Natural Resources Specialist

Clarification from the agency

This is an Internal Merit Promotion announcement for current career and career conditional Bureau of Reclamation employees, Career Transition eligibles (CTAP & ICTAP), and those who are eligible under the hiring paths listed above. Refer to Required Documents section for more information.

Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following:

• Serves as a natural resources specialist, overseeing the preparation of complex environmental compliance documents and provides advice and staff assistance in the formation of policies responsive to the Region's needs in the environmental field.
• Coordinates and oversees interdisciplinary teams in the preparation and processing of assigned environmental impact statements, environmental assessments, environmental commitment plans, Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7 consultation packages, biological assessments, and other environmental documents.
• Conducts workshops, hearings, and meetings, and interacts with public interest groups, water districts, individuals and representatives of Federal, State, and local governments regarding all aspects of preparing and processing environmental documents.
• Reviews and provides comments on environmental impact statements and other environmental documents prepared by the Region and other agencies for compliance with the provisions of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), ESA, and other environmental statutes, executive orders, regulations, and procedures.
• Reviews planning and other internal and external reports and data dealing with environmental problems and their solutions to ensure environmental policy is articulated properly.
• Acts in a liaison capacity with other technical segments, natural resource specialists in other offices, and personnel in project offices on environmental matters affected by various planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance phases and research.
• Participates as a member of special Reclamation committees, task forces, and groups that are formed to address projects of a special or controversial nature to represent Regional environmental policy positions.

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

Conditions of employment

• Must provide proof of U.S. citizenship.
• 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/.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period to evaluate your fitness and whether your continuation of employment advances the public interest.

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.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 08/13/2026-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.

Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications:

Basic Educational Requirements: In addition to the specialized experience/education requirements for this position, you must meet at least one of the following:

A. Degree: biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position.
-OR-
B. Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

To qualify for this position at the GS-7 grade level:
Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-5 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: gathering and evaluating information, contributing to environmental analyses, assisting with the preparation of reports and documents, and assisting with identifying environmental considerations that may affect projects. -OR-
Education: Successful completion of at least 1 year of graduate-level education or superior academic achievement. -OR-
Combination of education and experience as listed above.

To qualify for this position at the GS-9 grade level:
Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: identifying and analyzing environmental impacts; addressing direct, indirect, and cumulative effects of proposed actions; preparing Categorical Exclusions; assisting with developing mitigation measures. -OR-
Education: Successful completion of at least 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree. -OR-
Combination of education and experience as listed above.

To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level:
Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: collecting, reviewing, and analyzing natural resource or ecological data and communicating findings to government agencies, tribes and the public; preparing Environmental Assessments and assisting with the preparation of Environmental Impact Statements; and developing mitigation measures, monitoring plans, and tracking implementation. -OR-
Education: Successful completion of at least 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. -OR-
Combination of education and experience as listed above.

To qualify for this position at the GS-12 grade level:
Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: preparing documents to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act; conducting NEPA scoping and public involvement, assisting with public notices and interagency coordination; conducting QA reviews of documents; advising staff and management on compliance with environmental laws and documents; and managing NEPA project logistics, including scheduling, budgeting, coordination with technical experts, and ensuring procedural compliance.

Superior Academic Achievement (SAA): Successfully completed a bachelor's degree in a directly related field AND meet one of the following: (1) Class Standing: rank in the upper 3rd of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, based on the completed courses; OR (2) Grade-Point Average (GPA): earn a GPA of (a) 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) based on 4 years of education, or based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum -or- (b) 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field, or the required courses completed during the final two years. Note: GPA will be rounded to the one decimal place, for example, 2.95 = 3.0, 2.94 = 2.9; OR (3) Membership in a National Scholastic Honor Society.

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.

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):

• Conservation Biology
• Oral Communication
• Technical Competence
• Writing

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 (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.

The following documents are required and must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) -08/13/2026-unless otherwise stated.

1. 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
2. Complete All Required Assessments.
3. 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).
4. All College Transcript(s), if qualifying based on education.
5. Eligibility Documentation:
   • Current Bureau of Reclamation 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.
   • 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.
   • 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.

Next steps