Water and Lands Specialist

Summary

Reclamation is seeking a career professional looking for an opportunity to capitalize on their expertise as a Water and Lands Specialist. You can make a difference in the West by assisting in meeting increasing water demands while protecting the environment.

Duty Location: Carson City, Nevada

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

U.S. Citizens and U.S. Nationals

Duties

The primary duties of this position are:

Implements grazing program for over 200,000 acres of land.

Ensures completion of NEPA and NHPA documentation.

Manages recreation and fish and wildlife usage on Reclamation lands.

Implements Resource Management Plans.

Develops and evaluates data pertinent to riparian water rights, quantification and qualification of these rights, and changes in the ownership resulting from land sales which impact the use of water under these rights.

Negotiates and administers contracts for water service and other agreements.

Serves as a liaison with project principals and coordinates with other agencies and organizations.

Evaluates requests for leases, licenses, and permits for rights-of-way or other land uses.

Conducts investigations, negotiates, prepares, and processes appropriate instruments to allow use of land and other resources by other Federal, State, county, city, and private agencies or individuals.

Collaborates with diverse interest groups, including Tribal governments to develop, obtain or share resource management information.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

You must be a U.S. Citizen or U.S. National.

You must be suitable for federal employment, determined by a background investigation.

You must submit a resume and supporting documentation (see Required Documents).

You must submit eligibility documents for veterans consideration (see Required Documents).

You must meet any minimum education and/or experience requirements (see Qualifications).

You must submit transcript(s) to verify education requirements (see Qualifications/Education).

You must maintain a valid State Driver's License at all times as the position requires operation of government vehicles on government and public roads. Failure to maintain a valid State Driver's License at all times will result in removal from the position.

You will be required to complete a Financial Disclosure Form, OGE Form 450.

Field work is required approximately 5% of the time, and is often over undeveloped, rough terrain and requires appropriate attire and consideration.

Must possess or obtain certification as a Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR).

Must possess or obtain certification as a Grants Officer's Technical Representative (GOTR).

This position is designated as a non-sensitive low-level position and requires a fully completed and favorably adjudicated National Agency Check with Inquiries (NACI).

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

Who May Apply:

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP)

Qualifications

In order to be rated as qualified for this position, the HR Office must be able to determine that you meet the education and/or specialized experience requirement - this information must be clearly supported in the resume.

To qualify at the GS-11, you must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to at least the GS-09 level in federal service having demonstrated experience which includes: Professional experience performing duties related to water resources or lands projects, such as drafting, issuing, administering, interpreting, or reviewing for compliance and making recommendations on water, land, or similar technical documents (i.e. contracts, agreements, land use) ; applying a variety of sources on water and lands or related program work, such as realty property laws, water or land related regulations, directives, guidelines, contracts, agreements, publications, web sites, etc.; applying environmental laws and regulations to land use activities; analyzing requests or proposals in terms of established program criteria to identify points for negotiation. These examples are not all inclusive. OR

Education: Ph.D or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M. in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position

OR

Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the second year (total graduate semester hours minus 36) by 18. Add the two percentages.

To qualify at the GS-12, you must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to at least the GS-11 level in federal service having demonstrated experience which includes: Professional experience participating in the management and administration of water resources projects or lands projects; administering water and prepayment contracts, financial assistance agreements or other related agreements; experience reading, writing and interpreting legal descriptions, deeds, leases, easements and other land use documents; applying environmental laws and regulations to land use activities; negotiating agreements and persuading negotiating parties to accept terms to includes items such as water rights, leases, easements, land exchanges or evaluating requests for leases, licenses, and permits for rights-of-way or other land issues. These examples are not all inclusive.

Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify. For this job, you must meet the qualification requirement using experience alone--no substitution of education for experience is permitted.

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: Current career or career-conditional employees of the Federal government, or former career or career-conditional employees, who have a break in service of less than one year, are required to meet the time-in-grade restriction of one year of Federal experience at the next lower-grade, with few exceptions outlined in 5 CFR 300.603(b).

You must meet all requirements, including time-in-grade restrictions and any selective placement factors if applicable, by 07/05/2024.

Education

This vacancy announcement allows substituting education for experience at the GS-11 grade level. You must submit a copy of college transcript(s) (unofficial copy is acceptable) to support claimed education if substituting education for experience. Transcripts must include the name of the college or university and date the degree was conferred. A typed list of courses, grades, semester/quarter hours, GPA, etc. will not be accepted. Non-submission may result in being rated not-qualified for the position.

