Park Ranger Interpreter – GS9 Ridge District on the Blue Ridge Parkway (Bedford, VA) | Blue Ridge Parkway (Ridge Interpretation) – National Park Service

The Blue Ridge Parkway is looking to fill a permanent year-round GS9 Park Ranger Interpreter based at the Peaks of Otter near Bedford, Virginia. This position will help lead interpretive operations on the northern end of the Parkway between Waynesboro and Roanoke Virginia. The Ridge District of the Blue Ridge Parkway has a dynamic range of powerful cultural and natural resources.  Our rich cultural stories and resources include the 1890s mountain farm exhibit at Humpback Rocks, 1850s canal system at James River, 1930s era Johnson Farm at the Peaks, and plus the ever-popular mountain music concert series. Natural resource stories focus on biodiversity which is highlighted during spring green up with the dazzling array of wildflowers and migrating songbirds through the summer culminating with the annual raptor migration occurring during autumn leaf color change. There are outstanding opportunities for recreation surrounding the district including access to five Wilderness areas, the Appalachian Trail, and miles upon miles of trails to scenic destinations. Operations shift during the winter to provide educational outreach programs to local schools bringing the Parkway to the community classrooms. This is a great opportunity to work in Appalachian mountains, forest, and fields while living “in town” with all the benefits of small-town life near bigger cities. 

Learn more about the Blue Ridge Parkway at https://www.nps.gov/blri/index.htm

The job is open for applications to the first 100 applicants or until 07/09/2021 whichever comes first. All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration.

Apply for this position through the USAJobs announcement at:

https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/605403600

Job Responsibilities

• Provides formal and informal programs relevant to the audience, utilizing new and creative interpretation techniques, with particular emphasis on traditions of music and dance in the Appalachian region.
• Provides leadership, training, and coaching for interpretive and volunteer staff on a broad range of interpretive programs and products that spotlight the Parkway’s human history, biodiversity, the unique Parkway design, and recreational opportunities.
• Coordinates the operation of visitor facilities, historic farms, and/or information desks, including providing direct visitor services and responding to public inquiries, working in concert with park partners and musical performers.
• Tracks and reports visitor use statistics and analyzes audience demographics, needs, expectations and trend data to improve visitor services and programming.

Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship required.
• Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
• Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males.
• Complete the initial online assessment and USAHire Assessment, if required.
• Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
• Any individual who is currently holding, or has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet time-in-grade requirements (must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent in the Federal service). Time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal civilian employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.
• 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.
• If you are a new employee or supervisor in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period.
• You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 3 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.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-07/09/2021-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. 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 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.

For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected.

To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level, you must possess one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:

EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as:

Experience that demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform successfully the duties of the position to be filled. Experience may have been in technical, administrative, or scientific work, fish and wildlife management, recreation management, law enforcement, or other park-related work. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Park guide or tour leader.
• Law enforcement or investigative work.
• Archeological or historical preservation research work.
• Forestry and/or fire management work in a park, recreation, or conservation area.
• Management, assistant, or program specialist work involving the development and implementation of policy related to protection, conservation, or management of park areas or similar operations.

You must include hours per week worked.

-OR-

EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least 2 full academic years of progressively higher level graduate education or master’s or equivalent graduate degree related to the occupation. Examples of related education include, but are not limited to; park and recreation management, natural resource management, natural sciences, earth sciences, history, archeology, anthropology, park and recreation management, law enforcement/police science, social sciences, museum sciences, business administration, public administration, behavioral sciences, sociology, or other closely related subjects pertinent to the management and protection of natural and cultural resources. One year of graduate study is considered to be 18 semester hours. You must include transcripts.

-OR-

COMBINATION (Experience/Education): Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, 6 months of specialized experience (50% of the specialized experience) and 18 graduate level semester hours (50% of the education), would qualify an applicant for this position.

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.

Required Documents

The following documents are required and must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 07/09/2021.

1. Resume which includes a list of all significant jobs held and duties performed, with dates specified in month and year format, and indicate hours worked per week. If military or civilian, please include your rank and/or grade.
2. A complete Occupational Questionnaire
3. Merit Promotion Eligibility Documentation such as:

• Federal employees must submit a copy of their latest SF-50 “Notification of Personnel Action” that reflects career or career-conditional tenure showing position title, series, grade and tenure (please do not submit an Award SF-50 as it does not provide the needed information) and, if different, an SF-50 showing highest permanent grade ever held or you may not be considered under the merit promotion process. Time in grade will be determined by reviewing your resume and required SF-50’s.
• If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess the one-year time-in-grade, as required by this announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade, such as a Within Grade Increase.
• Federal employees must also submit a non-award SF-50 for each federal position listed if hours worked per week are not included on your resume.
• Veterans Preference Documentation (e.g. DD-214, SF-15, VA Letter as appropriate)
• Documentation for the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) eligibility, which includes ALL Appointment AND Termination SF-50s for EACH appointment as well as ALL performance evaluations, for each qualifying period of temporary employment claimed.

How to Apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. The application process is as follows:

1. Select Apply. If you are not logged in, you will be prompted to login or create an account.
2. You will be prompted to Start the Application Process by selecting “Apply.”

1. Select or add the resume you want to use for this application. Click here on how to build a resume in USAJOBS.
2. Select documents you want included in this application.
3. Review package to acknowledge your documents were reviewed.
4. Select if you want to include your demographic information.
5. After reading and certifying the application is true and submitted in good faith, select “Continue to Agency Site.”
6. Follow onscreen prompts and instructions to complete your application.
7. Add the supporting documents by indexing your documents with the dropdown.

• Upload any missing required documents or optional documents.

1. Review and Submit Application.
2. While logged in, you can check the status of your application by selecting “+” next to the job title for this position.
3. You can review or revise your application at any point during the open period of the announcement.

• To update an application, you should log into your USAJOBS account and select “+” next to the job title for this position. Select “Update Application” for this job.
• Note: When you click Update Application, you will be prompted to re-select your documents from USAJOBS. Documents submitted with the first application will no longer be associated with the applicant record. So it is important that you select all documents you want to use in the re-application.

1. After submitting an online application, you will be notified whether or not you are required to take additional online assessments through the USA Hire Competency Based Assessment system. This message will be delivered to you via email notification. The email may be routed to your “Spam” or “Junk” folder.
2. If you are asked to take the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be presented with a unique URL to access the USA Hire system. Access to USA Hire is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Be sure to review all instructions prior to beginning your USA Hire Assessments. Click here for Computer System Requirements (https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=USA_Hire_System_Requirements)
3. Note, set aside at least 3 hours to take these assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue at a later time, you can re-use the URL sent to you via email and also found on the Additional Application Information page that can be located in the application record in your USAJOBS account.

Applicants may not update assessment responses after submitting an application at any time during the announcement open period, however, applicants will be able to update the other portions of the application such as eligibilities and supporting documents.