Geologist

Summary

Explore a new career with the BLM - where our people are our most precious resource.

The position serves as the State Program Lead for Arizona's Native American Minerals Program (including mine oversite and support of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) at mineral lease mining operations on Federal trust lands within Arizona) and serves as the State Program Lead for Arizona's Coal Program.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

All current career/career-conditional or former federal employees with reinstatement eligibility; Veterans' Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA); Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) and former Public Land Corps (PLC) eligibles; Persons eligible under other Special Hiring Authorities. CTAP and ICTAP eligibles within the local commuting area.

Duties

Serves as the State technical and programmatic lead for one or more of the following minerals program areas: Oil and Gas, Geothermal, Coal, Oil Shale, Non-energy Leasable, Mineral Material, or Locatable Minerals.

Applies professional knowledge of the principles, theories, practices and science of geology and minerals management to accomplish designated complex minerals management assignments.

Applies knowledge of mineral extraction technologies such as mining methods for surface and underground mineral developments and petroleum and geothermal resources, recovery techniques, and applies this knowledge to actual situations.

Modifies and adapts standard techniques and processes where there is no existing precedent and devises strategies to overcome significant minerals resource problems.

Develops portions of the State’s long-range programming for the minerals program including monitoring progress and determining deviations from the state’s annual work plan and recommending necessary adjustments.

Monitors and performs program audits to insure internal consistency and compliance with general Bureau regulations as well as State Office policies and procedures by the field offices.

Develops statewide and State Office minerals management policy for one or more minerals program areas. Reviews, recommends, and prepares responses to the Headquarters on national policy matters.

Provides technical review of mineral reports and appraisals for field offices when there are not adequate levels of review available in the local field office or for highly contentious or high-risk issues.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

U.S. Citizenship is required.

Be sure to read the 'How to Apply' and 'Required Documents' Sections.

You cannot hold an active real estate license: nor can you have an interest or hold stocks in firms with interest in Federal Lands.

Direct Deposit Required.

Appointment will be subject to a favorably adjudicated background/suitability investigation/determination.

Your resume must contain enough information to show that you meet the qualification requirements as defined in the announcement. In addition, your responses to the questions must adequately reflect in your resume.

If selected for this position, you will be required to annually complete a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report, OGE-450 within 30 days of reporting to duty.

May require a one year probationary period.

Some locations may be covered by a bargaining unit.

Qualifications

In order to be rated as qualified for this position, we must be able to determine that you meet the qualification requirements - please be sure to include this information in your resume. No assumptions will be made about your experience.

Basic Requirements:

A. Degree: Geology, plus 20 additional semester hours in any combination of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological science, structural, chemical, civil, mining or petroleum engineering, computer science, planetary geology, comparative planetology, geophysics, meteorology, hydrology, oceanography, physical geography, marine geology, and cartography.

OR

B. Combination of education and experience -- course work as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Evaluation of Experience: Acceptable experience may have been gained through geological field or laboratory work that provided a means of obtaining professional knowledge of the theory and application of the principles of geology and closely related sciences, e.g., geophysics, geochemistry, or hydrology. Such work generally must have involved making close observations, taking samples, handling various types of instruments and equipment, assembling geologic data from source materials, and analyzing and reporting findings orally and in writing. Experience that involved only one phase of geology work, e.g., collecting samples, would not be acceptable as providing the required professional knowledge of the theory and principles of geology. In some situations, professional scientific experience in other fields may be accepted in part as professional geological experience. Such experience must have been preceded by appropriate education in geology or by professional geological experience, and must have contributed directly and significantly to the applicant's professional geological competence. Examples include some positions in geophysics, mining engineering, soils science, physical oceanography, hydrology, climatology, biology, analytic or experimental chemistry, metallurgy, and comparable fields where the normal duties or results of investigations have been extended to the solution of geologic problems by the applicant. Ordinary functions of positions such as seismic, computer, petroleum or mining engineer, mine superintendent, or metallurgist generally are not considered professional geological experience. To receive credit for geological experience obtained in positions that are not full-time professional geological positions, the applicant is responsible for indicating clearly the actual time or percentage of time devoted to geologic duties within such positions, and for giving adequate descriptions of the geologic functions. In addition to meeting the Basic Requirement, you must possess one (1) full year of specialized experience at the GS-11 grade level that is equivalent in difficulty and complexity as indicated by the following examples below.

You must possess one (1) full year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-11 level that is equivalent in difficulty and complexity as indicated by the following examples: Serve as a specialist performing work in minerals exploration, development, and production activities such as review/prepare exploration plans or the extraction of minerals, evaluate mineral resources, inspect mining operations & reclamation activities; Leading projects that address complex engineering and environmental problems with unique design and application of mining engineering and geologic principles and concepts; Provide review and oversight to preparation of NEPA documents and professional finished work products for adequacy of conclusions and soundness of the procedures and methods used that have been prepared by others.

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.

