Physical Scientist

Clarification from the agency

We are only accepting applications from: Current career or career conditional competitive service employees with the National Park Service (NPS); Eligible employees for priority consideration under the Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP); and current or former time-limited employees eligible under the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA).

• Serve as a technical advisor in the physical sciences for Timpanogos Cave National Monument.
• Responsible for program development and implementation related to geology, caves and karst formations, soils, hydrology, hydrogeology, air quality, acoustics, paleontology, and related fields and activities.
• Prepare management and scientific reports regarding the results of protection, mitigation, restoration, inventory, monitoring, and research activities.
• Following established procedures and within a defined scope, conduct scientifically credible protection, mitigation, and restoration projects needed to prevent resource damage and to minimize human impacts.
• Work closely with park education staff to incorporate new information into park and partner education programs.

Area/Housing Information: Timpanogos Cave National Monument is located on Utah State Hwy 92 in American Fork Canyon, 10 miles east of exit 284, I-15. The monument is surrounded by the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, which includes several wilderness areas. It is located 10 minutes away from nearby cities of Cedar Hills, Highland, Lehi, Pleasant Grove, and American Fork. There are plenty of premier outdoor activities that can be experienced near the monument such as camping, hunting, fishing, snow skiing, boating, rock-climbing, mountaineering, caving, and hiking. Schools with grades kindergarten through 12 are in all of the nearby cities. A wide selection of housing options, shopping facilities, hospitals, movie theaters, banks, churches, and universities are available all along the Wasatch Front. The State's main metropolitan population cities including Provo, Salt Lake City, and Ogden are all within a 1-hour drive radius. The Headquarters office elevation is 5,600 feet. Temperatures can range from below 0 in the winter to above 100 degrees F in the summer. Government housing is not available.

For more information about Timpanogos Cave National Monument, please visit: Timpanogos Cave National Monument (U.S. National Park Service).

Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• 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/.
• First time hires to the Federal government normally start at the step 1 rate.
• Must possess and maintain a valid driver's license throughout employment.
• You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work.
• You are required to wear a uniform and comply with uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
• You may be required to travel overnight away from home. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
• You are required to complete training, obtain and maintain a government credit card with travel and purchase authority.
• Vertical Caving Experience - Demonstrate the ability to safely and efficiently travel in the vertical environment negotiating Alpine Single
  Rope Technique (SRT) rigging components including rebelays, redirects, and traverses within 1 year of appointment.

*Additional Requirements located under qualifications*

Qualifications

Requirements Continued:

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 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 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 - 09/17/2026-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.

Basic Requirements for the General Physical Science Series, 1301:
A. You must have a degree in physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics. You must include a copy of your transcripts.
-OR-
B. You must have a combination of education and experience. Education equivalent to one of the majors shown above that included at least 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science, plus appropriate experience or additional education. You must include a copy of your transcripts.

Minimum Qualifications for the GS-09 Physical Scientist:

To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:
EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the federal service. Specialized experience is experience that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position to be filled. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include, but are not limited to, the following: 1) Collects field data contributing to a basic natural resources inventory or monitoring program; 2) Performs a variety of technical tasks, such as selecting samples, interpolating missing data, uncovering clear discrepancies, solving minor problems and performing scientific analyses; 3) Drafts workplans and implementation strategies; and/or 4) Investigates cultural sites, natural resources, historic scenes, and subjects to identify, protect or interpret them. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of two (2) years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree in a related field. The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. (Two years of graduate education is 36 semester hours.) You must include a copy of your transcripts.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of graduate level education and specialized experience that together meets the requirements of the position. Only graduate education in excess of 18 semester hours may be used to qualify applicants for this grade level. For example, 6 months of the specialized experience (50% of experience), and 27 semester hours of directly related graduate level college study in an accredited institution (50% of education), meet 100% of the qualification requirements. You must include a copy of your transcripts.

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):

• Attention to Detail
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Reading Comprehension

In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires successful completion of the USA Hire Assessment, if required.

All qualified non-competitive applicants and the best-qualified Merit Promotion applicants will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration.

DUE WEIGHT: You MUST 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, score at least 85 (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 (ET) -09/17/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement:

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 and former Federal 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.

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