Archeologist

Clarification from the agency

National Park Service (NPS-wide) - This is a Merit Promotion announcement for current career and career conditional National Park Service employees, Career Transition eligibles (CTAP), and National Park Service Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) eligibles. Refer to Required Documents section for more information.

Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following:

• Under the guidance of the supervisory archeologist, plan and conduct NHPA Section 106 compliance that includes, but is not limited to cultural resource inventory, research, evaluation of cultural resources for NRHP eligibility, recommend measures to avoid or minimize adverse effects to cultural resources, data entry into the NPS compliance and cultural resource databases (PEPC and NPS CRIS databases), and monitoring work associated with compliance projects.
• Prepare professional-quality archeological documentation and technical reports that meet the standards of the Secretary of the Interior, the National Park Service, and the Colorado State Historic Preservation Office. Responsibilities include conducting archival and background research, developing historic contexts, documenting archeological sites on the appropriate Colorado SHPO forms, evaluating eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, preparing maps and spatial data using ArcGIS Pro, and producing clear, technically accurate reports.
• Maintain archeological records, geospatial data, and cultural resource information systems including site files, GIS databases, digital records, and other documentation to support cultural resource management, planning, research, and compliance activitie, including data entry in the NPS CRIS database.
• Assist supervisory archeologist in reviewing proposed park projects and planning documents for potential impacts to cultural resources and provide technical recommendations to avoid, minimize, or mitigate adverse effects.
  Maintain cultural resource compliance documentation using the Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) system, including preparing project records, tracking compliance milestones, maintaining administrative records, and supporting Section 106 consultation and environmental review processes, including Tribal consultation.
• Provide day-to-day direction and oversight for seasonal archeological technicians (graded GS-07 and lower) working on compliance projects, ensuring collected data, documents, maps, and reports meet Secretary of the Interior, National Park Service, and Colorado State Historic Preservation Office standards for archeological documentation and reporting.

Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
• Direct Deposit participation required.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/.
• Must possess and maintain a valid driver's license throughout employment.
• You are required to wear a uniform and comply with uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
• You are required to complete training, obtain and maintain a government credit card with travel and purchase authority.
• You must have the ability to lift 50 pounds.
• You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work.
• You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes

Probationary Period: As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period to evaluate your fitness and whether your continuation of employment advances the public interest.

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 probatoinary 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 - 11/13/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Competitive candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F.

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 periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the work schedule requirement as the service dates will be reflected. 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.

Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications:

Basic Requirement GS-0193: In addition to the specialized experience requirements for this position, you must meet at least one of the following:

A. Education -
1. Degree - A degree that includes 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 transcript(s) will make you ineligible for this position).
- OR-
2. Related Curriculum - A degree in 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 in A.1., including archeological field school (You must submit a transcript (official or unofficial) to verify this claim. Failure to include your transcript(s) will make you ineligible for this position).
-OR-
B. Combination of education and Experience - A combination of college-level education or training that provides the knowledge equivalent to that described in above, plus appropriate technical experience or additional education.
-OR-
C. 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.

To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level:

Specialized Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: (1) Conducting archeological site inventories and completing site records; (2) Preparing archeological survey and excavation reports; (3) Understanding of federal historic preservation laws; and (4) using Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to record archeological site and features. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
Education: Successful completion of at least 2 years of progressively directly related higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Combination: Successfully completed an appropriate combination of specialized experience and education (only graduate education in excess of 18 semester hours may be used to qualify applicants for this grade level). To combine education and experience, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of completed graduate education beyond the first year by 18 (or 27 for quarter hours). The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. NOTE: You must include hours per week and 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.

How you will be evaluated

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

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 assessment(s) required for this position. To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process.

Your resume must not exceed 2 pages. 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.

You will be assessed in the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

• Flexibility
• History and Archaeology
• Interpersonal Skills
• Physical Strength and Agility
• Writing

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 assessment(s), including a structured resume review.These assessments measure the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job.

All qualified non-competitive applicants and the best-qualified Merit Promotion applicants will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration or your score may be lowered. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. Applicants who include vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate language or information in their application package will be ineligible for further consideration for this position.

Current or former displaced Federal employees who are surplus, displaced, or involuntarily separated have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP). To be considered under CTAP, you must be well-qualified, score at least 85 (i.e., meet the minimum qualification requirements, including any selective placement factors; education, and experience requirements), and be able to perform the duties of the position upon entry.

The following documents are required and must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) -11/13/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement:

1. Resume which includes a list of all significant jobs held and duties performed, with dates in month-year format (include month/day/year format if needed for 52 weeks of experience), and indicate hours worked per week (or full-time). Your resume must clearly show how long you have held each grade/rank. 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. 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. Your 2-page resume must contain information sufficient to make a valid determination that you fully meet the specialized experience requirements. If you have federal experience, you should include series, and grade for each position held, and if experience is part of a career ladder position, you must clearly distinguish the job duties and length of time working for each grade level. More information on how to write a Federal Resume: https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/what-to-include
2. Complete All Required Assessment(s).
3. Performance Appraisals and Awards: You must submit your most recent performance appraisal showing the official rating of record and signed by a supervisor dated within the past 18 months. If unavailable, a written explanation is required (including if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level). Performance awards dated within the past 5 years may also be submitted for due weight consideration.
4. All College Transcript(s), if qualifying based on education.
5. Eligibility Documentation:
   • Current and former Federal employees must submit latest SF-50 (i.e. Promotion, Separation, Within Grade Increase (WGI)) showing tenure 1 or 2 in block 24, grade, and if applicable, an additional SF-50 showing the highest grade or promotion potential held. Time in grade will be determined by reviewing your resume and required SF-50s. If your SF-50 showing highest permanent grade held has an effective date within the past year, your resume must clearly show that you held that grade for one year. Do not submit award SF-50s.
   • Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA): you must submit ALL Appointment AND Termination SF-50s for EACH Competitive time-limited appointment (block 34, code 1); AND Documentation of satisfactory performance for each period of employment claimed, such as, performance evaluations, memorandum of record, whereas the supervisor(s) documented an acceptable performance level for a specified rating/employment period. If not currently employed by agency, you must have been most recently separated by the hiring Bureau.
   • Interagency Career Transition (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP): You MUST submit proof of eligibility including 1) copy of the agency notice, 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 well qualified. For more information visit: USAJOBS Help Center - Career Transition Programs (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL).

Failure to submit any of the above-mentioned required documents will result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted.

Do not submit photographs with your application package. Do not upload Adobe portfolio documents.

Next steps