PARK RANGER

Clarification from the agency

See "Who May Apply" in the "Qualifications" section for more information on who is eligible to apply for this position.

• Responsible for planning and executing one or more programs in recreation management, visitor assistance and services, natural resources management and interpretation.
• Develops plans for operations including budgeting and seasonal staffing requirements for such areas as recreation resource management, recreation user fee program project signs and navigation's aids, and accident prevention.
• Executes visitor assistance and services programs; assures visitor safety and protection by maintenance of facilities.
• Plans project surveillance through patrols of project lands and waters to prevent unauthorized use, trespass, destruction of property, protection of project land, water and other environmental resources.
• Plans, administers, and monitors all wildlife programs, studies, and experimental work and coordinates management policies with appropriate State and/or Federal wildlife agencies.
• Develops plans for operation including resource management and seasonal staffing priorities for such areas as the visitor center operations, trail construction and maintenance, audio-visual program, brochures, special events, and visitor safety.
• Inspect, audit, monitor, and report resources and programs to ensure compliance with all Federal, State and local environmental regulations on Corps owned and operated land, including out granted (leased) facilities.
• Develop reports, applications and documents in coordination with outside agencies to follow guidelines of environmental programs.

Conditions of employment

• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• The employee will wear the Corps' authorized uniform in the performance of duties as prescribed by AR 670-10 and supplements.
• Incumbent must receive a minimum of 24 hours of personal protection/unarmed self defense, situational evaluation and tactical communication training within two years of employment.
• Must possess, or be willing and able to obtain and maintain, training in first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), blood-borne pathogens, or other training as deemed necessary to accomplish the mission or required by law or regulation.
• Must be willing and able to work nights, weekends, and holidays.
• Must possess or be able to acquire a state driver's license and Corps of Engineers boat operator license.
• This position has a Temporary Duty (TDY) or business travel requirement of 10% of the time.
• Position is subject to pre-employment and random drug testing in accordance with AR 600-85.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: Only applicants who meet one of the employment authority categories below are eligible to apply for this job. You will be asked to identify which category or categories you meet, and to provide documents which prove you meet the category or categories you selected. See Proof of Eligibility for an extensive list of document requirements for all employment authorities.

• Current Department of Army Civilian Employees
• Domestic Defense Industrial Base/Major Range and Test Facilities Base Civilian Personnel Workforce
• Executive Order (E.O.) 12721
• Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan
• Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act
• Military Spouses, under Executive Order (E.O.) 13473
• Non-Department of Defense (DoD) Transfer
• People with Disabilities, Schedule A
• Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Reserve (MR) and National Guard (NG) Technician Eligible
• Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Spouse Preference (MSP) Eligible
• Priority Placement Program, DoD MR and NG Preference Eligible Tech Receiving Disability Retirement
• Priority Placement Program, DoD Retained Grade Preference Eligible
• Reinstatement
• Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) of 1998

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document.

GS-05: Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience developing and conducting interpretative talks and guided tours, patrolling land and water areas for safety and maintenance purposes, explaining park project rules and regulations, answering visitor questions and providing information on park activities and cultural, historical, and/or natural resources history and locations. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-04).
OR
Education: Four year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with twenty-four semester hours of related course work in natural resource management, natural sciences, earth sciences, history, archeology, anthropology, park and recreation management, law enforcement/police science, social sciences, museum sciences, business administration, public administration, behavioral sciences, sociology, or other closely related subjects pertinent to the management and protection of natural and cultural resources.
OR
Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%.

GS-07: Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes assisting with the development of plans and schedules for park employees, assisting with creating guides, manuals and training materials, performing park management functions associated with park safety and security, developing and maintaining park programs. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-05).
OR
Education: One full year of graduate level education with major study in natural resource management, natural sciences, earth sciences, history, archeology, anthropology, park and recreation management, law enforcement/police science, social sciences, museum sciences, business administration, public administration, behavioral sciences, sociology, or other closely related subjects pertinent to the management and protection of natural and cultural resources.
OR
Superior Academic Achievement: Successful completion of all the requirements for a bachelor's degree with Superior Academic Achievement. In order to be creditable under this provision, Superior Academic Achievement must have been gained in a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled, such as that identified in Education above. Superior Academic Achievement is based on:(1) Class Standing - Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed course OR
(2) Grade-Point Average (G.P.A.) - Applicants must have a grade-point average of either (a) 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on your official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed 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 in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum OR(3) Honor Society Membership - Applicants may be considered eligible based on membership in one of the approved national scholastic honor societies listed by the Association of College Honor Societies (https://www.achsnatl.org/).OR
Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%.
GS-09: Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes administering the conservation and/or use of a project's natural resources; implementing plans for the construction or improvement of a recreation facility; and developing or administering service contracts for a recreation facility. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-07).
OR
Education: Master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education with major study in natural resource management, natural sciences, earth sciences, history, archeology, anthropology, park and recreation management, law enforcement/police science, social sciences, museum sciences, business administration, public administration, behavioral sciences, sociology, or other closely related subjects pertinent to the management and protection of natural and cultural resources.
OR
Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%.


