Easter Seals Jobs

Summary These temporary positions are located in Shenandoah National Park, in the Natural and Cultural Resources Division. This announcement has an early cut-off date (see Duties section for more information). Responsibilities Initial Cut-off Date: This is an open continuous announcement, in which applications are collected over several months, and have multiple cut-off dates. Applications will be considered throughout the open period of the announcement. * The first cut-off date for early referral is Monday, January 13, 2025. * Referral certificates will be issued when a hiring official exhausts current certificate and/or additional vacancies need to be filled. Duties for the (Plants) positions: These positions will assist the Biologist overseeing the Park invasive plant management and restoration program by performing biological science technical support functions including, invasive plant management (including herbicide use), monitoring of treatment sites, invasive plant inventory work, nursery maintenance, vegetation restoration, data entry and equipment maintenance. GS-6 positions will perform the same work and will regularly provide field oversight to lower graded employees, interns and volunteers. GS-7 positions will perform the same works as GS-6 positions, with increased responsibility for determining crew daily work assignments. Duties for the (Vegetation) positions: These positions will assist the park botanist by performing biological science technical support functions including plant identification, detailed plant monitoring, data entry, equipment management, and specimen processing. Projects include long-term forest monitoring, rare plant monitoring, meadow monitoring, and plant protection activities. Technicians collect and organize natural resources data, and enter data into computer spreadsheets and databases daily or weekly. Data summary and basic report writing is required. GS-7 Vegetation position serves as a plant identification and vegetation sampling field methods expert to other employees engaged in field monitoring tasks and provides daily work planning and supervision to the work crew to ensure completion of technically complex and physically demanding field and office tasks by established deadlines. Required to use chemical tick bite prevention measures (Permanone) on exterior of clothing and equipment. GS-7 Compliance position perform site visits to document project work compliance with natural and cultural resource impact mitigations, collecting photos, notes, spatial data and resolve resource protection/compliance issues related to NEPA, NHPA, and the ESA. Work Setting: Shenandoah National Park contains 197,000 forested acres along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northern Virginia. The Park's backcountry consists of more than 500 miles of trails, including 95 miles of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, and nearly 80,000 acres of federally designated wilderness. Skyline Drive, the famous scenic tour road through the Park, follows the ridge crest for 105 miles from Front Royal to the Blue Ridge Parkway near Waynesboro. Over a million people visit the Park each year to enjoy views from the Skyline Drive, hike trails, enjoy nature study, camp in campgrounds or in the backcountry, or stay overnight in one of the Park's rustic lodges or backcountry cabins. The Park supports approximately 1400 vascular plant species, numerous state-rare plant species, and a variety of forest community types. The mountain streams are inhabited by a variety of species of fishes and provide some of the best protected strongholds for native eastern brook trout. POSITION LOCATION: Shenandoah National Park preserves and protects more than 300 square miles of nationally significant natural and cultural resources, scenic beauty, and congressionally designated wilderness within Virginia's northern Blue Ridge Mountains; and provides a broad range of opportunities for public enjoyment, recreation, inspiration, and stewardship. Within just 90 miles of Washington D.C. the Park provides visitors the ability to explore mountain peaks, hidden hollows, cascading streams, accessible wilderness, and stunning natural beauty. Approximately 40% of the Park is designated wilderness with over 500 miles of hiking trails and the iconic Skyline Drive, SHEN was established as an eastern Park that provided a "western Park experience". Due to the Park's easy accessibility to D.C and other highly populated areas along the east coast, visitation exceeds 1.4 million visitors annually which results in significant resource protection and visitor management issues and incidents. Requirements Conditions of Employment U.S. Citizenship required. Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication. Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males. Direct Deposit: Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program. You may 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 may also be required to 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 may be required to complete training and operate a four-wheel drive vehicle. Government housing is not available. Uniform: You will be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided. You occasionally may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work. You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority. Applicants must be at least (1)18 years old or (2) at least 16 years old and: (a) Have graduated from high school or been awarded a certificate equivalent to graduating from high school; or (b) Have completed a formal vocational training program; or (c) Have received a statement from school authorities agreeing with their preference for employment rather than continuing their education; or (d) Be currently enrolled in a secondary school and either work only during school vacation periods or work part-time during the school year under a formal student employment program. Qualifications All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-04/24/2025-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. To be referred for consideration, all qualification requirements must be met. Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (month/year), and the resume must reflect full and/or part-time or total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time). If part-time, the hours must be annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount of qualified specialized experience. To qualify for this position at the GS-05 grade level, you must possess at least 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-04 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: utilizing various techniques to gather biological samples; identifying, measuring, and counting organisms of the environment and recording the data; follow standardized procedures to collect data on the condition of native and non-native plant/vegetation/endangered species; operate and maintain resource management equipment and tools; prepare resource management reports and technical publications; or performing a variety of behavioral or measured data collection activities in support of field resource management projects. