Incident Business Management Specialist (Fire Support) Job

Vacancy No. 26-EHT-FIRENC2-FS5285-911DP Department Forest Service
Salary $61,722.00 to $97,087.00 Grade 9 to 11
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 3/30/2026 Close Date 4/9/2026
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Location Negotiable After SelectionRoseburg, ORWenatchee, WA


Summary

This position serves as a member of the fire, fuels, and aviation programs staff.

This position serves as a regional expert in incident business management functions pertaining to wildland fire and all hazard incidents.

For additional information about the duties of this position, please see the Additional Information section for the regional point of contact.

This job is open to

The public

U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.

Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)

Federal employees whose job, agency or department was eliminated and are eligible for priority over other applicants.

Clarification from the agency

Open to the public.

Duties

  • Duties listed are at the full performance GS-11 grade level.
  • Serves as the administrative representative between the Forests and the Albuquerque Service Center, Incident Management Teams (IMT), Buying Teams, and Incident Business Advisors assigned to units within the zone.
  • Conducts reviews and analysis to measure performance of incident business related functions, and develops processes and guidelines to maintain good performance.
  • Participates in formal and informal training opportunities providing expertise in development and presentation of incident business related materials (e.g., Interagency Incident Business Management, Applied Interagency Incident Business Management).
  • Serves as a resource to other Incident Business Specialists regionally or nationally by attending meetings, performing on Task Groups/Committees and taking assignments to assist in incident business management functions.
  • Coordinates, negotiates, develops, and administers agreements to meet the objectives of interagency units with fire protection responsibilities within the zone while adhering to applicable laws, regulations, policies, and guidelines.
  • Recruits and mentors personnel with incident business aptitude to develop skilled and qualified personnel in support of current and future incident business and Incident Management Team needs.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
  • Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service or exempt.
  • Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
  • Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served. Refer to the Next Steps section for more information.
  • Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
  • Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit E-Verify.

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards.

Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. Transcripts must be provided for qualifications based on education. Provide course descriptions as necessary.

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.

Note on Experience: Your resume must clearly document the following for each block of work experience; the beginning day, month and year the work assignment started and ended; the hours worked per week; position title, and series and grade if applicable; and description of duties performed. This information must be provided for each permanent, temporary or seasonal appointment/work assignment or volunteer work and should be clearly documented as a separate block of time. Incomplete, inaccurate or conflicting work history may not be credited for qualifications purposes. This can result in an applicant not being considered for the position.

Specialized Experience Requirement:

GS-09: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as three or more of the following: Assisting with the preparation, review, and execution of fire related agreements consistent with incident (such as wildland fire, hurricane, flood, and/or earthquake recovery) business management policies and guidelines; and/or Assisting with providing incident business management policies and guidance to fire managers; and/or Assisting senior employees coordinate with other partners such as federal, state, local government, or equivalent to resolve incident payments and billings; and/or Tracking policy and guideline developments in incident business and related functions.

OR

A master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related. The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. Examples of qualifying education include degree programs in contracting, financial management, business administration or other closely related field.

OR

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).

GS-11: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as three or more of the following: Preparing, reviewing, and executing fire-related agreements consistent with incident (such as wildland fire, hurricane, flood, and/or earthquake recovery) business management policies and guidelines; and/or Providing guidance regarding incident business management policies and guidelines to fire managers; and/or Coordinating with other partners such as federal, state, local government or equivalent to resolve incident payments and billings; and/or Conducting reviews and analysis to measure performance of incident business related functions.

OR

A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related. The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. Examples of qualifying education include degree programs in contracting, financial management, business administration or other closely related field.

OR

An appropriate combination of specialized experience and graduate level education (beyond what is required for a master's degree, i.e., more than 36 semester hours leading to a Ph.D.).

To receive consideration for this position, you must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of the announcement.

Education

See above for education that may be qualifying for the specific grade level.

Additional information

Position(s) will be located at one of the Region 6 or Region 5 Forest Office locations listed above or at another Forest Office within Region 5. Final determination of the duty station will be made by the selecting official at the time of the job offer.

Pay rates vary depending on location. The salary shown is for the Rest of the U.S. See OPM.gov for additional information on pay rates.


For additional information about the duties and location(s) of these positions, please contact:

  • Region 6: Jason Heinz - jason.heinz@usda.gov or Colleen Kingsbury - colleen.kingsbury@usda.gov
  • Region 5: Brian Grabowski - brian.grabowski@usda.gov or Deirdre Cherry - deirdre.cherry@usda.gov

The USDA Forest Service has legislative authority to recruit and fill Permanent (Career/Career-Conditional), Temporary, and Term Appointments under the USDA Demonstration Project. Under this authority, any U.S. citizen may apply.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority List (RPL), or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP eligibles must meet the agency's definition for a quality candidate as provided in the How You Will Be Evaluated section of this announcement to be considered.

PROMOTION POTENTIAL: If you are selected for a position with further promotion potential, you will be placed under a career development plan, and may be non-competitively promoted if you successfully complete the requirements and if recommended by management. However, promotion is neither implied or guaranteed.

Positions filled from this announcement may be a bargaining or a non-bargaining unit position represented by either NFFE, AFGE or NAGE.

This position is not eligible for telework. This position may be eligible for flexible work arrangements as determined by agency policy and any applicable collective bargaining agreements.

