Supervisory Environmental Protection Specialist Job in Yakima, WA

Vacancy No. BOR-CPN-25-DE-12632582-CA Department Bureau of Reclamation
Salary $105,383.00 to $137,000.00 Grade 13 to 13
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 1/17/2025 Close Date 1/31/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Yakima, WA


Summary

Reclamation is seeking a career professional looking for an opportunity to capitalize on their expertise as a Supervisory Environmental Protection Specialist. Make a difference in the West by assisting in meeting increasing water demands while protecting the environment.

Duty Location: Yakima, Washington https://www.usbr.gov/pn/about/hr/area-information.html

Duties

Exercises primary responsibility for the preparation, processing, and review of Area environmental compliance documents.

Advises and provides assistance to other Reclamation personnel concerning the intent and requirements of environmental impact
analysis and assures that all appropriate agencies and publics are aware of and have access to information on Area environmental activities and related documents.

Develops and directs programs authorized and actions required to assure compliance with the NEPA, FWCA, ESA, NHPA, NAGPRA and other similar regulations and programs.

Provides overall guidance and coordination of field studies and environmental management activities and the preparation, content, scheduling, and processing of environmental documents concerning Area projects and activities.

Works with water user entities and others in the assessment of complex water resource problems and opportunities including water supply and measurement, water distribution, system operation and maintenance procedures and techniques, and agricultural water use and efficiency.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

You must be a U.S. Citizen or U.S. National.
You must be suitable for federal employment, determined by a background investigation.
You must submit a resume and supporting documentation (see Required Documents).
You must submit eligibility documents for veterans consideration (see Required Documents).
You will be required to complete a Financial Disclosure Form.

Qualifications

In order to be rated as qualified for this position, the HR Office must be able to determine that you meet the specialized experience requirement - this information must be clearly supported in the resume.

To qualify at the GS-13 level, you must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to at least the GS-12 level in federal service. Specialized experience at this level is defined as 1) one or more of the following tasks - writing environment documents, evaluating environmental documents or participating in the development of environmental documents, for the following laws and regulations: National Environmental Policy Act (documents to include Categorical Exclusion Checklists, Environmental Assessments, Environmental Impact Statements), Endangered Species Act (documents to include Biological Assessments), National Historic Preservation Act (documents to include Memorandum of Agreement, cultural resource surveys), Clean Water Act (documents to include Nationwide Permits, Hydraulic Project Approvals, Shoreline Protection Permits). 2) Supervising or leading a diverse workforce or team comprised of administrative, professional, scientific, technical, and trade/craft related positions. 3) Evaluating environmental management policies and procedures and areas of possible involvement, application, and change.

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.

You must meet all Eligibility and Qualification requirements, including any selective placement factors if applicable, by 01/31/2025.

Education

This position does not allow substituting education for experience.

Additional information

You may be required to serve an initial probationary period. Current, permanent Federal employees who are selected from this announcement may be required to serve a probationary period.

You may be required to serve an initial supervisory probation period.

Reclamation has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and you may be allowed to telework with supervisory approval. ***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL/REMOTE POSITION.***

If otherwise eligible and qualified, you may be offered a recruitment or relocation incentive. The decision to offer an incentive will be made on a case-by-case basis and is neither promised nor guaranteed. For information, visit: Recruitment Incentive or Relocation Incentive.

Permanent Change of Station (PCS) expenses are authorized with the exception of the Guaranteed Home Sale Provision or first-post-of-duty relocation expenses are authorized, as applicable. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), signed into law December 2017, suspends the moving expense deduction and the exclusion from income of qualified employer reimbursements of moving expenses that was allowed under previous tax laws. Employer reimbursements for moving costs are now generally taxed at the same rate as ordinary income.

DOI uses E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including applicant rights and responsibilities, please visit https://www.e-verify.gov/

This position is designated as a MODERATE RISK Public Trust position. It requires a fully completed and favorably adjudicated Public Trust Suitability Background Investigation (T2S or T2RS or equivalent) that is current (within the last 5 years). This is a condition of employment.

Male applicants born after December 31, 1959 must certify registration with the Selective Service System or that the applicant is exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. Go to: https://www.sss.gov

This is a non-bargaining unit position.

Additional vacancies may be filled using this job announcement.

