Economist (Direct Hire) Job in Fort Collins, CO

Vacancy No. WO-1614-NRSS-25-12572483-DE Department National Park Service
Salary $96,684.00 to $149,465.00 Grade 12 to 13
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 11/11/2024 Close Date 11/25/2024
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Fort Collins, CO


Summary

This position is located in Natural Resources Stewardship and Science, in the Socioeconomics and Resource Recovery Division.

The incumbent serves as an Economist and a principal representative for Service-wide economic issues.

Open to the first 35 applicants or until 11/25/2024 whichever comes first. All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

Applications will be accepted from any U.S. Citizen. DIRECT HIRING AUTHORITY will be used to fill this position.

Duties

The major duties of the Economist position include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Perform as a technical expert in nonmarket valuation and input-output modeling
  • Manage projects for economic protocols and analyses
  • Conduct technical writing/reporting/documentation of economics data results
  • Apply policy regarding Federal statutes and regulations for required economic analyses
  • Apply research methods, analytical techniques, and peer-review processes in economics.

Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level.

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.
  • If you are a new employee or supervisor in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period.
  • You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 4 nights per month. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
  • You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-11/25/2024-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (month/year), and the resume must reflect full and/or part-time or total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time). If part-time, the hours must be annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount qualified specialized experience.

To qualify for this position, you must meet one the following Basic Requirements in order to be eligible for this position: If you do not meet these basic requirements, you will be considered not qualified and will not receive consideration for this position.

A. Degree: economics, that included at least 21 semester hours in economics and 3 semester hours in statistics, accounting, or calculus.

-OR-

B. Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in economics, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. Examples of qualifying experience include:
  1. individual economic research assignments requiring planning, information assembly, analysis and evaluation, conclusions and report preparation;
  2. supervisory or project coordination assignments involving a staff of professional economists, and requiring the evaluation and interpretation of economic information; or
  3. teaching assignments in a college or university that included both class instruction in economics subjects and one of the following (1) personal research that produced evidence of results, (2) direction of graduate theses in economics, or (3) service as a consultant or advisor on technical economics problems.
Experience in related fields that did not involve the use and understanding of economic principles and theories may not be used as qualifying experience for these positions. Special attention on this point should be given to certain types of work that may or may not have provided professional economic experience. The following examples of work require special care in such determinations:
  1. economic statistics;
  2. industrial surveys;
  3. management of individual business enterprises, including farms;
  4. industrial planning;
  5. writing or editorial work in economic subjects; and
  6. financial market analysis.
-AND-

To qualify for this position at the GS-13 grade level, you must possess all 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-12 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience must include all of the following: (1) Provides leadership regarding natural resource economics (2) conducts data analyses including nonmarket valuation and input/output economic modeling (3) Generates economic tools and reference materials to understand economic data, methods and approaches, analyses, and results. You must include hours per week worked. . You must include hours per week worked.

To qualify for this position at the GS-12 grade level, you must possess all 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-11 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience must include all of the following: (1) Provides guidance regarding natural resource economics (2) Provides technical assistance in understanding economic data and results (3) maintains economic databases. You must include hours per week worked.

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.

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". Experience listed as full-time will be credited at 40 hours per week.

A selectee receiving a first appointment to the Federal Government (Civil Service) is entitled only to the lowest step of the grade for which selected. The display of a salary range on this vacancy shall not be construed as granting an entitlement to a higher rate of pay.

Education

To qualify based on education, you must submit a legible copy of transcripts from an accredited institution 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 education completed in foreign colleges or universities 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.

There is no substitution of education for experience at the grade level(s) of this announcement.

Additional information

This notice is being issued to recruit personnel to occupations for which a severe shortage of candidates exists and/or a critical hiring need has been identified. To assist in filling these positions, OPM has granted agencies "Direct Hire Authority"

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.

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

Physical Demands: The work is primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort may be required. Typing at a computer keyboard is required. The work may require some travel to parks and other outdoor areas. While in the field, the work may require some physical exertion such as
long periods of standing, walking over rough or uneven surfaces, and occasionally lifting moderately heavy items.

Working Conditions: The work is typically performed in an adequately lighted and climate controlled office. Travel to parks and other outdoor areas may be required, and may expose the incumbent to unfavorable conditions, including remote, backcountry locations and inclement weather.

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.

