Natural Resources Specialist 1/2 (Pcn 10-1369)

What You Will Be Doing
The State of Alaska, Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Division of Mining, Land & Water (DMLW) is seeking to fill a professional level Natural Resource Specialist (NRS) 1/2 position in the Southeast Regional Lands Office in Juneau. This position is part of a team that is involved in managing state land in the Southeast Region. The Southeast Regional Lands Office is a strong, cohesive, and experienced team. If you are a Natural Resource professional looking to be on such a team, this is the opportunity for you!

Mission and Culture
The DMLW's mission is "to provide for the appropriate use and management of Alaska's state-owned land and water, aiming toward maximum use consistent with the public interest." The Regional Lands Sections support this mission by issuing land use authorizations that allow for responsible development and use of state land. This position plays a key role in the DMLW mission by adjudicating authorizations for the use of state land. This position has a direct impact on facilitating land use and development for the economic health of the State and its citizens while also balancing the stewardship role inherent in managing public lands in trust for the public.
The Southeast Region Lands Office is made up of a group of dedicated professionals committed to serving the public and managing the land and resources. The work environment is focused on understanding and learning. The team is supportive of one another, and we work towards collaborative and creative solutions to work challenges.

Core Responsibilities
The Natural Resource Specialist 1/2 employee will assist in the adjudication of applications to use state land and provide support for senior-level adjudicators and managers. This position will focus primarily on adjudicating permit and material sale applications:

• Adjudication involves land research, conducting agency reviews and public notices, writing decisions, working with applicants to provide deliverables, and issuing final decisions and authorizations.
• Assist with casefile tracking and reporting.
• Assist with the adjudication of other authorizations as needed (e.g., permits).
• Assist with settling and resolving land use disputes such as trespass or conflicting/competing land use applications.
• Conduct field work to obtain data necessary for the creation of location diagrams.
• This position may also assist or participate in the inter-regional policy teams.

Benefits of Joining Our Team
The Southeast Region Lands Office offers meaningful work in a friendly and supportive environment, opportunities for training and professional development, and a flexible work environment. This position offers the opportunity to obtain important knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully manage public lands while serving the people of Alaska.

The Working Environment You Can Expect
The position is located on the fourth floor at 400 Willoughby in Downtown Juneau; the location offers free surface or covered parking and provides easy access to all that downtown Juneau has to offer. The daily work environment for DMLW Southeast Regional Office is collaborative, supportive, and team-work oriented.

The knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies needed to be successful in this position include:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to write clear, concise decision documents that are legally defensible. Ability to establish collaborative working relationships with multiple stakeholders.
• Experience interpreting and applying statutes, regulations, policies, and land management plans for the purpose of determining their applicability for proposed uses of state land.
• Research abilities, including reading, interpreting, and applying information from land records, plats and maps, legal documents, and policies and procedures.
• Ability to work independently, take initiative, manage multiple tasks and shifting priorities, achieve deadlines, and exercise sound judgment under general supervision.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Suite; experience with data management systems and conducting field work.

Natural Resource Specialist 1 - Starting Salary $25.88
Any combination of education and/or experience that provides the applicant with competencies in:

• Analytical Thinking/Problem Solving: uses a logical, systematic, sequential approach to address problems or opportunities or manage a situation by drawing on one's knowledge and experience base and calling on other references and resources as necessary.
• Oral Communication: Expresses information (for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing oral presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately.
• Reading: Understands and interprets written material, including technical material, rules, regulations, instructions, reports, charts, graphs, or tables; applies what is learned from written material to specific situations.
• Writing: Recognizes or uses correct English grammar, punctuation, and spelling; communicates information (for example, facts, ideas, or messages) in a succinct and organized manner; produces written information, which may include technical material, that is appropriate for the intended audience.

equivalent to those typically gained by:
Education from an accredited college and/or experience in natural resource management.
Natural Resource Specialist 2 - Starting Salary $29.73
Any combination of education and/or experience that provides the applicant with competencies in:

• Analytical Thinking/Problem Solving: uses a logical, systematic, sequential approach to address problems or opportunities or manage a situation by drawing on one's knowledge and experience base and calling on other references and resources as necessary.
• Decision-Making: Makes sound, well-informed, and objective decisions; perceives the impact and implications of decisions; commits to action, even in uncertain situations, to accomplish organizational goals; causes change.
• Legal, Government, and Jurisprudence: Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, legal practices and documents, Government regulations, Executive orders, agency rules, Government organization and functions, and the democratic political process.
• Oral Communication: Expresses information (for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing oral presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately.
• Writing: Recognizes or uses correct English grammar, punctuation, and spelling; communicates information (for example, facts, ideas, or messages) in a succinct and organized manner; produces written information, which may include technical material, that is appropriate for the intended audience.

