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Posted: February 23, 2026 (0 days ago)

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Small Engine Mechanic Leader (Fire Support)

Forest Service

Department of Agriculture

Fresh

Salary

$27.19 - $31.74

per hour

Closes

March 5, 2026

Job Description

Summary

This job involves leading a small team of mechanics to maintain and repair small engine equipment used in wildfire support and forest operations, ensuring everything is safe and ready for incidents.

A good fit would be someone with hands-on experience fixing engines, strong leadership skills to guide a crew, and a commitment to safety in outdoor or emergency settings.

Key Requirements

  • Ability to lead or supervise a team of three or more workers on a regular basis
  • Knowledge of equipment assembly, installation, and repair for small engines
  • Experience with technical practices in maintenance and troubleshooting
  • Proficiency in using measuring instruments and interpreting instructions or specifications
  • Skill in using and maintaining tools and equipment for repairs
  • Ability to perform major and minor overhauls following manufacturer and agency standards
  • Commitment to complying with safety rules and policies

Full Job Description

This position is located within a National Interagency Support Cache (NISC).

This position acts as a leader to ensure maintenance and repair of support equipment included in the National Fire Equipment System inventory, as well as other small engine powered equipment used in support of incident activity.

For additional information about the duties of this position, please contact Nathan Lancaster at nathan.lancaster@usda.gov or Marcus Medina at marcus.medina@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 Federal Wage System Qualifications Standards.

Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements.

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.

Applicants will be evaluated on their ability to perform the duties of the position rather than length of experience.

Eligibility will be determined by relevance, scope, and quality of overall experience and training, regardless of where or how acquired.

Applicants will be ranked and rated based on their knowledge of the job elements identified below: Screen-out Job Element: Applicants must show the Ability to Lead or Supervise.

Applicants who do not meet the screen-out job elements will not be further evaluated.

In addition to the above requirements, applicants will be ranked and rated based on their knowledge of the job elements identified below: Knowledge of Equipment Assembly, Installation, Repair, etc.

Technical Practices (theoretical, precise, artistic) Use of Measuring Instruments Ability to Interpret Instructions, Specification, etc.

(other than blueprints) Ability to Use and Maintain Tools and Equipment Trouble Shooting To receive consideration for this position, you must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of the announcement.

Major Duties:

  • Leads three or more workers on a regular and recurring basis.
  • Leads the maintenance and repair of powered support equipment included in the National Fire Equipment System (NFES) inventory, as well as other small engine powered equipment used in support of incident activity.
  • Assures agency safety rules and policies are complied with, the limits of safe equipment operation are not exceeded, and all tools are properly used.
  • Distributes and balances workloads among crew members and schedules job assignments for various pieces of small engine repair.
  • Works independently to accomplish a full range of maintenance, diagnostic testing, and repair work on a variety of small engine equipment.
  • Performs major and minor overhauls and repairs following standards established by manufacturers and agency. Performs repair work on equipment used in refurbishment operations, and in support of various other departments.
  • Uses tools and equipment such as power tools, compression gauges, ammeters and voltmeters, computerized engine analyzers, and other diagnostic equipment to locate faulty parts and tune engine.
  • Performs metal inert gas welding Gas metal arc welding (GMAW) or Metal inert gas (MIG).

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Posted on USAJOBS: 2/23/2026 | Added to FreshGovJobs: 2/23/2026

Source: USAJOBS | ID: 26-EHT-FIRENC2-2FS107-8DP