Forestry Technician (Fire Dispatch) - Direct Hire Authority

Full Job Description

This is a Direct-Hire advertisement. Veterans preference is not applicable to this advertisement.

Learn more about this authority at: Direct Hire Authority In order to be considered for any duty location, ensure desired locations are selected.

Applicants will not be considered for locations not selected.

Additional Vacancies: Multiple positions may be filled from applications received under this announcement in the advertised office or other USWFS offices in the local commuting area.

In order to qualify for this position you must possess the Minimum Qualification requirements listed below. Only experience and education obtained by 03/05/2026 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 Qualification For the GW-04 level: 6 months of general work experience, which can be any work experience AND 6 months of specialized experience equivalent to GS/GW-03 is required.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Examples of specialized work experience may include but are not limited to: performing dispatch work or equivalent experience that provided familiarity with dispatch operations and procedures, such as performing wildland fire suppression duties or working with fire/dispatch computer programs.

GENERAL EXPERIENCE: Any type of work that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work of the position, or experience that provided a familiarity with the subject matter or processes of the broad subject area of the occupation.

Specialized experience may be substituted for general experience.

SEASONAL EXPERIENCE: A season of experience is considered to be a period of no less than 3 months of continuous employment on a seasonal basis.

Shorter periods may be combined to make a season, provided a total of at least 3 months' experience is shown.

For any period where the work exceeded 3 months, the excess work is credited towards an additional season of experience.

-OR- Successful completion of 2 years of study that included at least 12 semester hours in any combination of courses such as forestry, agriculture, crop or plant science, range management or conservation, wildlife management, watershed management, soil science, natural resources (except marine fisheries and oceanography), outdoor recreation management, civil or forest engineering, or wildland fire science.

No more than 3 semester hours in mathematics is creditable. -OR- A combination of education and experience as described above. Transcripts must be attached to application package.

For the GW-05 level: One year of specialized experience equivalent to GW/GS-04 is required.

Examples of specialized work experience may include but are not limited to: Performing dispatch or dispatch office functions related to wildland fire suppression activities such as determining priorities and selecting alternative resources while independently performing dispatch operations duties.

-OR- Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree (a) with major study in forestry, range management, agriculture, or a subject-matter field directly related to the position, or (b) that included at least 24 semester hours in any combination of courses such as those shown above for GW-4.

No more than 6 semester hours in mathematics is creditable. -OR- A combination of education and experience as described above.

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 - Applicants for this secondary administrative fire fighter position under the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 8336 (c) (CSRS) and 5 U.S.C.

8412 (d), must possess knowledge of the principles, methods, and techniques of wildland firefighting as demonstrated by direct wildland firefighting experience.

In order to receive credit, you must provide a written description of your experience in wildland firefighting.

Education without hands-on wildland firefighting experience does not meet this requirement.

Periods of wildland firefighting experience, gained through militia and rural fire departments, can also be credited. Wildland fire is defined as any non-structure fire that occurs in the wildland.

Two distinct types of wildland fire have been defined and include wildfire and prescribed fires as follows: Wildfire: Unplanned ignitions or prescribed fires that are declared wildfires.

Prescribed Fires: Planned ignitions. This description includes only fire line 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.

Physical Demands: The work involves long hours of sitting, intense concentration, and working at peak proficiency/intensity levels with irregular breaks and mealtimes.

The duties of this position create a highly stressful environment during peak activity, requiring the ability to keep calm in emergency situations.

Must be able to cope with the pressure of meeting timeframes and changing priorities. Mental concentration and accuracy are required.

Working Conditions: Work is performed primarily in an office setting.

During peak activity, increased radio traffic, numerous ringing phones, and conversations result in high noise levels, which require a high level of concentration to perform duties.

This creates a high stress work environment. Major Duties:

As a Forestry Technician (Fire Dispatch) - Direct Hire Authority your duties will include but are not limited to the following: Receive fire reports, determines location, land status, and current fire information to dispatch personnel, equipment, aircraft, and/or supplies.

Maintain resource status and tracking systems. Input data into a number of fire-related computer applications. Monitor all fire radio communications and maintain telephone and radio conversation logs.

Gathers data to perform briefings and provide information to supervisors and fire management personnel. Duties listed are at the GW-05 full performance level.