Operations Specialist (Fire Support)

Full Job Description

This position is assigned to a Forest Service, Region 5 Pacific Southwest office.

This positions serves as the Emergency Fire Contract Administrator of an Interagency Emergency Fire Equipment Contract Program, working in a variety of Incident Management assignments.

For additional information about the duties of this position, please contact Brian Grabowski at brian.grabowski@usda.gov or Deirdre Cherry at deirdre.cherry@usda.gov.

In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement.

For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards.

Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. Transcripts must be provided for qualifications based on education. Provide course descriptions as necessary.

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.

Note on Experience: Your resume must clearly document the following for each block of work experience; the beginning day, month and year the work assignment started and ended; the hours worked per week; position title, and series and grade if applicable; and description of duties performed.

This information must be provided for each permanent, temporary or seasonal appointment/work assignment or volunteer work and should be clearly documented as a separate block of time.

Incomplete, inaccurate or conflicting work history may not be credited for qualifications purposes. This can result in an applicant not being considered for the position.

Specialized Experience Requirement: GS-09: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service.

Specialized experience is defined as three or more of the following: Assisting with the review of statements of work and contract specifications; and/or Assisting with contract reviews to evaluate contractor performance; and/or Assisting with the inspections of equipment, materials, processes, procedures, etc.

to ensure contract compliance; and/or Assisting with purchasing supplies and services following ordering protocols and addressing payment inquiries during and after wildland fire and other emergency assignments.

OR A master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related.

The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work.

OR An appropriate combination of specialized experience and education (only graduate education in excess of 18 semester hours may be used to qualify applicants for this grade level).

GS-11: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service.

Specialized experience is defined as three or more of the following: Working with incident management resources to provide contract compliance and assistance; and/or Performing project management support work directly related to emergency incident management projects; and/or Serving as a Contracting Officers Representative (COR) or similar position for emergency incident related contracts including equipment, services, and material; and/or Conducting inspections of equipment, materials, processes, procedures, etc.

to ensure contract compliance. OR A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related.

The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work.

OR An appropriate combination of specialized experience and graduate level education (beyond what is required for a master's degree, i.e., more than 36 semester hours leading to a Ph.D.).

TIME IN GRADE REQUIREMENT: If you are a current federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirements of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled.

This requirement must be met by the closing date of this announcement. To receive consideration for this position, you must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of the announcement.

Major Duties:

• Duties listed are at the full performance GS-11 grade level.
• Coordinates with the Region, Forests, Dispatch Centers, Fire Caches, and Fire Incident Management Teams to provide contract compliance/assistance, ordering protocols, and payment inquiries during and after wildland and other emergency assignments.
• Reviews statements of work and contract specifications to ensure they are vetted through the appropriate staff.
• Ensures contract compliance and when appropriate, provides findings and recommendations for use and improvement.
• Coordinates and conducts reviews of contractor personnel training documents identifying and evaluating the quality and adequacy of fire training courses, materials, and instructors.
• Identifies and analyzes emergency fire equipment contractor skills or knowledge deficiencies and developmental needs.
• Develops and conducts equipment inspection training for interagency personnel throughout the region.
• Coordinates and implements cooperative fire agreements and activities with other agencies and entities.