You must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of the announcement.

Federal employees in the competitive service are also subject to the Time-In-Grade requirement in accordance with 5 CFR 300.604. If you are a current Federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must have completed a minimum of 52 weeks at the next lower grade level.

Physical Demands: The individual works primarily in an office setting at this level. There may be some walking, standing or bending. The individual may also, on occasion be required to walk or ride vehicles over rough terrain, and perform duties that require recurring bending,

crouching, stooping, reaching or lifting. Work may also include lifting of moderately heavy items, such as equipment and samples.

Work Environment: The work is performed primarily in an office setting. However when necessary to complete the work, there may be outdoor exposure. Outdoor exposure requires some discomfort in extremes of temperature or inclement weather. The incumbent may

subjected to hostile wildlife, chemical and physical hazards.

Education

If using education to qualify, you must submit copies of all transcripts or a list of college courses that include hours and grades from an accredited U.S. college/university. See Required Documents section for more information.

Additional information

Location negotiable, after selection. The applicant will report to and work from a BLM Arizona office. The BLM AZ office locations include Phoenix, Kingman, Lake Havasu, Yuma, Safford, and Tucson in Arizona, as well as Saint George in Utah.

We expect to fill one vacancy at this time; however, additional positions may be filled from this announcement if they become available.

DOI uses E-Verify to confirm employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit .

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)/lnteragency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP): These programs apply to employees who have been involuntarily separated from a Federal service position within the competitive service or Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed. To receive selection priority, you must: 1) meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria; 2) be rated well qualified for the position with a score of 85 or above; and 3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility. For more information: or

Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered for

Travel and relocation expenses will not be paid by the Department of the Interior. Any travel, transportation and relocation expenses associated with reporting for duty in this position will be the responsibility of the selected employee.

The official worksite for the selectee is the duty station identified in this vacancy announcement. The selectee will typically report to this duty location on a regular and recurring weekly basis. The selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.

The Bureau of Land Management has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.

Certain incentives (such as Recruitment, Relocation or Student Loan Repayment) may be authorized to eligible selectees. If eligible and qualified, you may be offered a recruitment or relocation incentive. The decision to offer an incentive will be made on a case-by-case basis and is neither promised nor guaranteed. For information visit: or or .

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Once the application process is complete, we will review your application to ensure you meet the job requirements. To determine if you are qualified for this job, a review of your resume, supporting documentation and responses to the online questionnaire will be made. Your responses to the online questionnaire will be used to measure the degree to which your background matches the requirements for this position. However, your resume must support your responses to the scored occupational questionnaire, or your score may be lowered. The best qualified candidates will be identified for referral to the hiring manager and may be contacted for an interview.

Your answers to the online questionnaire will be used to evaluate your competencies in the following areas:

Geology - Knowledge of the concepts, principles, and theories of the origins and structure of the earth, including the physical forces that have shaped it and its physical and organic history.

Mining Engineering - Knowledge of the concepts, principles, theories, and methods related to rock mechanics; the exploration, excavation, extraction, processing and transporting of mineral resources; and the conservation and development of mineral lands, materials, and deposits.

Planning and Evaluating - Organizes work, sets priorities, and determines resource requirements; determines short- or long-term goals and strategies to achieve them; coordinates with other organizations or parts of the organization to accomplish goals; monitors progress and evaluates outcomes.

Technical Competence - Uses knowledge that is acquired through formal training or extensive on-the-job experience to perform one's job; works with, understands, and evaluates technical information related to the job; advises others on technical issues.

In the evaluation process, due weight will be given to job related experience, education, training, incentive awards and performance appraisals. Applicants must have a performance rating of at least the equivalent of fully successful to be eligible for promotion or placement. Applicants may provide a copy of a performance appraisal of record dated within the last 18 months. If the applicant is unable to provide a performance appraisal of record dated within the last 18 months, the applicant may provide a written explanation as to why.

In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires successful completion of the following additional assessment: Subject Matter Expert Resume Panel Review. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job.

Required Documents

To apply for this position, you must submit a complete Application Package which includes:

. At a minimum, your resume MUST contain job title (include job series and grade, if federal), duties, starting and ending dates (month and year), hours worked per week, and salary. USAJOBS has a template to ensure a complete resume. Your resume will be used to validate your responses to the assessment tool(s). Failure to provide required information will result in loss of eligibility. You are welcome to submit an optional cover letter.

Performance Appraisals and Awards:

All applicants must submit their most recent performance appraisal showing the official rating of record and signed by a supervisor

or, if one is unavailable, a statement as to why it is not available (including if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level).

Failure to submit any of the above mentioned required documents will result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted Transcripts: You MUST submit a copy of ALL your college transcripts or a list of ALL college courses that include hours and grades from an accredited U.S. college/university. Upon selection, official transcripts must be received prior to appointment. If you are using to meet qualification requirements, you must show that your education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.

Current and former federal career and career-conditional employees: