Summary This position is located within a National Forest. The position is located on a fire crew as a crewmember within the fire management organization. This position is located at one of the Geographic Area Coordination Centers. Duties Implements standard procedures and guidelines in the mobilization, reassignment and demobilization of firefighting resources to incidents according to incident priorities within the Geographic Area. | By mobilizing and dispatching a wide variety of resources, resolves non-standard technical problems that require coordination with others to resolve. | Assists in maintaining the Geographic Area mobilization plan and dispatch operating plans and guides. Implements plans governing the supply and use of resources such as personnel, equipment, supplies, aircraft and fire retardant. | Assists with the overall execution of activities of the Operations Section of the GACC. This involves the intra- and inter-geographical area movement of aircraft, personnel and equipment for wildland fire and all-hazard emergency response activities. | Cooperates with Federal, State and other land management agencies in this activity. Maintains records on the availability of unit, geographic area, and national wildland fire resources for planned and unplanned events. | Coordinates information, resource utilization, and accountability with higher level and adjoining units, other adjoining state, local, and federal agencies, and other cooperating entities. | Tracks acquisitions, issuance, and return of equipment and supplies from central facilities. | Monitors and tracks the availability and recommends geographical placement of shared resources (air tankers, lead planes, aerial delivered firefighters (smokejumpers/rapellers), and aerial delivered firefighter aircraft) within the geographic area. | Monitors daily fire situation in the geographical area, and keeps superiors apprised of current and anticipated resource drawdown in order to support decision making for critical wildfire situations. | Insures that mobilization/demobilization actions (movements of personnel, equipment and aircraft) are planned and conducted in a manner which keeps safety considerations foremost while also meeting time frames of requests for incident support. | Assists in arranging transport flights for crews, personnel and cargo utilizing large or light government-owned or contracted aircraft, as well as the use of infrared aircraft, in accordance with established operating procedures. | Assists superiors in the mobilization of resources, and support of communication capabilities and operational facilities. | Gathers and compiles factual information to assess the current state of available resources and recommends the necessary acquisitions/adjustments to accommodate the immediate requirements for wildland fire management and emergency services. | Monitors adherence to regulations and instructions for the mobilization and readiness of fire equipment and personnel. | Performs specialized administrative work in support of the mobilization of equipment, vehicles, communication capabilities, and operational facilities. | Reviews contracted, call-when-needed, and/or negotiated services for compliance with specifications and work performed in accordance with scope of agreements and contracts for incident resources. | Applies technical methods and procedures related to aviation operations and to managing agency programs to resolve the full range of irregular or problems situations when performing a wide variety of nonstandard assignments. | Performs a wide variety of limited aviation operations projects incorporating diverse technical knowledge. Assists in development of office policy and technical guidance of the operational systems, including handbooks, guides, and operational plans. | Assists with the development, annual updating, printing and on-line posting of the Geographic Area Mobilization Guide. Applies the technical methods, practices, and procedures of fire and aviation operations to perform day-to-day operations. | Ensure that the requirements of OMB Circulars, federal, departmental and agency directives and policies are met for each administrative flight. Assist DOI, Forest Service, and other applicable units in the development of mission or project plans.
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.
GW-07: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-6); OR one full year (18 semester/27 quarter hours) of successfully completed graduate level coursework that is directly related to the work of the position (such as forestry, agriculture, crop or plant science, range management or conservation, wildlife management, watershed management, soil science, natural resources, outdoor recreation management, civil or forest engineering, or wildland fire); OR combinations of graduate level education that is directly related to the position and specialized experience. The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university.
Examples of specialized experience include: Assisting in the mobilization and demobilization of resources such as personnel, equipment and aircraft. Coordinating ground and air transportation and determining the nature of the resources needed including personnel, equipment, and services. Assisting in monitoring the daily fire situation and shared resources. Assisting in developing office policy and technical guidance of the operational systems, including handbooks, guides, and operational plans.
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.
