Time In Grade Requirement: Merit promotion applicants must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements to be considered eligible. One year at the GS-09 level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-11 level. One year at the GS-11 level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-12 level.(Please submit your SF-50 that shows Time-in-Grade eligibility and reflects your title, series, and grade. No Award or General Adjustment SF-50’s will be accepted).

Basic Education Requirement:
Degree: Must have successfully completed a full 4 year bachelor degree program in soil science or a closely related discipline that included 30 semester hours or equivalent in biological, physical, or earth science, with a minimum of 15 semester hours in such subjects as soil genesis, pedology, soil chemistry, soil physics, and soil fertility;

OR

Combination of Education and Experience: Must have a combination of courses equivalent to a major in soil science or a major that included at least 30 semester hours in the biological, physical, or earth sciences. At least 15 of these semester hours must have been in the areas specified above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

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

GS-11

Specialized Experience: Applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the Federal service that included: 1) evaluating soil survey areas including time, workload, budget, and other resources; 2) providing training to staff and other users of soil survey data; 3) preparing briefing reports, publications, and articles of survey findings for management; and 4) maintaining quality soil surveys and ecological site descriptions. (Must be reflected in resume.)

OR

Education: Possess a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree. Major course of study must be in a field directly related to the work of this position. (Must submit transcripts.)

OR

Combination of Education and Experience: Have a combination of specialized experience and graduate education as described above, that total 100% when added together. Only graduate education in excess of the first 36 semester hours may be used when combining education and experience for this specialty and grade. (Must submit transcripts and be reflected in resume.)

GS-12

Specialized Experience: You must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service that included: 1) conducting special soil survey studies; 2) writing soil descriptions; 3) collecting and summarizing field data; 4) maintaining software programs to develop and validate data and interpretations; and 5) developing training plans to include soil survey best practices. (Must be reflected in resume.)

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.

Physical Demands: Some work requires physical exertion such as crouching, bending, lifting equipment and soil samples (up to 70 pounds), hand digging of soil pits, walking over wet, rough, uneven or rocky surfaces, and driving over rough terrain. The job requires traversing all types of terrain on foot, crossing drains and fences, and the operation of hand and power tools to examine soils in place and to obtain soil samples for laboratory analyses. Substantial physical effort is required. The work requires average agility and dexterity. The employee may be required to travel to outlying areas to perform work, sometimes under adverse weather conditions. This includes traveling before and after normal working hours. To perform the duties of this position, the employee must be able to operate a motor vehicle on both public and private roads during daylight hours and occasionally after dark.

Work Environment: The fieldwork involves exposure to moderate risks and discomforts such as: high levels of dust; high winds and low or high temperatures, animals, poisonous insects, plants, and adverse weather conditions; and regular and recurring exposure to operating equipment such as 4×4 vehicles and ATVs. Field work is typically performed alone and often in remote locations. Employee is required to wear proper personal protective equipment when operating a backhoe or traveling in ATV vehicles, and ensures that other employees follow these requirements as well.