hours has determined to represent one year of full-time study is considered to be equal to one full year of graduate education). You must include transcripts.
-OR

Additional QUALIFICATIONS under EDUCATION

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

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

Resumes must not exceed two single-sided pages and resumes longer than two pages will not be accepted. You may only submit one resume. Only the document submitted as the "Resume" under the Documents section will be used to determine your qualifications/eligibility and for rating purposes. In the event you submit more than one resume, only the latest submission will be reviewed.

Candidates who apply under Competitive Merit Promotion procedures will undergo a quality review to determine if they are highly qualified based on the content of their resume and their responses to the questionnaire. Best qualified candidates will be referred if all required supporting documentation has been provided.

Candidates who apply under Noncompetitive Merit Promotion procedures will undergo a quality review to determine if they are minimally qualified based on the content of their resume and their responses to the questionnaire. Qualified candidates will be referred if all required supporting documentation has been provided.

You will be evaluated on the following competencies:


In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires successful completion of additional assessments, including a panel resume review. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job.

Please submit 1) a copy of your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation and 2) a list of any awards (e.g. superior performance awards, special act or achievement awards, quality step increase, etc.) you received in the last 5 years. Any performance appraisal/evaluation and award documentation you provide will be forwarded to the selecting official. The selecting official will review this documentation and give it due weight consideration during the overall selection process.

If you do not have your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation, please submit a statement as to why it is not available. Please indicate if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level.

The following documents are required and must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 06/29/2026.

1. Resume which includes a list of all significant jobs held and duties performed, with dates specified in month and year format, and indicate hours worked per week. If military or civilian, please include your rank and/or grade. Your resume must clearly show how long your have held each grade in a federal position. Resumes must not exceed two single-sided pages and resumes longer than two pages will not be accepted. The minimum font size is 10-point for all body text. Headers may be slightly larger but must remain legible. All resumes must maintain a minimum 0.5-inch margins on all sides to ensure readability and prevent excessive content compression. Including supplemental pages or attachments disguised as resume extensions are prohibited and will not be reviewed to determine your eligibility/qualifications
2. Complete All Required Assessments.
3. Merit Promotion Eligibility Documentation such as:
   • Federal employees or former federal employees must submit a copy of their latest or last SF-50 "Notification of Personnel Action" reflecting career or career-conditional status in the competitive service, shows position title, series, grade and an additional SF-50 showing highest permanent grade ever held, if not reflected on your latest SF-50. Examples of acceptable SF-50s include Promotion, Within Rate Increases (WRI/WGI), or Appointment SF-50s. Do not submit an Award SF-50. Time in grade will be determined by reviewing your resume and required SF-50s. Your last Federal performance appraisal plan for your last position must reflect a rating of Fully Successful or equivalent. If the SF-50 showing highest permanent grade ever held has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess the one-year time-in-grade, as required by this announcement. In this instance, your resume must clearly show that you held that grade for one-year
   • Veterans Preference Documentation (e.g. DD-214, SF-15, VA Letter as appropriate)
   • LMWFA Documentation for the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act eligibility, which includes ALL Appointment AND Termination SF-50s for EACH appointment as well as ALL performance evaluations, for each qualifying period of temporary employment claimed.
   • Other Supporting Documents, if applicable, such as:
     • Veterans Preference Documentation:
       • If you are a Discharged, Non-Disabled Veteran, you must submit a copy of your DD-214 showing character of discharge (Member 4 copy), or other Documentation of Service and Separation under Honorable Conditions, as listed on the SF15. If you don't have your DD-214, you may request it after discharge from the National Archives.
       • If you are a veteran within 120 days of discharge, you must submit signed documentation from the Armed Forces certifying: 1) your expected release/retirement from active duty, 2) under honorable conditions, 3) your pay grade/rank/rate at time of discharge, 4) dates of active duty service, 5) any campaign or expeditionary medals received, & 6) dated within 120 days of your separation.
       • If you are a Disabled Veteran, Purple Heart Recipient, or Mother or Spouse of a Disabled or Deceased Veteran, you must submit all additional proof required by the SF15, and if applicable, a completed SF15. You may request a copy of your Department of Veterans Affairs letter from www.ebenefits.va.gov or call 1-800-827-1000 to establish proof of disability.
     • Performance Appraisals and Awards:
     • • All applicants must submit their most recent performance appraisal showing the official rating of record and signed by a supervisor. If submitting a performance appraisal not dated within the last18 months, a statement as to why it is the most recent must be submitted. If no performance appraisal is available, applicants must submit a statement as to why it is not available (including if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level).
4. College transcripts, if qualifying based on education.
5. Documentation for Interagency/Career Transition Assistance Plan consideration if you are a displaced Federal employee within the local commuting area. You must include: 1) Proof you are a displaced Federal employee, e.g., RIF Separation Notice, Notice of Proposed Removal, etc; 2) SF-50s (Notifications of Personnel Action) showing career/conditional tenure competitive status, promotion potential and duty location; and 3) your most recent performance appraisal. To exercise selection priority, displaced or surplus Federal employees must be rated well-qualified or above 85 on the rating criteria for this position.

Additional REQUIRED DOCUMENTS under HOW TO APPLY

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