Wildland Firefighter (Senior Advisor) - Direct Hire Authority

Clarification from the agency

Applications will be accepted from any U.S. Citizen. DIRECT HIRING AUTHORITY will be used to fill this position. Veteran's preference and traditional rating and ranking of applications do not apply. All qualified applicants will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration for this position.

• Provides strategic policy advice and guidance within the assigned national fire management portfolio, which may include fire operations ensuring alignment with fire readiness and training systems, fuels and prescribed fire programs, fire ecology and monitoring, safety, aviation, intelligence and analytics, facilities, partnerships, or related program areas.
• Advises and assists senior leadership on matters that cut across the assigned portfolio, including advancing strategic initiatives aligned with organizational needs and mission priorities. Advises senior leaders in developing budget guidance and business rules for the assigned national fire management portfolio. Coordinates with other USWFS divisions to ensure policy and budget alignment across fire management programs.
• Exercises delegated discretionary authority, as assigned, to approve the allocation and distribution of organizational funds within the portfolio.
• Collaborates with Agency and USWFS leadership and key management officials to resolve complex issues affecting the assigned national fire management portfolio and to build consensus on policy direction.
• Develops, maintains, and implements policies, procedures, and standards within the assigned portfolio in coordination with deputy directors, assistant directors, and other senior staff.
• Provides oversight of updates to policies and processes and leads USWFS, DOI, and interagency policy development efforts, issue analyses, and special projects as assigned. Maintains broad institutional knowledge of USWFS policies and programs and their relationship to the assigned fire management portfolio to ensure alignment with federal natural resource and public land management missions.
• Provides confidential advice and counsel to senior leadership on special projects and enterprise level initiatives, ensuring feasibility and alignment with agency goals and policy direction.
• Leads and participates in cross-functional initiatives to develop and implement policies, systems, performance frameworks, and evaluation processes applicable within the assigned portfolio.
• Engages regularly in multiagency and multidisciplinary coordination involving multiple levels of government and stakeholders.

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.
• You will be required to submit to a drug test and receive a negative drug test result prior to appointment. In addition, this position is subject to random testing for illegal drug use.
• You may be required to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of your official duties; a valid driver's license is required. You will be required to submit a Motor Vehicle Operator's License and Driving Record. You must also submit (within a State sealed envelope or submitted directly by the State authorities), and at your own expense, all certified driving records from all States that disclose all valid driver's licenses, whether current or past, possessed by you.
• Work may require travel by fixed-wing or rotorwing aircraft.
• You may be required to wear a uniform and comply with the US Wildland Fire Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
• You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work.
• Subject to frequent extended travel up to 14 or more nights per month particularly during fire season, and you must obtain a government charge card for travel.
• You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority.
• Notice of Financial Disclosure Report Requirement: This position is subject to a financial disclosure requirement, and you will be required to complete either OGE Form 278e or OGE Form 450 as applicable within 30 days of your appointment.

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement.

For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience.Your resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (month/year - month/year), and the resume must reflect full and/or part-time or total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time). If part-time, the hours must be listed to pro-rate the specialized experience. If an applicant's resume is incomplete or does not support the requirements for minimum qualifications or specialized experience a rating of "ineligible" or "not qualified" will be applied and no consideration for employment will be granted.

**NOTE -Please limit your resume to no more than 2 pages. If more than 2 pages are submitted, only the first 2 pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility/qualifications.

You can only submit one resume; Only the resume submitted under the "Resume" "Document Type" will be used to determine your qualifications and for rating purposes.

Dates listed as active-duty military work on application that coincides with time listed on a DD-214 will be considered as FT work.

Basic Qualification:
One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS/GW-13 level in the federal government. Examples of specialized experience include: Developing, implementing, and evaluating policies, programs, and strategic initiatives that advance fire management objectives. Ensured effective coordination, resource integration, and policy alignment across organizational units and interagency partners; represented senior leadership in internal and external forums; and provided expert guidance on policy, program effectiveness, and strategic initiatives to support federal natural resource and public land management missions.

This is an administrative position in an organization having a firefighting mission, and is clearly in an established career path. Prior firefighting experience, as gained by substantial service in a primary firefighter position or equivalent experience outside the Federal government is a MANDATORY PREREQUISITE.

Applicants must have documented prior primary firefighting experience, with substantial service defined as either:

At least one full fire season working in a primary wildland firefighting role (e.g., Engine Crew, Fire Effects Crew, Prescribed Fire/Fuels Crew, Hand Crew, Helitack Crew, Hotshot Crew, Smokejumper, Wildland Fire Modules or Fire Suppression Crews, etc.) with a federal, state, tribal, local, or private-sector organization;
- OR -
At least 14-days of on-the-ground fireline experience (cumulative or consecutive).

Prior primary wildland fire experience must be clearly documented in your resume. Note: an IQCS Master Record or equivalent document will not be used to determine or calculate prior primary wildland fire experience eligibility for this requirement.

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.

Conditions of Employment, 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.

How you will be evaluated

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

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.

You will be evaluated based on how your application materials reflect the minimum qualification requirements of this position. Once the job opportunity announcement closes, your resume and all supporting documents will be reviewed by HR to determine if you are minimally qualified for the position. If an applicant's resume is incomplete or does not support the requirements for minimum qualifications or specialized experience a rating of "ineligible" or "not qualified" will be applied and no consideration for employment will be granted. Due to this vacancy being filled through OPM's Direct Hire Authority, Veterans Preference and traditional rating and ranking of applicants does not apply to positions filled under this announcement. Applications received as a result of job fairs, recruitment events, and emergency hiring mechanisms in support of this hiring initiative will also be accepted during the duration of the announcement. All minimally qualified candidates will be referred for consideration. Please note that the hiring office may conduct interviews at their discretion. Interviews may be conducted on a pass/fail basis.

You must submit a complete application package. The following documents are required and must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on

Resumes must show relevant experience and other information. Your resume MUST list your education and work experience including (1) the dates (mm/yy) of each employment, along with (2) the number of hours worked per week, and (3) work experience duties listed under each job entry. In addition, Civil Service employees must provide their current OPM title, series, and grade. If experience is for a career ladder position, please ensure to clearly show how long you were working in each grade level. Your resume will be used to validate your responses to the assessment tool(s). Failure to provide required information will result in loss of eligibility. No assumptions will be made about your experience and/or education. You are welcome to submit a cover letter.

Resumes must also include name and how to best contact you, including email address and phone number.

• Do not include the following types of information in your resume:

• Classified or government sensitive information

• Social Security Number (SSN)

• Photos of yourself

• Personal information, such as age, gender, religious affiliation, etc.

• Encrypted and digitally signed documents.

In describing your experience, please be clear and specific. Visit the USAJOBS Help Center for more information on What should I include in my federal resume and/or OPM Resume Writing Tips.

In addition to the online application (resume and responses to the questionnaire), you are required to submit the following supplemental documentation as applicable:

CTAP/ICTAP Documentation: documentation verifying your CTAP/ICTAP eligibility - this includes a copy of the agency notice and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level and duty location. 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.

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