Deputy Wildland Firefighting Officer (Deputy Geographic Area Fire Chief) - Direct Hire Authority

Full Job Description

These positions will serve as the Deputy Geographic Area Fire Chiefs, GW-0456-14, within several Geographic Areas of the U.S. Wildland Fire Service (USWFS).

Please see Duties section for more information on the Geographic Areas.

Additional Vacancies: One or more positions may be filled from applications received under this announcement in the advertised office or other U.S.

Wildland Fire Service offices in the local commuting area. In order to qualify for this position, you must possess the Selective Placement Factor and Minimum Qualification requirements listed below.

Selective Placement Factor: This position requires a special qualification that has been determined to be essential to perform the duties and will be used as a screen out element.

Those who do not provide evidence they possess the following selective factor(s) will be rated not qualified. 1.

Prior on-the-line firefighting: This experience must be clearly documented in your resume with specific to and from dates, description of work performed, and hours worked per week in order to be considered.

Candidates must possess substantial wildland firefighting experience, gained through fire line work in containment, control, suppression or use of wildland fire.

The Department of the Interior defines wildland firefighting experience as any non-structure fire that occurs in the wildland.

Wildland firefighting experience is gained through work on the fire line in containment, control, suppression or use of wildland fire.

This experience can be met by serving in a temporary, seasonal, or equivalent private sector fire position.

Wildland fires are categorized into two distinct types: (1) Wildfires - Unplanned ignitions or prescribed fires that are declared wildfires; and (2) Prescribed Fires - Planned ignitions.

This description includes only fireline experience on a Prescribed Fire; it does not include experience in the planning stages.

Prescribed fire experience must be supplemented by fire suppression experience in order to be creditable as previous wildland firefighting experience. 2.

This position has been identified as one of the key fire management positions under the Interagency Fire Program Management (IFPM) Standard.

This position has been categorized as a Geographic Area Fire Program Manager, and requires selectee to meet the minimum qualification standards for IFPM prior to being placed into the position.

To meet IFPM requirements, you must have possessed all of the following National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) incident management qualifications and training requirements to be considered eligible for this position (currency not required at time of referral): A) Task Force Leader (TFLD); AND B) Incident Commander Type 3 (ICT3), OR Prescribed Fire Burn Boss, Type 2 (RXB2), OR Complex Incident Management Team Command and General Staff position (CIMT C&G).

AND C) M-581 "Fire Program Management," FML "Fire Management Leadership," OR M-582 Fire Program Management, LFML "Local Fire Management Leadership".

In addition to the requirements described above, the following additional experience is required. Only experience and education obtained by 04/21/2026 will be considered.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. Please be sure to include this information in your resume. No assumptions will be made about your experience.

Minimum Qualifications Requirement for the GW-14 level: At least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GW/GS-13 level, or higher, in the Federal service, or equivalent, which includes all of the following: supervising or leading a staff of fire and/or aviation professionals responsible for a wildland fire program or fire operations; observing and monitoring local level utilization of wildland fire programs and/or operations equipment and resources; and ensuring safe and effective implementation of wildland fire program policies and procedures.

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.

Applicants must meet all minimum qualification requirements for the position of interest by the closing date of the Job Announcement.

Secondary Firefighter Retirement Coverage - This is a secondary/administrative firefighter position under the special retirement provisions of 5 U.S.C. 8336(c) (CSRS) and 5 U.S.C. 8412(d) (FERS).

While secondary positions are not subject to the maximum entry age policy, the selectee must have prior service in a primary position (3 years of service in primary/rigorous position(s)) and meet the transfer requirement for movement from a primary to secondary position to be eligible for special retirement coverage.

It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure this office has enough information to determine your retirement status to ensure you do not lose benefits (normally through submission of your SF-50).

YOU MUST LET US KNOW IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY IN A PRIMARY POSITION.

Physical Demands: The work is normally sedentary; however, some physical exertion is required as it relates to site visits and fire line assignments which involve walking on rough, uneven terrain, long periods of standing, and exposure to extreme heat, smoke, and temperatures.

Working Conditions: The work is usually performed in an office setting however field work is expected.

During the wildland fire season, field work may involve high risk exposure to potentially dangerous situations or stress such as wildfire, heat, smoke, and falling rocks and trees and may require flying in small fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft.

Major Duties:

Multiple positions will be placed in each of the established Geographic Areas (GAs) listed below for the US Wildland Fire Service.

Candidates must use the linked map below to determine which GA(s) they would like to be considered for. Please note, location is negotiable within the Geographic Areas that incumbents are selected for.

Incumbents must physically report to a DOI Federal Office. Please select EACH Geographic Area you wish to be considered for during the application process.

You will only be considered for the Geographic Areas you select.

US Wildland Fire Service Geographic Areas Map 1 or few vacancies in the Northwest GA 1 or few vacancies in the Northern Rockies GA 1 or few vacancies in the Eastern GA 1 or few vacancies in the Alaska GA 1 or few vacancies in the Rocky Mountain GA As a Deputy Wildland Firefighting Officer (Deputy Geographic Area Fire Chief) your duties will include but are not limited to the following: Provides leadership, oversight, and supervision over a large and highly complex wildland fire organization.

Ensures the safe and effective implementation of fire suppression, preparedness, hazardous fuels reduction, aviation operations, and related program elements across the assigned geographic area and provides strategic direction, recommends policy, and operational oversight in alignment with national fire management goals and objectives.

Plans, organizes, and oversees wildland fire management efforts and projects that are aimed at achieving and improving wildland fire management within the Geographic Area assigned.

Serves as a senior advisor to executive leadership on developing and implementing strategic plans in support of achieving national wildland fire program objectives.

Oversees the integration and cooperation of multiple disciplines to accomplish wildland fire program/project management; strategic planning; workforce planning; budget formulation and justification; quality improvement methods and initiatives; financial analysis; measurement and support, programmatic internal controls, analytics, and reporting tools.