equivalent to those typically gained by:
Education in a natural resource field (such as forestry, geology, agronomy, and hydrology), public administration, planning, economics, cartography, or a closely related field and/or professional level experience in natural resource management.
Definitions:
"Competencies" means a combination of interrelated knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors that enable a person to act effectively in a job or situation.
"Professional experience" means work that is creative, analytical, evaluative, and interpretive; requires a range and depth of specialized knowledge of the profession's principles, concepts, theories, and practices; and is performed with the power or right to decide or act according to one's own judgment.
"Progressively responsible" means indicating growth and/or advancement in complexity, difficulty, or level of responsibility.
"Qualified" means is assessed to credibly possess the competencies needed to learn the job in a reasonable period.
"Training" and "education" in this guidance are synonyms for the process of acquiring knowledge and skills through instruction. It includes instruction through formal and informal methods (such as classroom, on-line, self-study, and on-the-job), from accredited and unaccredited sources, and long duration (such as a post-secondary degree) and short-duration (such as a seminar) programs.
"Typically gained by" means the prevalent, usual method of gaining the competencies expected for entry into the job.
Special Note:
For purposes of the minimum qualifications, natural resource management is defined as the management of the land, water, mineral, forest, oil, gas, agricultural, archaeological, natural and cultural history, park, and related surface and subsurface resources. Experience or education in natural resource management means involvement in the above resources exclusively. Those with experience or education in managing these resources may specialize in different management functions (for example, planning, regulation, research or title). All of this experience is applicable to the natural resource management definition. Some positions may require education in a particular area of natural resource management or specific technical knowledge and training gained through specialized education or progressively greater responsibilities at the lower levels of the series.
At the time of application, the applicant must attach as individual documents the following items (If unable to attach documents, please fax or email the contact listed below):

• Professional formatted cover letter. Please see the Special Notice section below for more information on cover letter requirements.
• Resume.
• Transcripts, if education is used to meet the minimum qualifications.

If selected for an interview, the applicant must provide the following:

• A copy of your last two performance evaluations (if you are a current or former State of Alaska employee), OR two letters of recommendation or similar performance assessments from former supervisors (if you are not a current or former State of Alaska employee or if performance evaluations are not available).
• A list of three professional references with current contact information, one of which must be from a current or former supervisor.

SPECIAL NOTICES

• COVER LETTER INFORMATION - A cover letter is required. The cover letter should highlight your knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience as they pertain to the responsibilities listed in the KSAs and competencies above. Also, describe how you meet the minimum qualifications for this position. Please attach the cover letter to your application before submitting it online. The cover letter will be used as a writing sample and will help determine which applicants will advance to the interview phase of the recruitment and selection process.
• RESUME INFORMATION - A professionally formatted resume is required. This resume should highlight and detail your previous work experience and relevant education as applicable to this position.

Application Notice
You can ONLY apply for this position through the Workplace Alaska website or via a hardcopy application. If you accessed this recruitment bulletin through a job search portal, such as AlaskaJobs or any other database, you MUST use a Workplace Alaska online or hardcopy application to apply successfully. Instructions on how to apply with Workplace Alaska may be found on the Workplace Alaska "How to Apply" page. Your application must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. Alaska Standard Time on the closing date.
Education
If post-secondary education is required to meet the minimum qualifications, you must fill in the Education section of the application. If you have not obtained a degree, please indicate the units completed. Copies of transcripts are required to verify educational credentials if used to meet the minimum qualifications for a position. Transcripts can be attached at the time of application or provided at the time of the interview.
Special Instructions for Foreign Education
Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the minimum qualifications listed above. If utilizing this education, you must show that the education credentials have been submitted to a private organization that specializes in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials and that such education has been deemed to be at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs; or an accredited U.S. post-secondary institution reports the other institution as one whose transcript is given full value, or full value is given in subject areas applicable to the curricula at the post-secondary institution. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying.
Work Experience
If using work experience not already documented in your application, also provide the employer's name, job title, employment dates, and whether full or part-time. Applications will be reviewed to determine whether the responses are supported and minimum qualifications are clearly met. If they are not, the applicant may not advance to the recruitment interview and selection phase.
Note: Attaching a resume is not an alternative to filling out the application entirely. Noting, "see resume" or any similar response on any portion of your application may lead to a determination that your application is incomplete and removal from consideration for this job posting.
Bargaining Unit
If you are a current state employee, please mark the union you are a member of at the time of application. Do not complete this question if you ar...