Government housing and federal day care facilities may be available. Availability as it relates to this be position may not be determined until time of selection.

We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies.

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.

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.

You will be evaluated in accordance with the category rating procedure as defined in the USDA Demonstration Project Plan. Applicants who meet the basic minimum qualification requirements established for the position will be placed in the Eligible category. You will be further evaluated against criteria for placement in the Quality category. This evaluation is based on the level of your experience, education, and/or training as determined by your responses to the Assessment Questionnaire. Individuals with veterans' preference are listed ahead of applicants who do not have veterans' preference within each category.

Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities, or you may be found ineligible. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action up to including removal from the Federal service.

To view the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12882834

Required Documents

The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration.

  • Resume that includes: Personal Information: name, address, contact information; Education; Work Experience related to this position as described in the major duties including work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment; title, series, grade (if applicable); other qualifications. Resume cannot exceed 2 pages.
  • If education is required or you are using education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts. An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application if it includes your name and the necessary course information; however, if you are selected, you will be required to submit official transcripts prior to entering on duty. Education must have been successfully obtained from an accredited school, college or university. If any education was completed at a foreign institute, you must submit with your application evidence that the institute was appropriately accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as equivalent to U.S. education standards. There are private organizations that specialize in this evaluation and a fee is normally associated with this service. For a list of private organizations that evaluate education, visit the NACES website. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.
  • If claiming veteran's preference, you must submit a DD214, Certificate of Release from Active Duty, which shows dates of service and discharge under honorable conditions. If currently on active duty you must submit a certification of expected discharge or release from active duty service under honorable conditions not later than 120 days after the date the certification is submitted. Veteran's preference must be verified prior to appointment. Without this documentation, you will not receive veteran's preference and your application will be evaluated based on the material(s) submitted.
  • If claiming 10-point veteran's preference you must provide the DD214 or certification requirements (see above bullet), plus the proof of entitlement of this preference as listed on the SF-15 Application for 10-point Veterans' Preference. The SF-15 should be included but is not required. Failure to submit these documents could result in the determination that there is insufficient documentation to support your claim for 10-point preference. For more information on veterans' preference visit FedsHireVets.
  • Surplus or displaced employees eligible for CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP priority must provide: proof of eligibility (RIF separation notice, notice of proposed removal for declining a transfer of function or directed reassignment to another commuting area, notice of disability annuity termination), SF-50 documenting separation (as applicable), current performance appraisal with rating of at least "Fully Successful" or equivalent, and your most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with your application per 5 CFR 330.

How to Apply

Please view Tips for Applicants - a guide to the Forest Service application process.

Please read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement.

Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (7:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Mountain Time Zone, Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, contact the Agency Contact listed below well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages must be complete and submitted no later than noon ET on the closing date of the announcement to be entered into the system prior to its closing. Resumes must not exceed two pages.

This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis. Contact the Agency Contact to request this.

To begin, click "Apply" and follow the instructions to complete the Assessment Questionnaire and attach your resume and all required documents.

Please verify that documents you are uploading from USAJOBs transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded documents must be less than 5MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, TXT or Word (DOC or DOCX). Do not upload Adobe Portfolio documents because they are not viewable. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration. Please ensure your resume does not exceed two pages. Applicants who submit a resume that exceeds two pages will be removed from consideration.

Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, your system failure, etc.

Agency contact information

HRM Contact Center
Phone
1-877-372-7248 X2
Email
HRM_Contact_Center@usda.gov
Address
USDA Forest Service HRM Contact Center
DO NOT MAIL IN APPLICATIONS, SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE ANNOUNCEMENT.
Albuquerque, NM 87109
US

Next steps

Your application will be reviewed to verify that you meet the eligibility and qualification requirements for the position prior to issuing referral lists to the selecting official. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted. Log in to your USAJOBS account to check your application status.

You must choose to turn on email notifications in your USAJOBS profile if you want to receive important email notifications that may impact your applicant experience (e.g. If you start an application and do not submit it prior to the closing date, USAJOBS will send an email reminder that the closing date is approaching and your application is in an incomplete status).

Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may 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. 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.

Under the Fair Chance Act, agencies are not allowed to request information about an applicant's criminal history until a conditional offer of employment has been made, except as allowed for access to classified information; assignment to national security duties or positions; acceptance or retention in the armed forces; or recruitment of a Federal law enforcement officer. An applicant may submit a complaint, or any other information related to an organization's alleged noncompliance with the Fair Chance Act. The complaint must be submitted within 30 calendar days of the date of the alleged noncompliance. To make a Fair Chance Act inquiry or complaint, send an email with the appropriate information to sm.fs.hrm_elr@usda.gov, subject line: Fair Chance Act.

Forest Service

A career with the Forest Service will challenge you to manage and care for more than 193 million acres of our nation's most magnificent lands, conduct research through a network of forest and range experiment stations and the Forest Products Laboratory, and provide assistance to State and private forestry agencies.

It's an awesome responsibility - but the rewards are as limitless as the views.

Agency contact information

HRM Contact Center
Phone
1-877-372-7248 X2
Email
HRM_Contact_Center@usda.gov
Address
USDA Forest Service HRM Contact Center
DO NOT MAIL IN APPLICATIONS, SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE ANNOUNCEMENT.
Albuquerque, NM 87109
US