You will be required to provide official college transcripts to verify educational qualifications, if selected. An official transcript must be sent directly from the University's Registrar's office and must be provided from the institution awarding the degree. Academic transcripts certified by notary publics are NOT official. Official transcripts must be submitted prior to reporting to work as a condition of employment. Failure to submit official transcripts may be grounds for dismissal or rescission of the job offer.

Accreditation: Only education from an accredited college or university recognized by the Department of Education is acceptable to meet education requirements or to substitute for experience, if applicable. For additional info, refer to the and .

Foreign Education: To receive credit for education completed outside the United States, you must show proof that the education has been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs. For additional info, refer to the .

Additional information

You may be required to serve an initial probationary period.

Reclamation has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and you may be allowed to telework with supervisory approval.

If otherwise 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 .

Current agency employees may be eligible to receive a referral bonus for recruitment of this position. For information visit: .

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

This position is designated as a LOW-RISK position. It requires a fully completed and favorably adjudicated SF85 Background Investigation (T1 or equivalent) that is current (within the last 5 years). This is a condition of employment.

Male applicants born after December 31, 1959 must certify registration with the Selective Service System or that the applicant is exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. Go to:

Additional vacancies may be filled using this job announcement.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Category rating and selection procedures will be used to evaluate applications from this announcement. If an applicant meets the basic qualification requirements, his/her on-line responses to the vacancy assessment questionnaire will be used to determine the quality and extent of his/her experience, education, training, etc., for placement in one of the following categories: 1) Best Qualified, 2) Well Qualified, and 3) Qualified. Qualified candidates will be assigned a numerical score on a scale of 70-100. The Category Rating Process does not add veterans' preference points or apply the "rule of three" but protects the rights of Veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each quality category. Veterans' preference eligibles who meet the minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent will be listed in the highest quality category (except in the case of scientific or professional positions at the GS-09 level or higher). The assessment questionnaire will take approximately 30 minutes to complete.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide to the application questionnaire, and the result of the additional assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies:

Contracting/Procurement

Oral Communication

Planning and Evaluating

Technical Competence

Writing

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 additional assessment(s), including a SME Panel Resume Review. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job.

The application questionnaire can be previewed here:

Your answers will be verified against information provided in your resume. Your resume must clearly support the responses to all the questions by addressing experience, education, and/or training relevant to this position. You must make a fair and accurate assessment of your qualifications. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than what is apparent in the description of your experience, competencies, skills, and/or education/training (or that your resume/application is incomplete), you could be rated ineligible or your score could be lowered.

For evaluating the quality of candidates for referral to the selecting official, a three-phased process will be used.

Phase 1: Applicant resumes will be reviewed by Human Resources to ensure they meet the basic qualification requirements (see definition of specialized experience). If applicants meet basic qualifications, they will continue on to the second phase and will be given an interim score based on the applicant assessment questionnaire, which will take the applicant approximately 30 minutes to complete when initially applying. With information received from the applicant assessment questionnaire in the first phase, applicant's will be evaluated on the following Competencies: Contracting/Procurement, Oral Communication, Planning and Evaluating, Technical Competence, and Writing

Phase 2: Candidates who pass the first phase, your resume will be reviewed by the Subject Matter Expert(s) panel board and apply a score.

Required Documents

Phase 3: Candidates will be given a final score which combines the scores from the first and second phases. Those candidates who score as best qualified will be referred to the selecting official for consideration.

Applicants who apply under this job opportunity announcement agree to have their application, associated documents and applicable personal information shared with other Bureaus/Offices within the Department of the Interior (DOI) who have vacancies with the same occupational series, grade, full performance level and in the same geographic location(s). Applying to this announcement does not replace the need to apply to other job opportunity announcements for which you wish to receive consideration. You may choose to opt in of having your information shared with other agencies when applying for this position. If an agency requests a copy of a certificate you are on, you will be notified.

Please submit the supporting documents outlined below applicable to your claimed eligibility status and the position and grade to which you are applying. Failing to submit required documents will result in non-consideration due to an incomplete application package.

RESUME: You must submit a resume that demonstrates how skills and experiences through job duties meet the qualifications and requirements listed in the job announcement to be considered for the job. Each job experience must include dates of employment including start and end dates (month and year), work schedule (full-time or part-time), and hours worked per week. For more information, click .

TRANSCRIPTS: Required for candidates using education as a basis for qualifications.

VETERANS: If you are entitled to veterans' preference, you must submit a copy of your latest Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, DD-214 (copy indicating character of service) or other proof of your service which includes character of service. If claiming disability preference, you must also submit the disability letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs or Armed Service and the Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, Standard Form 15. For more