Irrigation System Operator Job in Ignacio, CO

Vacancy No. DE-25-12642166-CAWZ-JM Department Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs
Salary $35,373.00 to $45,982.00 Grade 4 to 4
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 12/19/2024 Close Date 1/2/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Ignacio, CO


Summary

This announcement is being advertised under delegated examining procedures and is open to all U.S. citizens. It is concurrently advertised under merit promotion procedures under announcement number STIMP-25-12642164-CAWZ-JM. Candidates who wish to be considered under both procedures MUST apply and submit complete application packages to both vacancies.

This position is located with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Superintendent, Southern Ute Agency in Ignacio, Colorado.

Duties

  • Distribute irrigation water from and between storage reservoirs at diversions and in canals, and at all delivery points within the specified work territory.
  • Maintain records of water delivery, reservoir inflow and instream flows; calculate requirements and arranges quantity, time and duration of deliveries.
  • Operate Project distribution facilities (dam gates, canal gates, checks) to regulate and deliver water in accordance with Project policies.
  • Responsible for constant surveillance of condition of reservoirs, dams, canals, structures, buildings, recorder stations and other facilities.
  • Work with maintenance crew to clean ditches and structures, repair and replace structures, build/place concrete forms and operate hand or power tools.
  • Performs duties in the collection and delivery of water supply to agricultural users.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • U.S. Citizenship Required
  • Indian Preference applies
  • You will be required to have federal payments made by Direct Deposit
  • You may be required to successfully complete a probationary/trial period
  • A background security investigation will be required for all new hires. Appointment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication.
  • If you are a male applicant born after 12/31/1959 and are required to register under the Military Selective Service Act, the Defense Authorization Act of 1986 requires that you be registered or you are not eligible for appointment in this agency.
  • Incumbent may be required as an incidental duty to operate a government-owned or leased motor vehicle. If selected, you will be required to complete an Incidental Motor Vehicle Operator's Certification Form.
  • This position is subject to furlough. Services will not be required at certain times due to lack of work, lack of funds, weather conditions, ceiling limitations, or other unforeseen circumstances and you will be placed in non-pay status.
  • Travel and relocation expenses will not be authorized. Any relocation expenses associated with reporting for duty will be the responsibility of the selected employee.
  • The pay flexibilities of a recruitment incentive may be authorized pending availability of funds and management approval.

Qualifications

EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS: (OPM Operating Manual, Qualification Standards for Technical and Medical Support Position and Individual Occupational Requirements, GS-0459)

GS-04: Qualifying is 6 months of general experience of any type of work that demonstrated the ability to perform the work of the position, or experience that provided a familiarity with the subject matter or processes of the broad subject area of the occupation AND 6 months of specialized experience. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: farming or ranching work that provided knowledge of soil and water conservation practices and irrigation procedures used in the geographical area for which application is made; construction, maintenance, or operating work that provided a knowledge of the control, regulation, distribution, and measurement of water; controlling, clearing, repairing, and maintaining irrigation ditches, canals, and equipment or soil conservation or engineering technician work where the duties provided a knowledge of irrigation procedures.

OR

Successful completion of 2 years of study that included at least 12 semester hours in any combination of courses such as civil engineering, agriculture, soil management or conservation, physical science, mathematics, or range management or conservation.

OR

Combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience. The education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university and include courses that are related to the occupation of the position.

All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Preference in filling vacancies is given to qualified Indian candidates in accordance with the Indian Preference Act of 1934 (title 25, USC Section 472).

Additional selections may be made from this announcement if identical vacancies occur in the same location within 90 days from the closing date.

Education

If you are qualifying based on your education, you MUST provide transcripts or other documentation to support your educational claims. Unless otherwise stated: (1) official or unofficial transcripts are acceptable, or (2) you may submit a list with all of your courses, grades, semester, year, and credit for the course. All materials must be submitted by the closing date of the announcement.

If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) were taken on a pass/fail basis, your claim of superior academic achievement must be based upon class standing or membership in an honor society.

One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study.

If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education which shows the 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. For further information, visit: FOREIGN EDUCATION

Additional information

All new hires earn the beginning salary of their pay grade (Step 1). See 2024 Salary Tables and select the pay chart for Ignacio, Colorado. If no specific chart is listed for this geographic location, see the "rest of U.S." chart.

TELEWORK: Indian Affairs has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework only during an emergency or natural disaster.

Career Transition Assistance Programs: These programs apply to employees who have been involuntarily separated from a Federal service position within the competitive service or Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: (1) meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria; (2) be rated well-qualified for the position with a score of 85 or above; and, (3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility. For more information visit: http://www.opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.asp .

LAND MANAGEMENT WORKFORCE FLEXIBILITY ACT: If applying under the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act, you must provide documentation to support your eligibility (SF-50) and performance (references and/or performance appraisal). Under the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) two groups of individuals are eligible to apply under this announcement: current and/or former employees serving or who have served under time-limited competitive appointments at land management agencies. Land Management Agencies include: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and U.S. Forest Service.