In accordance with USDA Department Regulation 4430-792-2, this position is a Testing Designated Position (TDP) under the USDA Drug Free Workplace Program and subject to pre-employment drug testing. All applicants selected for this position will be required to submit to a urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Incumbents of this position will be required to submit to a urinalysis on an ongoing random basis, after appointment as directed.
To receive consideration for this position, you must provide updated required documents and meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
Requirements
- You must be a US Citizen or US National.
- Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
- Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
- Direct Deposit Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of your choosing.
- Must be 18 years of age.
- Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit E-Verify.gov.
- Some Fire positions may have Conditions of Employment such as: a valid state driver's license; a commercial driver's license (CDL); pre-appointment and random drug testing; or a physical or medical examination.
- This is a Test Designated Position. You will be subject to pre-employment and random drug testing. Appointment is based on a negative result. This announcement constitutes 30 days advance notice.
- Incumbent is subject to medical screening and must meet the Federal Wildland Firefighter Medical Standards for arduous duty wildland firefighting.
- Willing to live/work in remote locations (volatile/unpredictable).
- Occasional overnight travel may be required for fire suppression or fire related assignment.
- Must pass the appropriate level of the Work Capacity Test for Wildland Firefighters.
- This is a secondary firefighter position under 5 USC 8336© (CSRS) and 8412(d) (FERS). Prior wildland firefighting experience is required. There is no age limit for entry into secondary positions.
How you will be evaluated This is a Direct-Hire Authority position, all applicants who meet the minimum qualifications, to include any selective placement factor(s), if applicable, will be referred to the selecting official. Before a certificate is issued to the selecting official, the resume is reviewed to ensure that you meet all the qualification requirements. A rating will not be used; veteran's preference does not apply due to the existence of the Direct Hire authority for this position.
Applicants who meet the minimum qualification requirements established for the position will be referred to the selecting official.
Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities, or you may be found ineligible. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action up to including removal from the Federal service. How to apply Please view Tips for Applicants - a guide to the Forest Service application process.
Please 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 (7:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Mountain Time Zone, 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 complete and submitted no later than noon ET on the closing date of the announcement to be entered into the system prior to its closing. Resumes must not exceed two pages.
This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis; contact the Agency Contact to request this.
To begin, click "Apply" and follow the instructions to complete the Assessment Questionnaire and attach your resume and all required documents.
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. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration. Please ensure your resume does not exceed two pages. Applicants who submit a resume that exceeds two pages will be removed from consideration.
Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, your system failure, etc. Other information PLEASE NOTE: This vacancy is being used to fill positions for FY2027 Temporary Employment Hiring season. The expected start date for this position will be between April 18, 2027 to June 13, 2027.
By selecting the "Location Negotiable" option during the application process, implies your willingness to be considered for any official duty location listed on this announcement and/or those duty locations not listed for this Regional announcement. Pay rates vary depending on location. The salary shown is for the Rest of the U.S. See OPM.gov for additional information on pay rates.
This position is temporary, has a Not-to-Exceed date and will be filled for up to 6 months or as a not to exceed (NTE) 1 year, however an extension of the appointment may be possible without further competition. The appointment may also end early due to lack of work or lack of funds.
Applicants who apply under this job opportunity announcement agree to have their application, associated documents and applicable personal information shared with other groups within the Region who have vacancies within the same occupational series, grade, full performance level and in any of the geographic location(s) listed on the announcement. Applying to this announcement does not replace the need to apply to other job opportunity announcements for which you wish to receive consideration.
The duty station for this position will be at one of the duty locations listed in this announcement. Salary range as shown is the locality pay Rest of U.S. (RUS). Pay rates vary by location. Please visit the Office of Personnel Management's website for additional information on pay rates.
Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP eligible must meet the agency's definition for a quality candidate as provided in the How You Will Be Evaluated section of this announcement to be considered.
If you are retired from the Federal Government and are selected for this vacancy, your retirement annuity may be offset from your pay.
This position is not eligible for telework.
Availability of government housing and federal day care facilities will vary by location.
Positions filled from this announcement may be a bargaining or a non-bargaining unit position represented by either NFFE, AFGE or NAGE.