Physical Scientist

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 11/05/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Competitive candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of specialized experience that you will be granted.

An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the work schedule requirement as the service dates will be reflected.

For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications: Basic Educational Requirements: In addition to the specialized experience requirements for this position, you must meet at least one of the following: A.

Degree: physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics.. You must submit transcripts. -OR- B.

Combination of education and experience: course work as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. -AND- To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level: Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors).

Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: performing duties for the protection, restoration, and management of physical resources in park areas or similar operations. This would involve experience in writing sections of management plans or monitoring reports, implementing long-term monitoring of physical or abiotic resources, collecting and conducting analysis of standard data, and making recommendation to higher graded staff.

You must include hours per week worked on resume. -OR- Education: Successful completion of at least two full academic years of progressively higher-level graduate education, a M.S. or equivalent master's degree in a directly related field to the position. You must include transcripts. -OR- Combination of education and experience as listed above. Successful completion of a combination of graduate education and experience as described above.

To combine education and experience, first take the number of semester hours or equivalent earned towards a graduate degree, in excess of 18 semester hours, and divide by 18 semester hours or equivalent. Then, take the number of months of experience and divide by 12 months. Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. NOTE: Only progressive graduate education beyond the first year is credible when combining. You must include hours per week and transcripts.

To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level: Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors).

Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience performing duties for the protection, restoration, monitoring, and management of abiolic resources in park areas or similar operations in the specific areas of geology, soils, hydrology, air quality, climate, and/or geomorphology.

This would involve experience in writing major portions of management plans, developing and implementing long-term monitoring protocols, preparing specific action plans to protect and manage physical or abiotic resources, collaborating or coordinating actions with others to provide broad strategies for abiotic resource protection, preparing requests for proposals, and managing budgets.

You must include hours per week worked on resume. -OR- Education: Successful completion of three full academic years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. or equivalent graduate degree at an accredited college or university that is directly related to the field. -OR- Combination of education and experience as listed above.

Successful completion of a combination of graduate education (beyond what is required for a master's degree, i.e., more than 36 semester hours leading to a Ph.D.) and experience as described above. To combine experience and education, divide the total months of full-time experience by 12. Then divide the number of completed graduate education credits/semester hours beyond the second year by 18 (27 quarter hours). Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify.

Only education in excess of the first 2 years of graduate level (36 semester hours) work is creditable. You must include hours per week and transcripts. 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.

Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following: Develop and prepare major portions of the resources management plan addressing physical sciences, and prepare specific action plans to manage and protect the physical components of natural resources Represent the superintendent on physical science matters and coordinate with other agencies, adjacent lands, and the public to advance ecosystem protection.

Build and maintain liaisons with related groups, agencies, and the public; attend conferences and events to share information and promote stewardship Identify research needs, prepare proposals, and oversee research projects; act as a Contracting Officer's Technical Representative for contracts, agreements, and cooperative projects Design, develop, test, and implement scientific monitoring protocols for physical and abiotic resources; conduct inventories, plot distributions, and data collection using automated tools.

Perform complex data analysis, quality control checks, and document findings to support protection, mitigation, and restoration projects Lead scientifically credible projects to prevent resource damage and minimize human impacts, using statistically valid data collection and analysis Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level.