Deadline: Mon, 09/18/2023 - 12:00pm Employer: Department of Agriculture, USFS Job Field: Other Job Type: Full Time Location: Regional/Multiple Location Detail: Anywhere in the U.S. (remote job) Job Description: Positions filled through this announcement will be as follows: Tropical Nursery Specialist with the Pacific Southwest Region, Region 5 Western Nursery Specialist with the Pacific Northwest Region, Region 6 Southern Nursery Specialist with the Southern Region, Region 8 Nursery Pest Specialist providing support nationally. Tribal Nursery Specialist providing support nationally. Urban Nursery Specialist providing support nationally. Additional positions may be filled. Duties: - These Regeneration Nursery Specialist are the subject matter experts and liaisons responsible for advising state, industrial, tribal, and private forestry and conservation nursery managers; and growers on plant production related topics. - The positions work across Forest Service deputy areas, serving as recognized regional, national, and international technical experts for forest and conservation nursery production and field establishment. Requirements include, but are not limited to: - Providing advice and developing technology transfer resources for the nursery, restoration, and reforestation community. - Developing and delivering relevant written and oral scientific resources to diverse audiences including presentations, publications, and organization of technology transfer events. - Networking, collaborating, coordinating, and working cooperatively with state agencies, other federal agencies, private companies, organizations, and individuals. 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. Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. Transcripts must be provided for qualifications based on education. Provide course descriptions as necessary. Basic Requirement:GS-0401: Degree: biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. or Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. In addition to meeting the basic requirement, you must also possess experience and/or directly related education in the amounts listed below. Specialized Experience Requirement: For the GS-12: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 in the Federal service defined as three or more of the following:- Collected, analyzed, and interpreted data from studies of native plant species (conifer, hardwood, shrubs, herbaceous and/or grass species) to address issues and questions, or to best meet various management objectives; - Developed or utilized restoration tools to obtain and deploy plant materials across a landscape or in an urban setting; - Developed methods for incorporating nursery principles, technical guidance, and analysis into resource management planning, programs, and projects; - Collaborated on projects for native plant species (conifer, hardwood, shrubs, herbaceous and/or grass species) to address tribal landscapes; - Used results of research and studies, to provide technical assistance to federal, state, private, and/or tribal entities working in nurseries; - Conducted or assisted in training sessions in collaboration with resource specialists, on issues regarding genetic diversity, plant adaptation, tropical climates, disease and insect resistance, plant material development, seed quality and identity, seed movement, and climate change adaptation; - Produced technical documents or publications related to seed, nurseries, and/or genetic resources. For the GS-13: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 in the Federal service defined as three or more of the following: - Developed methods for incorporating nursery principles, technical guidance, and analysis into resource management planning, programs, and projects; - Designed, collected, analyzed, and interpreted data on studies/projects for native plant species (conifer, hardwood, shrubs, herbaceous and/or grass species) to address landscape scale or urban forestry needs; - Provided guidance on the best methods for collecting and/or propagating native plant material to support a nursery program; - Used results of research and studies, to provide technical assistance to federal, state, private, and/or tribal entities working in nurseries. - Conducted training sessions in collaboration with resource specialists, on issues regarding genetic diversity, tropical climates, plant adaptation, disease and insect resistance, plant material development, seed quality and identity, seed movement, and climate change adaptation; - Produced technical documents or publications related to seed, nurseries, and/or genetic resources. 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. Miscellaneous: Requirements: Conditions of Employment- Must be a U.S. Citizen or National. Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service or exempt. Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check. Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served. Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution. Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit E-Verify. Required Documents: As a new or existing federal employee, you and your family may have access to a range of benefits. Your benefits depend on the type of position you have - whether you're a permanent, part-time, temporary or an intermittent employee. You may be eligible for the following benefits, however, check with your agency to make sure you're eligible under their policies. The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, illegible fax transmissions, delays in the mail service, your system failure, etc. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration. Resume that includes: 1) personal information such as name, address, contact information; 2) education; 3) detailed work experience related to this position as described in the responsibilities section including work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment; title, series, grade (if applicable); 4) supervisor's phone number and whether or not the supervisor may be contacted for a reference check; 5) other qualifications. If education is required or you are using education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts. An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application; however, if you are selected, you will be required to submit official transcripts prior to entering on duty. Education must have been successfully obtained from an accredited school, college or university. If any education was completed at a foreign institute, you must submit with your application evidence that the institute was appropriately accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as equivalent to U.S. education standards. There are private organizations that specialize in this evaluation and a fee is normally associated with this service. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation. Surplus or displaced employees eligible for CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP priority must provide: proof of eligibility (RIF separation notice, notice of proposed removal for declining a transfer of function or directed reassignment to another commuting area, notice of disability annuity termination), SF-50 documenting separation (as applicable), and your most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with your application per 5 CFR 330. Salary: $82,830 - $98,496 per year Benefits: A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Learn more about federal benefits here: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/benefits/ Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered. How to Apply: Link to job posting: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/737990300 Please view Tips for Applicants and will (https://www.fs.usda.gov/working-with-us/jobs/how-to-apply) - a guide to the Forest Service application process. Read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (8:00a.m. - 4:00p.m. (MST), Monday - Friday. If applying online poses a hardship, contact the Agency Contact listed below well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages must be returned to Human Resources no later than noon ET on the closing date of the announcement in order for it to be entered into the system prior to the closing date. This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis. Contact the Agency Contact to request this. To begin, in USAJOBS click "Apply" and follow the instructions to attach your resume and required documents, complete the assessment questionnaire, and submit your application. NOTE: Please verify that documents you are uploading from USAJOBS transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded documents must be less than 5MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, TXT or Word (DOC or DOCX). Do not upload Adobe Portfolio documents because they are not viewable. Agency contact information: HRM Contact Center- Phone 1-877-372-7248 X2 Email HRM_Contact_Center@usda.gov Address USDA Forest Service HRM Contact Center DO NOT MAIL IN APPLICATIONS, SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE ANNOUNCEMENT. Albuquerque, NM 87109 US