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least a full four (4) year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with major study or at least twenty-four (24) semester hours in any combination of scientific or technical courses such as biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture, or mathematics. At least six (6) semester hours are directly related to the position such as botany, forest ecology, silviculture, plant ecology, etc. IMPORTANT - PLEASE NOTE: If you are using education to qualify you must document your course work and/or degree completed in your resume or other application materials you submit. You must submit a copy of your transcripts that identifies for each course the college or university, semester or quarter hours earned, grade received, and date completed. If you are qualifying based on education and you do not submit specific course work information as described previously, your application will be rated not qualified for consideration. (A copy of your official transcripts will be required before entrance on duty, if selected). -OR- COMBINATION OF EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above which total 100 percent. Only education beyond the sixty (60) semester hours above high school is considered qualifying when combined with specialized experience. Thirty (30) semester hours beyond the first sixty (60) is equivalent to six (6) months of specialized experience. For example, six (6) months of specialized experience (50% of the specialized experience requirement) and 90 semester hours with at least twelve (12) semester hours related to the position and three (3) hours directly related to the position (50% of the education requirement) would be considered qualifying. NOTE: If you are qualifying based in part, upon education, you MUST submit a copy of your transcripts. To qualify for this position at the GS-06 grade level, you must possess at least 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-05 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience MUST HAVE BEEN in the Biological Technician field and include activities such as: working with field crews in invasive plant control; implementing revegetation projects; maintaining a native plant nursery (e.g. weeding, watering, installing plants); and collecting vegetation data and photographic documentation in support of invasive plant management and restoration projects. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least one full year of graduate education in an accredited educational institution (18 semester hours) directly related to the work of the position (such as biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture). You must include transcripts. -OR- COMBINATION OF EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, 6 months of specialized experience (50% of the experience requirements for this position and grade level) combined with 6 months/9 semester hours of graduate education, (50% of the education required to qualify) directly related to this position. Examples of education directly related to the position are biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, botany, physics, agriculture. Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include transcripts. To qualify for this position at the GS-07 grade level, you must possess at least 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-06 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience MUST HAVE BEEN in the Biological Technician field and include activities such as: Surveying, mapping and documenting botany species; researching and compiling botany inventory data; leading or conducting field inventories or studies of botany species and invasive plants; leading crews managing invasive plants and restoring native vegetation; perform site visits for resource compliance/mitigation under NEPA, NHPA, etc.; researching and identifying botany data and compiling data for review in established or new databases. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least one full year of graduate education in an accredited educational institution (18 semester hours) directly related to the work of the position (such as biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture). You must include transcripts. -OR- COMBINATION OF EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, 6 months of specialized experience (50% of the experience requirements for this position and grade level) combined with 6 months/9 semester hours of graduate education, (50% of the education required to qualify) directly related to this position. Examples of education directly related to the position are biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture. Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include 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. Education To qualify based on education, you must submit a legible copy of transcripts from an accredited institution with your name, school name, credit hours, course level, major(s), and grade-point average or class ranking. Transcripts do not need to be official, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work. If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities 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. Additional Information A selectee receiving a first appointment to the Federal Government (Civil Service) is entitled only to the lowest step of the grade for which selected. The display of a salary range on this vacancy shall not be construed as granting an entitlement to a higher rate of pay. This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if identical vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate. Non-Competitive Rehire Eligibility: Temporary seasonal employees can only maintain their non-competitive rehire eligibility if they work no more than a combined total of Temporary NTE less than 1040 hours anywhere in the National Park Service (NPS) within their established service year. Accordingly, non-competitive rehire eligibility allows for re-appointment to the same position or another position appropriate for temporary appointment with the same qualification requirements (5 CFR 316.402[b][7]), based on series and grade, anywhere in the major subdivision (NPS). If you have held a temporary seasonal appointment in the past 12 months and have already worked the maximum temporary appointment less than 1040 hours during that period, you are still welcome to apply. However, please be aware that exceeding the limit of 1040 hours in your established service year will result in the loss of your non-competitive rehire eligibility. The limit can be exceeded by working multiple temporary seasonal positions that result in a combined total greater than 1040 hours. The limit also can be exceeded by working a single temporary seasonal appointment that exceeds 1040 hours, unless granted an exception by OPM. Employment may be terminated at any time due to fluctuations in funding levels, project needs, employee performance, or other considerations. Physical Demands: The work is partially sedentary with prolonged standing, walking, and bending often required. Heavy items (e.g., packs and equipment up to 50 pounds) must be lifted and carried over uneven terrain on a routine basis. Working Conditions: The work is performed in an office, laboratory, and in the field. Field work includes exposure to extreme weather conditions and terrain, pesticides, poisonous plants, biting insects, ticks, and wild animals. Laboratory work may involve exposure to hazardous chemicals.