Archeologist

Summary

This position is located in Rocky Mountain National Park, in the Resource Stewardship Division.

This is a term position (more than 1 year) with an initial appointment expecting to last at least 13 months but may be extended up to a total of four years, or more based on any changes to regulations governing the number of years term appointments may last, without further competition. Term positions do not convey permanent status in the Federal service.

Duties

The position will work within the Branch of Cultural Resources and support compliance archeology for the park's trails and wilderness programs. The park actively manages over 350 miles of trail and over 180 designated wilderness campsite areas. Specifically, this includes implementing and managing a multi-year, phased, archeological inventory program (contract); collaborating with the park's trails and wilderness program staff to ensure archeological resources are avoided/protected during trail and wilderness campsite repair activities; preparing documentation for the State Historic Preservation Officer and ancestrally connected Tribal partners; and data management.

Duties:

• Identify, evaluate, monitor, and manage archeological resources within specific precontact and historic cultures and themes that are significant to Rocky Mountain National Park and the Southern Rocky Mountain Region.
• Apply laws, regulations, policies, and procedures that govern cultural resources management, provide advice and assistance to park staff on the implementation of NPS programs pertaining to the identification, evaluation, and management of cultural resources.
• Conduct Section 106 compliance activities, including determinations of eligibility and assessment of effects.
• Provide technical leadership to personnel, contractors, and partners.
• Collaborate with Trails and Wilderness Programs to develop, implement, and oversee a multi-year cultural resource survey project.
  
  
  

This is a term position (more than 1 year) with an initial appointment expecting to last at least 13 months but may be extended up to a total of four years, or more based on any changes to regulations governing the number of years term appointments may last, without further competition. Term positions do not convey permanent status in the Federal service.

The National Park Service retains the right to extend the duration of this appointment after selection and/or appointment, based on changes to the regulation governing the number of years term appointments may last. This change, which may be made at the agency's sole discretion and without further competition, shall not be construed or interpreted as the granting of a right to a selectee or employee to such an extension. No extension to a term appointment shall be granted to a selectee/employee to an amount of time that exceeds the maximum number of years authorized under any present or current regulation, unless such regulation expressly allows such action.

Area Information: Established on January 29, 1915, Rocky Mountain National Park is a living showcase of the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains. The park embraces 415 square miles of pristine, uninhabited mountains in north-central Colorado and, as such, is one of the most spectacular, yet easily accessible high mountain areas in North America. With elevations ranging from 7,800 feet at park headquarters to 14,259 feet at the summit of Longs Peak, the park has glacier-sculptured valleys, rugged gorges, alpine lakes, and vast areas of alpine tundra. Trail Ridge Road, the highest paved continuous road in the United States, stays above tree line for 11 miles and reaches 12,183 feet in elevation. Elk, deer, bighorn sheep, moose, coyotes, and smaller animals are found throughout the park, as well as threatened and endangered species, such as the Greenback Cutthroat Trout and Boreal Toad. Due to the park's easy accessibility to the Front Range communities of Colorado, Rocky experiences over 4 million visitors annually. This position will be filled on the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park. The nearest community is Estes Park, CO, which has K-12 schools, a post office, restaurants, medical facilities, and grocery stores. Denver, CO which has a major airport, cultural events, and several professional sports teams is a two-hour drive away.

Government housing may be available on a temporary or permanent basis. Housing assignments are made through a bid process.

Requirements

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 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.
• You will be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
• You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work.
• You will be required to complete a one-year trial period.
• You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 5 nights per month. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
• You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority.
• Applicants must be at least (1)18 years old or (2) at least 16 years old and: (a) Have graduated from high school or been awarded a certificate equivalent to graduating from high school; or (b) Have completed a formal vocational training program; or (c) Have received a statement from school authorities agreeing with their preference for employment rather than continuing their education; or (d) Be currently enrolled in a secondary school and either work only during school vacation periods or work part-time during the school year under a formal student employment program.
  
  
  

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-05/24/2024-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (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 annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount of qualified specialized experience.

To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level, you must meet both the Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) and minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:

Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) for the Archeology (0193) series:

Degree that included 3 semester hours each in the following course areas: History of archeology. Archeology of a major geographical area such as North America or Africa. Regional archeology, archeological cultures, or sites in a specific part or portion of a major geographical area to acquire or develop a foundation for regional specialization for professional development. Theory and methods of archeology. Methods include, but are not limited to, typology, classification, sampling, cultural evolution, diffusion, dating, and analytical techniques. Archeological field school, to provide a basic understanding of theoretical and practical approaches to research design implementation, field preservation techniques, and report preparation by participation in actual field work. -AND- Six semester hours of related course work in: geography, geology, or cultural geography; history, historiography, or historical archeology; environmental studies; scientific writing (nonfiction English composition); and/or surveying. -AND- Archeological field school. PLEASE NOTE: If you are using education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts, including the bachelor's degree. -OR-

