Landscape Architect

Clarification from the agency

Internal to an agency clarification: Open to current career/career conditional employees of the National Park Service Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) eligibles. CTAP eligibles in the local commuting area.

1. Assisting the multidisciplinary team in initiating, establishing, guiding, and controlling one or more park design/construction projects from inception through completion.

2. Learn general knowledge of the organization, operation, financial, and scheduling processes as well as professional discipline skills to help develop, confirm, and manage the project through project lifecycle with a focus on scope, quality, budget, and schedule commitments.

3. Be responsible for writing scope of work; developing government cost estimate; assisting in the negotiation of task orders and construction contracts; coordinating contracting effort; providing quality assurance of contracted products; and closing out compliance, pre-design, design, and construction management efforts provided by external contractors performing professional services on major, simple to highly complex, multi-phased projects for the park.

4. Analyze infrastructure systems for deficiencies and propose for improvements.

5. Coordinate and communicate with staff and stakeholders of various professions.

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.
• Any individual who is currently holding, or has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet time-in-grade requirements (must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent in the Federal service); with few exceptions as outlined in 5 CFR 300.603(b). Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal civilian employees applying for reinstatement who have had a break in service of less than one year, as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointments. Time-in-grade does not apply to new excepted service appointments and must be met by the closing date of this announcement.
• You will be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
• You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority.
• Applicants must be at least (1)18 years old or (2) at least 16 years old and: (a) Have graduated from high school or been awarded a certificate equivalent to graduating from high school; or (b) Have completed a formal vocational training program; or (c) Have received a statement from school authorities agreeing with their preference for employment rather than continuing their education; or (d) Be currently enrolled in a secondary school and either work only during school vacation periods or work part-time during the school year under a formal student employment program.

*Additional Requirements located under qualifications*

Qualifications

Requirements Continued...

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will 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 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 probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-07/30/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 for each federal position listed as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of qualifying 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 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. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience.

For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected.

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:

BASIC REQUIREMENT
DEGREE: 4-year or higher degree in landscape architecture or landscape design.

-OR-

COMBINATION OF EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE: For each year short of graduation, you must have had one year of experience under professional leadership and guidance of such character and diversity as to be a satisfactory substitute for the required education. This experience must have included original landscape design. NOTE: The following kinds of experience are not acceptable as professional Landscape Architecting experience: routine drafting or developing of plans where original investigations or designs are not involved; laying out or executing illustrations in black and white or in color; nursery work involving the propagation of trees, shrubs, vines; experimental horticultural, or landscape, gardening; breeding, testing, propagation, culture, and production of plants, flowers, trees, or corps; forestry work involving the management of forest resources for the continuous production of timber, water, forage, and other forest values; architectural and engineering work limited to the design of structures; work in city and community planning that relates primarily to the broad social and economic growth of cities and communities and the organization of community services and facilities.

-AND-

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). Qualifying specialized experience includes Experience of managing civic infrastructure or building construction project from project inception to completion. 1)Assisting interdisciplinary group to complete complex projects through inception, execution and completion; 2) Providing expertise on multiyear planning, design, and construction projects; 3) Managing specific components in complex construction projects including defining project needs, monitor project progress, approve contract submittals, monitor project funding and complete final inspections; 4) Utilize software, including but not limited to AutoCAD; 5) Enforce contract administration; 6) Assisting in maintaining project compliance, quality, scope, budget, and schedule.

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.

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. 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 assessments required for this position. A review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the Assessment Questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job. If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses provided in the Assessment Questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation, you will be rated 'ineligible', 'not qualified', or your score will be adjusted accordingly. If a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications or experience, you can lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully; errors or omissions can affect your rating.

Resumes must not exceed two single-sided pages and resumes longer than two pages will not be accepted. You may only submit one resume. 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.

Candidates who apply under Competitive Merit Promotion procedures will undergo a quality review to determine if they are highly qualified based on the content of their resume and their responses to the questionnaire. Best qualified candidates will be referred if all required supporting documentation has been provided.

Candidates who apply under Noncompetitive Merit Promotion procedures will undergo a quality review to determine if they are minimally qualified based on the content of their resume and their responses to the questionnaire. Qualified candidates will be referred if all required supporting documentation has been provided.

You will be evaluated on the following competencies:

• Contracting/Procurement
• Oral Communication
• Project Management
• Teamwork
• Written Communication

In order 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 assessments, including a Subject Matter Expert (SME) Panel Resume Review. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job.

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, please submit a statement as to why it is not available. Please indicate if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level.

The following documents are required and must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 07/30/2026.

1. Resume which includes a list of all significant jobs held and duties performed, with dates specified in month and year format, and indicate hours worked per week. If military or civilian, please include your rank and/or grade. Your resume must clearly show how long your have held each grade in a federal position.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. Headers may be slightly larger but must remain legible. 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
2. Complete All Required Assessments.
3. Merit Promotion Eligibility Documentation such as:
   • Federal employees or former federal employees must submit a copy of their latest or last SF-50 "Notification of Personnel Action" reflecting career or career-conditional status in the competitive service, shows position title, series, grade and an additional SF-50 showing highest permanent grade ever held, if not reflected on your latest SF-50. Examples of acceptable SF-50s include: Promotion, Within Rate Increases (WRI/WGI), or Appointment SF-50s. Do not submit an Award SF-50. Time in grade will be determined by reviewing your resume and required SF-50s. Your last Federal performance appraisal plan for your last position must reflect a rating of Fully Successful or equivalent. If the SF-50 showing highest permanent grade ever held has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess the one-year time-in-grade, as required by this announcement. In this instance, your resume must clearly show that you held that grade for one-year
   • LMWFA: Documentation for the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act eligibility, which includes ALL Appointment AND Termination SF-50s for EACH appointment as well as ALL performance evaluations, for each qualifying period of temporary employment claimed.
   • Other Supporting Documents, if applicable, such as:
     • 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 submitting a performance appraisal not dated within the last18 months, a statement as to why it is the most recent must be submitted. If no performance appraisal is available, applicants must submit a statement as to why it is not available (including if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level).
4. College transcripts, if qualifying based on education.
5. Documentation for Interagency/Career Transition Assistance Plan 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 rated well-qualified or above 85 on the rating criteria for this position.
6. 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. 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.

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