Geospatial Systems Specialist

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. Specialized Experience Requirement: For the GS-09 Level: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-7 grade level. Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities needed to successfully perform the duties of this position. Examples of specialized experience include performing one or more of the following: Under the guidance of a higher level specialist, participated in developing data dictionaries, data models, and metadata for multi-disciplinary information and geospatial applications; Participated with higher level specialists in the manipulation and analysis of geospatial data linking a variety of resources such as socio-economics, land, air, water, timber, recreation, wildlife, fisheries and/or special management areas; Created increasingly more complex thematic map products and presentation materials using established automated map and chart making processes; and/or Applied basic geographic and cartographic principles to the resolution of more complicated issues in geospatial database construction and map compilation. -OR- A master’s or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related; -OR- An appropriate combination of specialized experience and education (only graduate education in excess of 18 semester hours may be used to qualify applicants for this grade level) For the GS-11 Level: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-9 grade level. Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities needed to successfully perform the duties of this position. Examples of specialized experience include performing two or more of the following duties: Worked with managers and resource specialists to determine type, amount and level of information required to develop and analyze ecosystem management alternatives; Developed data dictionaries, data models and metadata for multi-disciplinary information and geospatial applications; Applied advanced principles to facilitate geospatial model design and analysis procedures related to natural resource and relevant socio-economic data and products; Operated complex computer systems and software packages and used established procedures to produce intricately detailed maps and graphics for a variety of natural resource programs and planning documents. -OR- Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related; -OR- An appropriate combination of specialized experience and graduate level education (beyond what is required for a master’s degree, i.e., more than 36 semester hours leading to a Ph.D.) Work Experience: Your resume must clearly document the following for each block of work experience; the beginning day, month and year the work assignment started and ended; the hours worked per week; position title, and series and grade if applicable; and description of duties performed. This information must be provided for each permanent, temporary, or seasonal appointment/work assignment or volunteer work and should be clearly documented as a separate block of time. Incomplete, inaccurate, or conflicting work history may not be credited for qualifications purposes. This can result in an applicant not being considered for the position. 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. TIME IN GRADE REQUIREMENT: If you are a current federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirements of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled. This requirement must be met by the closing date of this announcement.
This position is located in Region 1, on the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, Operations unit. The position is located at a Forest Service unit with responsibility for supporting managers and resource specialists in the use of geospatial technology and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for land, natural resources and ecosystem management. For additional information about the duties of this position, please contact Tessa Donahue at tessa.donahue@usda.gov