Overview

  • Accepting applications

Duties

Summary

The primary purpose of the position is to serve as the American Indian Liaison and coordinate between the tribes and the NRCS leadership to address challenges relating to implementation of NRCS conservation programs on tribal lands and identify partnership opportunities. The employee provides training, technical guidance and coordination for tribal, outreach; and civil rights activities for NRCS.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

  • As Liaison, coordinates programs and activities addressing program delivery needs for American Indians among different tribes.
  • This is accomplished by facilitating government-to-government meetings between tribes and NRCS leadership, identifying problems, establishing agendas and arranging logistics for the meetings.
  • Advocates Farm Bill programs, PL-566, and Emergency Watershed Program (EWP) activities and opportunities of mutual interest to USDA and American Indians by educating tribes of benefits available through these programs.
  • Develops relationships and attends meetings, conferences, and events to assist area and district conservationists in engaging Tribal leaders and individuals in obtaining services from NRCS.
  • Identifies barriers and looks for commonalities among the tribes proposing solutions to address barriers.
  • Provides assistance in developing state policies, procedures, and directives to strengthen relationships with American Indians and tribes.
  • Designs and develops procedures and guidelines for identifying underserved customers and for evaluating the effectiveness of service being provided.
  • Briefs Tribal governments on USDA policies, regulations and programs that affect American Indian tribes. Educates tribes on resources available through other agencies or entities that may assist in addressing needs within their communities.
  • Develops cultural awareness training and support specific tribal needs for NRCS employees; establishes training needs and provides briefings at meetings.
  • Applies qualitative and quantitative techniques to analyze, assess, and evaluate issues and concerns between NRCS, tribes and tribal communities.
  • Presents to management the observations, findings, and recommendations to resolve substantive problems and issues of effectiveness and efficiency of our tribal consultation process.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • You must be a US Citizen or US National.
  • Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
  • Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
  • Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served.
  • Direct Deposit ? Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
  • Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit E-Verify at https://www.e-verify.gov/.
  • Must possess and maintain a valid state motor vehicle operator’s license for the type of vehicle(s) operated to perform the duties of this position.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including time-in-grade restrictions, specialized experience and/or education, as defined below.

Time in grade: Current federal employees applying for a promotion opportunity must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirement of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being advertised (e.g. one year at the GS-9 grade level for consideration for the GS-11, or one year at the GS-11 level for consideration for the GS-12).

Basic Education Requirement:

Degree: biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position; OR

Combination of Education and Experience: courses equivalent to a major, as shown above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.I

n addition to meeting one of the Basic Requirements listed above, applicants must meet the following Minimum Qualifications Requirement in order to be considered:

Specialized Experience to qualify for GS-11 level: You must possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level or higher in Federal service, or comparable experience not gained through Federal service. The specialized experience includes providing training, technical guidance, and coordination for tribal, outreach, and civil rights activities related to conservation programs and projects; OR

Substitution of education in lieu of specialized experience for the GS-11 level: 3 year(s) of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resources management or related discipline; OR

Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of graduate-level education and experience, as described above, may be used to qualify for this position. This combination must have equipped you with the necessary knowledge and/or experience to successfully perform the duties of this position. Combinations of experience and education must total at least 100% as outlined in OPM Qualifications policy.

Specialized Experience to qualify for GS-12 level: You must possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 level or higher in Federal service, or comparable experience not gained through Federal service. he specialized experience includes:

  • Developing, establishing, and maintaining partnerships with public and private organizations both traditional and non-traditional at the state and local level to enhance efforts to address natural resource conservation issues; AND/OR
  • Identifying and preparing training requirements and providing technical guidance and support of tribal needs and activities related to conservation planning

Note: There is no education substitution for the GS-12 level.

For more information on the qualifications for this position, click here: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=GS-PROF.

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 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

You must submit a copy of your college transcripts or a list of college courses with credit hours, dates completed, and grades received to verify all education requirements (i.e. substitution of education and/or basic education requirement). If a relevant course is not clearly qualifying (e.g. special topic, seminar, research, thesis, obscure or misleading course title, etc.), please submit an official course syllabi and/or detailed course description from the university/college for that particular course to ensure you are properly evaluated. Please note that qualifications determinations are based solely on the information submitted for each particular vacancy announcement. You must document all requirements on every vacancy; we cannot use previous determinations as a basis for rating. All required information must be received by the closing date of this announcement, and non-submission of all required documents/documentation will result in non-consideration. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted. This information must be received by the closing date of this announcement. Non-submission of these documents will result in non-consideration.

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Applicants must, therefore, only report attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants can verify accreditation via this link. All education claimed by applicants will be verified accordingly. Important: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. Click on this link for more information.