Requirements
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.
- An applicant appointed to this position must possess (or obtain within 30 days of entrance on duty) and maintain a US Government Motor Vehicle Operator's Identification Card.
- You are required to complete training, obtain and maintain a government credit card with travel and purchase authority.
- A financial disclosure report will be required within 30 days of appointment.
- You must successfully complete the BLM Petroleum Engineering Technician (PET) Certification Program and continue service in the Federal Government for 2 years from the date of obtaining certification.
- PET certification is required at the GS-10 and GS-11 grades and must be maintained.
- You cannot hold an active real estate license, nor can you have an interest or hold stocks in firms with interest in Federal Lands.
- You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work.
- You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 1-3 nights per month. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may 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 or trial 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.
*Additional Requirements located under qualifications*
Qualifications
Requirements Continued...
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 - 09/16/2026-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.
To qualify for this position at the GS-06 grade level:
Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as performing duties such as:
- Applies standardized rules and procedures, requiring extended training or experience to determine and select the most efficient methods.
- Documents observations, recommendations, compliance, noncompliance, and occasional verbal communications, through preparation of forms and data base entries for review by supervisor or more senior technician.
You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
Education: Successful completion of at least one full year of graduate education directly related to the work of this position (i.e., major study in petroleum engineering or a related field). You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Combination of education and experience as listed above. To combine education and experience, first take the percentage of 1 year course of study completed in graduate school. Then take the number of months of full-time experience and divide by 12 months. Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include hours per week and transcripts.
To qualify for this position at the GS-07 grade level:
Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-06 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as perfroming duties such as:
- Utilize monitoring systems for drilling fluids;
- Operate and maintain drilling and production equipment;
- Safety compliance (i.e. follow procedures, check surface casing, and check cementing operations);
- Work closely with engineers and other technical teams to optimize production methods.
You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
Education: Successful completion of at least one year of GRADUATE education directly related to the work of this position (i.e., major study in petroleum engineering or a related field). You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Combination of education and experience as listed above. To combine education and experience, first take the percentage of 1 year course of study completed in graduate school. Then take the number of months of full-time experience and divide by 12 months. Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include hours per week and transcripts.
To qualify for this position at the GS-08 grade level:
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). Specialized experience is defined as perfroming duties such as:
- Utilize monitoring systems for drilling fluids;
- Operate and maintain drilling and production equipment;
- Safety compliance (i.e. follow procedures, check surface casing, and check cementing operations);
- Work closely with engineers and other technical teams to optimize production methods.
- Review regulations related to the petroleum industry. You must include hours per week worked.
You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
Education: Successful completion of at least Two full years of graduate education or a master's degree; education must be directly related to the work of a petroleum engineering technician (i.e., major study in petroleum engineering or a related field). You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Combination of education and experience as listed above. To combine education and experience, first take the percentage of 2 year course of study completed in graduate school or master's degree. Then take the number of months of full-time experience and divide by 12 months. Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. 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.
Education
You must submit a copy of your transcript(s) to support claimed education if substituting education for experience. Transcripts must include your name, school name, grades, credit hours earned, major(s), grade point average or class ranking, and date the degree was conferred, if applicable. A typed list of courses, grades, semester/quarter hours, GPA, etc. will not be accepted. Non-submission may result in being rated not qualified for the position. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.
Foreign Education: To receive credit for education completed outside the United States, you must show proof that the education has been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated, visit: https://www.ed.gov/about/initiatives/international-affairs/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications
Additional information
Additional vacancies may be filled using this job announcement.
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 supervision.
If otherwise eligible and qualified, you may be offered a recruitment or relocation incentive. The decision to offer an incentive will be made on a case-by-case basis and is neither promised nor guaranteed. For information visit: Recruitment Incentive or Relocation Incentive. A continued service agreement may be required if it is determined you are eligible for a permanent change in duty station (PCS), recruitment, or relocation incentive.
All DOI employees, their spouses, and minor children may not acquire or retain any claim, permit, lease, small tract entry, or other rights granted by the Department in Federal lands, with limited exceptions. Additional ethics prohibitions can be found here, DOI Ethics Prohibitions | U.S. Department of the Interior.
Physical Demands: The duties of this position may require hiking into unusually rugged areas to inspect abandoned sites. PETs are subject to call 24 hours a day and may be required to work long non-stop tours-of-duty, occasionally in excess of thirty (30) hours. Some work is sedentary, although much of the job requires overnight field trips which involve physical activity on irregular terrains and work at physically demanding job sites. Work involves climbing up and down ladders and steep stairways. A large part of the time is spent driving to work sites that are located in isolated areas. This work environment requires the use of hard hats, hard-toe boots, safety glasses, ear protection equipment, poisonous gas detection equipment, and cold weather gear and/or a respirator may also be required.
Work Environment: The duties of this position requires walking under and around heavy derrick and hoisting equipment and piping and around other potentially hazardous operating equipment. Work environment involves exposure to extreme weather conditions, hostile flora and fauna, hazardous explosive fumes, poisonous gasses, toxic chemicals, high frequency noises, high-pressure and high temperature equipment, detonating devices, and moving machinery.
Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
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.
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):
- Compliance
- General Engineering
- Technical Competence
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.
DUE WEIGHT: 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, you must submit a statement as to why it is not available. Please indicate if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level.
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) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP). To be considered under CTAP/ICTAP, 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.
Required Documents
The following documents are required and must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) -09/16/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement:
- 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 2 single-sided pages and resumes longer than 2 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. Your 2-page resume must contain information sufficient to make a valid determination that you fully meet the specialized experience requirements. Resume Builder: https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/what-to-include
- Complete All Required Assessments.
- 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 the performance appraisal is not dated within the last 18 months OR no performance appraisal is available, you must submit a statement as to why it is not available (including if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level).
- All College Transcript(s), if qualifying based on education.
- 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.
- Veterans Preference Documentation: Veterans eligible under VRA (GS-11 & below only), VEOA, 30% or more Disabled, or Disabled Veterans Enrolled in a VA Training Program must submit the most recent Documentation of Service and Separation under Honorable Conditions (e.g. DD-214) as listed on the SF15. If you are a Parent or Spouse of a Disabled or Deceased Veteran, you must submit all documentation as listed on the SF15. You may request a copy of the VA letter from https://www.va.gov/records. 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.
- Public Land Corps: You must provide a copy of your signed Certificate of Non-Competitive Eligibility and clearly state in your resume time served and duties performed on an appropriate conservation project.
- Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA): If you are applying under LMWFA, you must submit ALL Appointment AND Termination SF-50s for EACH appointment verifying the Position Occupied code 1-Competitive Service (block 34); AND Documentation of satisfactory performance for each period of temporary employment claimed, such as, performance evaluations, memorandum of record, whereas the supervisor(s) documented an acceptable performance level for a specified rating/employment period.
- Special Appointing Authorities: If you are applying under a special appointing authority (i.e. Schedule A, Peace Corps, Military Spouses, etc.), you must submit appropriate documentation to verify your eligibility. If you fail to submit proof, you will not receive consideration. If you're eligible for an authority not listed, you are responsible for submitting documentation that's appropriate for that specific authority.
- CTAP/ICTAP eligiblesMUST submit proof of eligibility including a copy of the agency notice, most recent performance rating, and most recent SF-50 showing your position, grade level, and duty location. For more information visit: 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.
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.