  • Current appointees: 1) must have been hired under competitive examining procedures to a time limited appointment with a land management agency; 2) must have served under one or more time limited appointment(s) by a land management agency for a period totaling more than 24 months without a break in service of 2 or more years; AND 3) must have performed at an acceptable level during each period of service.
  • Former appointees: 1) must have been hired under competitive examining procedures to a time limited appointment with a land management agency; 2) must have served under one or more time limited appointment(s) by a land management agency for a period totaling more than 24 months without a break in service of 2 or more years; 3) must have separated for reasons other than misconduct or performance; AND 4) must have performed at an acceptable level through the service period.
Certain candidates may be eligible to apply under a special hiring authority including those for disabled individuals, Peace Corps employees, Foreign Service employees, veterans, etc. For more information, visit the following OPM websites: USAJOBS Information Center: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/; Vets Info Guide: http://www.fedshirevets.gov/.

Former Federal Employees are required to indicate whether they received a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP) buyout in their previous employment with the Federal government, and are required to submit a copy of the applicable Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) regarding the VSIP. Most individuals who accept reemployment with the Federal government within 5 years of receiving the VSIP amount, must repay the gross amount of the separation pay prior to reemployment.

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.

Your resume will be evaluated after the closing date to determine whether you meet the minimum qualification requirements for this position described above. Qualified candidates will then be further evaluated to assess the quality, depth, and complexity of your accomplishments, experience, and education in relation to the competencies or knowledge, skills, and abilities required for the position as demonstrated by your responses to the assessment questions. Competencies measured include:

  • Civil Engineering
  • Self Management
  • Technical Competence


We will compare your resume and supporting documentation to your responses on the assessment questionnaire. If your responses to the assessment questions cannot be supported by your resume, your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your experience. Qualified applicants will be evaluated, rated and referred to the selecting official under category rating procedures, and placed in one of the following categories:

BEST QUALIFIED: Applicants possess all of the job related competencies identified above.

WELL QUALIFIED: Applicants possess a majority of the job related competencies.

QUALIFIED: Applicants meet the basic eligibility and minimum qualification requirements but do not meet the definition of Best Qualified or Well Qualified.

Qualified Indian preference candidates will be referred to the hiring manager in order of veterans' preference.

You may preview the assessment questions here in the https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12642166. Additional selections may be made from this announcement if identical vacancies occur within 90 days from the closing date.

Required Documents

The following documents are required for this position:

  • Resume which details work experience including dates worked (mm/yy-mm/yy), position title, Grade (if federal service), and hours worked per week.
  • On-line Assessment Questionnaire
  • Transcripts (if using education to qualify) - Unofficial transcripts are acceptable; however, an official transcript may be requested at a later time.
  • Form BIA-4432, Verification of Indian Preference for Employment (if claiming Indian Preference).
  • Veteran's documentation - (if applicable) VA letter on VA letterhead stating your overall combined rating, SF-15, DD-214 (copy 4) reflecting an honorable discharge and dates of active duty military service.
If you are unable to apply online, require reasonable accommodation in the application process if you are an applicant with a disability, or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application.

ALL DOCUMENTS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 11:59 PM Eastern Time ON THE CLOSING DATE OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. If your application package is incomplete in any way, you will not be considered for this position, and requests for extensions will not be granted. Please double check your application package before you submit it.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WILL NOT BE SOLICITED OR ACCEPTED BY THIS OFFICE.

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

COVID-19 VACCINATION REQUIREMENT:

"To ensure compliance with an applicable preliminary nationwide injunction, which may be supplemented, modified, or vacated, depending on the course of ongoing litigation, the Federal Government will take no action to implement or enforce the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to Executive Order 14043 on Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees. Therefore, to the extent a Federal job announcement includes the requirement that applicants must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 pursuant to E.O. 14043, that requirement does not currently apply. Federal agencies may request information regarding the vaccination status of selected applicants for the purposes of implementing other workplace safety protocols, such as protocols related to masking, physical distancing, testing, travel, and quarantine."

ONLINE APPLICATION SUBMISSION:

To apply for this position, you must complete the online application and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below.

To begin, click Apply to access the online application.
You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account to apply. If you do not have a USAJOBS account, you will need to create one before beginning the application.

Follow the prompts to select your résumé and/or other supporting documents to be included with your application package. You will have the opportunity to upload additional documents to include in your application before it is submitted. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.

After acknowledging you have reviewed your application package, complete the Include Personal Information section as you deem appropriate and click to continue with the application process.

You will be taken to the online application which you must complete in order to apply for the position.
Complete the online application, verify the required documentation is included with your application package, and submit the application.
To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account (https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login ); all of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen.
The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated.
For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/.

PLEASE NOTE - NO APPLICATION MATERIAL WILL BE ACCEPTED VIA E-MAIL.

Agency contact information

Jolene Marsh
Address
BIA Center for Recruitment Albuquerque
BIA Center for Recruitment Albuquerque
1011 Indian School Road, NW
Suite 136
Albuquerque, NM 87104
US
Learn more about this agency

Next steps

Once you submit all the required documents and the online application in USAJOBS, you will receive an acknowledgement email that your submission was successful. After the evaluation process is complete, you will be notified of your status and/or referral to the hiring official. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted.

You will be notified if this job is filled or canceled. Timelines for this process vary widely.

You may check the status of your application at any time by logging in to your USAJobs Account. This office will not respond to requests for status updates.


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