Applicants who apply under this job opportunity announcement agree to have their application, associated documents and applicable personal information shared with other Bureaus/Offices within the Department of the Interior (DOI) who have vacancies with the same occupational series, grade, full performance level and in the same geographic location(s). Applying to this announcement does not replace the need to apply to other job opportunity announcements for which you wish to receive consideration. You may choose to opt in of having your information shared with other agencies when applying for this position. If an agency requests a copy of a certificate you are on, you will be notified.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Category rating and selection procedures will be used to evaluate applications from this announcement. If an applicant meets the basic qualification requirements, his/her on-line responses to the vacancy assessment questionnaire will be used to determine the quality and extent of his/her experience, education, training, etc., for placement in one of the following categories: 1) Best Qualified, 2) Well Qualified, and 3) Qualified. Qualified candidates will be assigned a numerical score on a scale of 70-100. The Category Rating Process does not add veterans' preference points or apply the "rule of three" but protects the rights of Veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each quality category. Veterans' preference eligibles who meet the minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent will be listed in the highest quality category (except in the case of scientific or professional positions at the GS-09 level or higher). The assessment questionnaire will take approximately 30 minutes to complete.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide to the application questionnaire, and the result of the additional assessments required for this position.

Your answers will be verified against information provided in your resume. Your resume must clearly support the responses to all the questions by addressing experience, education, and/or training relevant to this position. You must make a fair and accurate assessment of your qualifications. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than what is apparent in the description of your experience, competencies, skills, and/or education/training (or that your resume/application is incomplete), you could be rated ineligible or your score could be lowered.

The application questionnaire can be previewed here: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12632582

For evaluating the quality of candidates for referral to the selecting official, a three-phased process will be used.

Phase 1: Applicant resumes will be reviewed by Human Resources to ensure they meet the basic qualification requirements (see definition of specialized experience). If applicants meet basic qualifications and score at least a 70 on the initial phase, they will continue on to the second phase and will be given an interim score based on the applicant assessment questionnaire. With information received from the applicant assessment questionnaire in the first phase, applicant's will be evaluated on the following Competencies: Administration and Management, Planning and Evaluation, and Oral Communication.

Phase 2: Candidates who pass the first phase will be contacted via email and asked to submit narrative responses which will address the Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and/or Competencies listed below. Subject Matter Expert(s) will review the score and narrative responses: Flexibility, Interpersonal Skills, and Leadership.

Phase 3: Candidates will be given a final score which combines the scores from the first and second phases. Those candidates who score as best qualified will be referred to the selecting official for consideration.

Required Documents

Please submit the supporting documents outlined below applicable to your claimed eligibility status and the position and grade to which you are applying. Failing to submit required documents will result in non-consideration due to an incomplete application package.

RESUME: You must submit a resume that demonstrates how skills and experiences through job duties meet the qualifications and requirements listed in the job announcement to be considered for the job. Each job experience must include dates of employment including start and end dates (month and year), work schedule (full-time or part-time), and hours worked per week. For more information, click here.

VETERANS: If you are entitled to veterans' preference, you must submit a copy of your latest Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, DD-214 (copy indicating character of service) or other proof of your service which includes character of service. If claiming disability preference, you must also submit the disability letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs or Armed Service and the Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, Standard Form 15. For more information, click here.

CAREER TRANSITION PROGRAMS: Permanent Federal employees who are surplus, displaced, or involuntarily separated. You must submit a copy of their most recent performance appraisal, proof of eligibility, and most current SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with their application. To be considered under CTAP/ICTAP, you must be well-qualified (i.e., meet the minimum qualification requirements, including selective factors, education and experience requirements) and score at least 85.0 on the assessment questionnaire as established, and be able to perform the duties of the position upon entry. For more information, click here.

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

Applications (resume, assessment questionnaire, and supporting documentation) for this vacancy MUST be received online BEFORE midnight Eastern Time (Washington, DC time) on 01/31/2025. To apply, click the blue APPLY ONLINE button at the top of the page.

Do not submit photographs with the application package. Documents with photographs may not be seen by hiring officials - applicant must remove any images from badges, licenses, etc.

Agency contact information

BOR C-PN Region 9 Human Resources Office
Address
Columbia-Cascades Area Office
Bureau of Reclamation
Columbia-Cascades Area Office
1917 Marsh Road
Yakima, WA 98901
US
Learn more about this agency

Next steps

Upon successful submission of the application packet, applicants will receive a confirmation email from USAJOBS. If this email confirmation is not received by the applicant, the application has not yet been accepted by the system.

After all application packages have been received, resumes and supporting document(s) will be reviewed to ensure applicants meet the basic qualification requirements. Each applicant who meets the basic qualifications will be further evaluated on the information provided in the resume, application questionnaire, and other assessment criteria identified in the "How You Will Be Evaluated" section above. Best-qualified applicants will be referred to the selecting official. After making a tentative job offer, a suitability and/or security background investigation will be conducted. A final job offer is typically made within 40 days after the deadline for applications. Applicants should monitor their status for positions with the Bureau of Reclamation by regularly checking their public status notifications in the USAJOBS profile.


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


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