Related Curriculum- degree in anthropology (with emphasis on ethnology, physical anthropology, or scientific linguistics), history, American studies, or a related discipline may be accepted as satisfying in full the educational requirements, provided the curriculum supplied academic course work sufficiently similar to the requirements in 1A (including archeological field school). PLEASE NOTE: If you are using education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts, including the bachelor's degree. -OR-

Combination of Education and Experience- College-level education or training that provided knowledge equivalent to that described in A above, plus appropriate technical experience or additional education. PLEASE NOTE: If you are using education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts, including the bachelor's degree. -OR-

Experience- Four years of archeological work experience that demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the fundamental principles and theories of professional archeology. The work experience must have included archeology field experience, which may include that gained in an archeological field school. Field experience should have included a combination of professional experience in archeological survey, excavation, laboratory analysis, and preparation of written materials. Applicants with such field experience should, after additional experience under the direction of a higher grade archeologist, be able to demonstrate the ability to be a crew chief, directing the work of others at a single location as a part of a larger archeological project. You must provide hours per week worked on your resume.

Minimum Qualifications for a GS-11 Archeologist:

Specialized Experience: one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the federal service. Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of an Archeologist, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Examples of specialized experience may include but is not limited to: Designing and implementing multi-year archeological inventory projects that resulted in the identification, documentation, and evaluation of precontact and historic archeological resources; producing technical reports and contributing to management plans; completing determinations of eligibility (DOEs) for precontact and historic archeological resources; identifying threats to archeological resources and developing strategies to minimize impact to the resource; managing complex datasets and entering data into various databases; proficent use of ESRI ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online (AGOL) to organize and manipulate data; providing logistical and technical support for interns, seasonal employees, volunteers, contractors, or partners; demonstrating the ability to work effectively with others. You must provide hours worked per week in your resume. -OR-

Education: 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. To be qualifying, graduate study must have been in archeology, anthropology, or other closely related field. The total education offered to meet this provision must have provided you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to successfully perform the work of this position. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that number cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours or 27 quarter hours should be considered an academic year of graduate study. PLEASE NOTE: If you are using education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts, including the bachelor's degree. -OR-

Equivalent combination of education and graduate experience. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level can be combined with the appropriate level of experience to qualify applicants for positions at grades GS-9 and GS-11. The total combination of education and experience must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. For example, an applicant with 6 months of appropriate experience equivalent to GS-9 (50 percent of the experience requirement for GS-11) and 45 semester (68 quarter) hours of appropriate graduate education (50 percent of the education requirement for GS-11, in excess of that required for GS-9) would be qualified for a GS-11 position. PLEASE NOTE: If you are using education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts, including the bachelor's degree.

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.

Education

To qualify based on education, you must submit a legible copy of transcripts from an accredited institution with your name, school name, credit hours, course level, major(s), and grade-point average or class ranking. Transcripts do not need to be official, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.

If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet qualification requirements, you must show that your education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.

Additional information

A selectee receiving a first appointment to the Federal Government (Civil Service) is entitled only to the lowest step of the grade for which selected. The display of a salary range on this vacancy shall not be construed as granting an entitlement to a higher rate of pay.

A Recruitment Incentive May Be Authorized for a newly selected employee when appointed to a permanent, temporary, or term position. A Federal employee who is transferring to the National Park Service from another component, bureau or Federal agency and who does not meet the conditions under 5 CFR

• 575.102 is not eligible for a recruitment incentive.
  
  
  

A Relocation Incentive May Be Authorized for a Federal employee when the employee must move, as directed by the National Park Service (NPS) either through a management directed reassignment or selection for employment, to a different location at least 50 miles away from the one where his/her position of record held at time of selection is currently located, due to a need of the NPS. A relocation incentive is not the same as a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) move and, as such, may be granted in conjunction with one another.

This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if identical vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.

This position has no known promotion potential.

Physical Demands: The position may require strenuous physical activity including periods of standing, walking, climbing, and lifting and carrying heavy objects. Some activities will occur in physically dangerous areas or settings. Documentary research and report writing work are sedentary, which entails the ability to concentrate and write for long periods of time.

Working Conditions: Work is performed both indoors and outdoors in all types of weather. Assignments may be performed in potentially hazardous areas including steep slopes, rocky terrain, volcanoes, caves, firelines, arctic environments, swamps, deserts, and forests. Flying in fixed-winged aircraft and helicopters is possible.

The National Park Service has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework only during an emergency, natural disaster or on a situational basis.

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Rocky Mountain National Park

1000 Highway 36

Estes Park, CO 80517

US