Time in Grade Requirement: Applicants who have held a General Schedule (GS) position within the last 52 weeks must have 52 weeks of Federal service at the next lower grade or equivalent (GS-04,05,07 respectively).

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 online assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Reading Comprehension
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork

The USA Hire Assessments includes a cut score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

You may claim Military Spouse preference.

Military Spouse Preference (MSP) applicants will receive preference consideration and will be placed (if selected) at the highest grade for which they have applied and are determined best qualified, up to and including the full performance level.

You may claim Priority Placement Program (PPP) preference.

DoD Priority Placement Program (PPP) Applicants will receive preference consideration at the full-performance grade level only.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP). If you are a Federal employee in the competitive service and your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority for this position. To receive selection priority, you must: (1) meet ICTAP eligibility criteria (2) be rated well-qualified for the position and; (3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your ICTAP eligibility. To be considered well-qualified and receive selection priority applicants must satisfy all qualification requirements for the position and receive a score of 90 or above. Additional information about the program is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website.

The documents you are required to submit vary based on the authority you are using to apply (i.e., applying as a veteran, applying as a current permanent Federal employee, applying as a reinstatement, etc). Please review the following links to see which documents you need to provide to prove your eligibility to apply: Applicant Checklist for Internal/Merit Promotion Announcements.

As described above, your complete application includes your resume, your responses to the online questionnaire, and documents which prove your eligibility to apply. If you fail to provide these documents, you will be marked as having an incomplete application package and you will not be considered any further.

1. Your resume:

• Your resume must be two pages or less and must support the specialized experience described in this announcement. Resumes exceeding two pages will be removed from consideration.
• For each relevant work experience, make sure you include the employer's name, job title, start and end dates (include month and year), for qualifications purposes, the number of hours worked per week, and a brief description that show you can perform the tasks at the required level listed in the job announcement. If your resume does not contain this information, your application may be marked as incomplete, and you may not receive consideration for this position.
• Use plain language. Avoid using acronyms and terms that are not easily understood. The hiring agency will not make assumptions about what's in your resume.
• If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content, it will not be used to make eligibility and qualification determinations, and you may not be considered for this vacancy.
• For additional information, to include formatting tips, see: What to include in your resume.

2. Other supporting documents:

• Cover Letter, optional
• Most recent Performance Appraisal, if applicable
• Proof of Eligibility to Apply: Your application must include the documents which prove you are eligible to apply for the vacancy. The Proof of Eligibility document describes authorities commonly used in merit promotion recruitment and what document(s) are required to prove you meet the requirements of the authority. You must meet the requirements of at least one of the authorities listed in the Who May Apply section above to receive further consideration.
• Time-in-grade documentation: If you are applying for a higher grade and your SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you meet the one year time-in-grade requirement so you will need to provide an SF-50 which clearly demonstrates you meet the time-in-grade requirements (examples of appropriate SF-50s include Promotions, Within-grade Grade/Range Increases, and SF-50s with an effective date more than one year old).
• This position has an individual occupational requirement and/or allows for substitution of education for experience. If you meet this requirement based on education you MUST submit a copy of your transcript with your application package or you will be rated ineligible. See: Transcripts and Licenses

NOTE: Documents submitted as part of the application package, to include supplemental documents, may be shared beyond the Human Resources Office. Some supplemental documents such as military orders and marriage certificates may contain personal information for someone other than you. You may sanitize these documents to remove another person's personal information before you submit your application. You may be asked to provide an un-sanitized version of the documents if you are selected to confirm your eligibility.

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