Current surplus and current or former displaced Federal individuals who have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) must be well qualified for the position to receive consideration for special priority selection. Well qualified means that the applicant meets the following: OPM qualification standards for the position; all selective placement factors, where applicable; special qualifying conditions that OPM has approved for the position, where applicable; is physically qualified with reasonable accommodation, where appropriate to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position upon entry; and is considered by the organization as well qualified. Federal employees seeking CTAP/ICTAP eligibility must submit proof that they meet the requirements of 5 CFR 330.605(2) for CTAP and 5 CFR 330.704 for ICTAP. This includes a copy of the agency notice, a copy of their most recent Performance Rating, and a copy of their most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location. Please annotate your application to reflect that you are applying as a CTAP/ICTAP eligible. If you are selected for Federal employment, you will be required to fill out a Declaration of Federal Employment, OF-306, prior to being appointed to determine your suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation. Failing to answer all questions truthfully and completely or providing false statements on your application may be grounds for not hiring you, or for firing you after you begin work. Also, you may be punished by fine or imprisonment (U.S. Code, Title 18, section 1001).

Benefits

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Applicants will be evaluated based on how well they meet the qualification requirements.

Upon receipt of the completed application package, a review of your application will be made to ensure basic qualification requirements are met.

This vacancy will be filled through OPM's Direct Hire Authority. Veterans Preference and traditional rating and ranking of applicants do not apply to positions filled under this Authority. All qualified applicants, as determined by the SHRO, will be referred for consideration. While managers and supervisors are not required to conduct interviews, it is highly recommended that they do so in order to assess the competencies of each applicant.

If an applicant's resume is incomplete or does not support the requirements for minimum qualifications or specialized experience a rating of "ineligible" or "not qualified" will be applied.

If a determination is made that an applicant has inflated qualifications or experience on the resume, consideration for the position will be denied, as per OPM regulations.

Required Documents

The following documents are required and must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 11/25/2024:

  1. Resume which includes a list of all significant jobs held and duties performed, dates specified in month and year format, and the resume must reflect full and/or part-time or total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time). If part-time, the hours must be annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount qualified specialized experience. If military or civilian, please include your rank and/or grade.
  2. Documentation for Interagency/Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP/CTAP) 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 well qualified. ICTAP/CTAP eligibles will be considered well qualified if they exceed minimal qualifications for this position (i.e. Resume supports substantial possession of stated competencies) for the position.
  3. Transcripts if qualifying based on education, and to demonstrate meeting the basic requirement.
Do not submit photographs with your application package. Documents with photographs may not be seen by hiring officials - you must remove your image from any badges, licenses, etc.

Do not upload Adobe portfolio documents. Adobe portfolio documents are not viewable by our agency's staffing offices.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

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.

How to Apply

To apply for this position: You must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. To receive consideration, the complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 11/25/2024. You must provide documentation to support your claim for each eligibility selected. Please review the required documentation listed in the eligibilities language to ensure you submit the appropriate information. Note: You will only be marked eligible for those eligibilities that you selected and provided the appropriate supporting documentation.

WE DO NOT ACCEPT HARD-COPY OR E-MAIL APPLICATION PACKAGES.

  1. Select Apply. If you are not logged in, you will be prompted to login or create an account.
  2. Prompted to Start the Application Process by selecting "Start Application."
  3. Select or add the resume you want to use for this application. Click here on how to build a resume in USAJOBS.
  4. Select documents you want included in this application.
  5. Review package to acknowledge your documents were reviewed.
  6. Select if you want to include your demographic information.
  7. After reading and certifying the application is true and submitted in good faith, select "Continue to Agency Site."
  8. Follow onscreen prompts and instructions to complete your application.
  9. Add the supporting documents by indexing your documents with the dropdown.
    • Upload any missing required documents or optional documents.
  10. Review and Submit Application.
  11. While logged in, you can check the status of your application by selecting "+" next to the job title for this position.
  12. You can review or revise your application at any point during the open period of the announcement.
    • To update an application, you should log into your USAJOBS account and select "+" next to the job title for this position. Select "Update Application" for this job.
    • Note: When you click Update Application, you will be prompted to re-select your documents from USAJOBS. Documents submitted with the first application will no longer be associated with the applicant record. So it is important that you select all documents you want to use in the re-application.\
Please note: The eligibility section of the application process is designed to allow you to choose how you wish to be considered for this vacancy announcement. You will ONLY be considered for the appointment eligibilities that you select. You must provide the supporting documentation to support your claim. Please review the list of documentation provided in the eligibilities language to ensure you provide the appropriate information. You may choose more than one eligibility.

Agency contact information

Erica Medina
Address
Natural Resources Stewardship and Science
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20240
US
Learn more about this agency

Next steps

Once the Occupational Questionnaire is received you will receive acknowledgement that your submission was successful. If you are among the qualified candidates, your name will be referred to the hiring official, and you may be contacted directly for a possible interview. You will be notified of the status of your Application Package at the time candidates are referred for consideration, and when the selection process is complete.


Note: We cannot accept applications on behalf of Federal Agencies. Application instructions are listed within the Job Description.


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