Supervisory Park Ranger (I) - Director Of Communications And Visitor Experience

Summary
This permanent, full-time position serves as Program Manager/Director for Communication & Visitor Experience in the NPS Chesapeake Bay Office. The primary focus of this position is the oversight, direction, and management of all Communications and outreach, interpretive and educational strategies, programming and materials, and youth programs.
This job is open to

• Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)
  Federal employees who meet the definition of a "surplus" or "displaced" employee.
• Internal to an agency
  Current federal employees of this agency.
• Land & base management
  Certain current or former term or temporary federal employees of a land or base management agency.

Clarification from the agency
Open To Current Permanent Competitive Department of the Interior Employees Within The Local Commuting Area, Land Management Workforce Act Eligibles, and CTAP Eligibles.
Videos
Duties
MAJOR DUTIES MAY INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LINITED TO THE FOLLOWING:

• Assists in the development and cultivation of a comprehensive Communications and public affairs program for NPS Chesapeake Gateways with responsibility for planning, designing, and executing the park's Communications and public affairs to keep the public, media, partners, and communities informed of the activities and developments of NPS Chesapeake Gateways Partnerships and financial and technical assistance projects.
• Collaborates with other agencies and organizations to develop plans and strategies for communicating the goals for advancing land conservation, public access, outdoor recreation development, interpretation, education, youth, volunteer, and community engagement.
• Establishes and maintains working relationships and collaborative partnerships with youth conservation corps programs at the local, state, and federal level and private sector to support and expand youth involvement in conservation and stewardship work projects advancing NPS Chesapeake Gateways and partner objectives.
• Performs diversified professional duties involved in a broad and, in many cases, highly technical variety of problems over a broad geographic area (six states and the District of Columbia).
• Exercises full range of supervisory responsibilities for interpretation, education, communications, and youth engagement team, supervising a GS-12 Public Affairs Specialist, GS-11 Visual Information Specialist, GS-9 Training Specialist, and a half dozen seasonal or summer youth employees.
• Directs and manages a comprehensive interpretation program linking and relying upon hundreds of partner sites and institutions spanning multiple states.
• Develops overall interpretive strategy, goals, and priorities, and guides interpretive planning, development and delivery; analyzes, distills and presents initiatives for a variety of interpretive media products such as orientation and wayside signage, map and guides, digital media and travel guides.
• Establishes and maintains collaborative partnerships, networks and working relationships with partner sites, institutions, and private sector guides to implement NPS Chesapeake Gateways interpretive goals; establishes effective working relationships with other interpretive professionals, historians, social scientists, and others, both within and outside the Federal Government, to elicit support for, consult on, and obtain information of significant interpretive value to augment and enhance interpretive program offerings.

Requirements
Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship required.
• Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
• Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males.
• DIRECT DEPOSIT: Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
• TIME-IN-GRADE: Any individual who is currently holding, or has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet time-in-grade requirements (must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent in the Federal service). Time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal civilian employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.
• DRIVER'S LICENSE: You will be required to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of your official duties; a valid driver's license is required. You will be required to submit a Motor Vehicle Operator's License and Driving Record.
• Occupancy of government quarters may be required.
• UNIFORM: You will be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
• WORK SCHEDULE: You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, and overtime.
• PROBATIONARY PERIOD: If you are a new employee or supervisor in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period.
• TRAVEL: You may be required to travel overnight away from home. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
• You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority.
• Park housing may be available.

Qualifications
All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-12/06/2023-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.
Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 for each federal position listed as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of qualifying experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience.
For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected.
TO QUALIFY FOR THIS POSITION AT THE GS-13 GRADDE LEVEL, YOU MUST POSSESS THE FOLLOWING MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS BY THE CLOSE OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT:
SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-12 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: Experience in applying professional concepts, principles and practices of public planning, including those related to community planning, outdoor recreation planning, communication and outreach planning, interpretive and educational planning as applied to natural, cultural, or recreational resource management, programming and materials, and youth programs, outdoor recreation and public access development, and educational programs. Experience managing through subordinates a comprehensive interpretation, education, youth, volunteer and community engagement program related to a broad range of cultural and natural resources and topics, such as history, archaeology, architecture, ethnography, ecology, environmental science, etc.; evaluating interpretive operations for quality and adherence to agency policies, guidelines, and practices, and to determine the effectiveness of current policies and practices; providing advice, guidance, and coordination to staff for the planning, development, and operation of interpretive facilities such as museums, exhibits, and the development of interpretation and education programs; skills in the management and development of innovative solutions for interpretive and Visitor services programs, including short-term and long-range planning, interpretive media development, coordinating special emphasis and environmental education programs, collaborating with others or working on teams to plan park programs, develop budgets, and to accomplish mission goals; managing the development of interpretive media including wayside exhibits, publications, graphic identity, park signage, audiovisual, interactive and electronic media, and web pages. (YOU MUST INCLUDE HOURS PER WEEK WORKED).
VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE: 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.
Education
There is no substitution of education for experience at the grade level(s) of this announcement.
Additional information
This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if identical vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS: Some physical exertion is required during site visits and trips to inspect problems and projects. This can involve wading in water, hiking over rolling or rocky terrain and exposure to adverse weather conditions. Such trips are intermittent, however, and the work is predominantly sedentary.
WORKING CONDITIONS: Normally, the work is performed in an office setting. On field trips, the incumbent is occasionally exposed to moderate discomfort such as extremes of heat or cold and inclement weather. Work is primarily within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, with occasional trips to other parts of the country.
TELEWORK: The National Park Service has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.
CTAP: Current surplus and current or former displaced Federal individuals who have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) must be well qualified for the position to receive consideration for special priority selection. Well qualified means that the applicant meets the following: OPM qualification standards for the position; all selective placement factors, where applicable; special qualifying conditions that OPM has approved for the position, where applicable; is physically qualified with reasonable accommodation, where appropriate to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position upon entry; and is rated by the organization at least at the well qualified level on all competencies. Federal employees seeking CTAP eligibility must submit proof that they meet the requirements of 5 CFR 330.605(2) for CTAP. This includes a copy of the agency notice, a copy of their most recent Performance Rating, and a copy of their most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location. Please annotate your application to reflect that you are applying as a CTAP eligible. If you are selected for Federal employment, you will be required to fill out a Declaration of Federal Employment, OF-306, prior to being appointed to determine your suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation. Failing to answer all questions truthfully and completely or providing false statements on your application may be grounds for not hiring you, or for firing you after you begin work. Also, you may be punished by fine or imprisonment (U.S. Code, Title 18, section 1001).If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document that you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application. Click the following link for more information, https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Alternate_Application_Information.

• Benefits
  A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
  Review our benefits
  Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the additional assessments required for this position. A review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the Assessment Questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job. If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses provided in the Assessment Questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation, you will be rated 'ineligible', 'not qualified', or your score will be adjusted accordingly. If a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications or experience, you can lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully; errors or omissions can affect your rating.
Candidates who apply under Competitive Merit Promotion procedures will undergo a quality review to determine if the...