Visual Information Specialist

Summary
This position serves as a Visual Information Specialist who supports visitor services through the design of park exhibits, waysides, publications, and a variety of online offerings. This position is located in Big Bend National Park, within the Division of Interpretation & Visitor Services.
The position is a RE Advertisement announcement with previous Job Opportunity Announcement Number: IRA-NPS-23-12120285-MP.
This job is open to

• Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)
  Federal employees who meet the definition of a "surplus" or "displaced" employee.
• The public
  U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.

Clarification from the agency
U.S. Citizens; Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP)
Videos
Duties
The major duties of this position include the following:

• Works directly with park staff, resource experts, and partners to identify and develop interpretive media that conveys important interpretive themes and visitor safety and orientation information.
• Develops and maintains the park's interpretive media portfolio, including website, the NPS App, videos, waysides, exhibits, signs and publications.
• Selects visual materials (photographs, illustrations, maps, charts, diagrams, video, etc.) to support text and enhance aesthetic appeal of publications and presentations (ideas and concepts).
• Using digital images, video, and graphics created electronically, is responsible for the day-to-day maintenance of the media project components of the park website.
• Serves as a leader in championing new ways of communicating with visitors through interpretive media.

Big Bend National Park & Area Information:
Big Bend National Park is a spectacular and very remote national park, situated on the US-Mexico border. Encompassing 800,000 acres, Big Bend along with Rio Grande Wild & Scenic River protects the finest and most extensive expanse of Chihuahuan desert and mountain topography in the United States. This is a land of dramatic contrasts - of lofty, wooded peaks and river-swept floodplains - dominated by great expanses of Chihuahuan Desert, containing spectacular geologic features and other impressive landforms. Average visitation is 500,000 and growing! Big Bend NP is beloved as one of the few large public lands in Texas. Major activities include camping, backpacking, hiking, birdwatching, river trips, enjoying the spring cactus bloom, exploring backcountry roads, and simply getting away from it all. Open year-round, Big Bend is primarily a winter park. The main visitor season runs from November through April. The climate is generally dry and pleasant with beautiful mild winters (40-70 degrees F.) and hot summers (90-110+ degrees F.). Visitor facilities include five visitor centers, post office, two gas stations, three camper stores, three NPS campgrounds, concession-operated lodge, restaurant and RV park.). A port of entry provides pedestrian access to the small village of Boquillas, Mexico.
Although remote, Big Bend has an active residential community. The Park community consists of ~250 people, including employees of the NPS, Concession, Cooperating Association, U.S. Border Patrol, Postal Service, San Vicente School personnel, and their families living in four housing areas: Panther Junction, Chisos Basin, Castolon, and Rio Grande Village. The park's employee association, Casa Grande, provides a variety of social events, potlucks, and community get togethers throughout the year.A state-accredited elementary school (K-8) is located at Panther Junction. Day care may be available. Cellular phone service is spotty throughout the park area. Satellite radio and television, as well as DSL internet service, are available for purchase. Terlingua (30 miles away) has a state-accredited High School (no bus service), lodging, restaurants, hardware store, small grocery, churches, and a bank. Alpine, Texas (100 miles away) has most necessities, including supermarkets, a variety of stores, hospital, pharmacies, churches, movie theater, and university. The nearest larger cities are Midland/Odessa (225 miles away) and El Paso (325 miles away).For additional information about living/working in Big Bend, please visit: https://go.nps.gov/bigbendareainfoTo learn more about the wonders of Big Bend National Park, please visit: www.nps.gov/bibe.
Requirements
Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship required.
• Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
• Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males.
• Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
• 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. You must also submit (within a State sealed envelope or submitted directly by the State authorities), and at your own expense, all certified driving records from all States that disclose all valid driver's licenses, whether current or past, possessed by you.
• You will be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
• You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work.
• If you are a new employee or supervisor in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period.
• You may be required to travel overnight occasionally. 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.
• Government housing maybe available.

Qualifications
All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-02/09/2024-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.
Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (month/year), and the resume must reflect full and/or part-time or total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time). If part-time, the hours must be annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount of qualified specialized experience.
Candidates who do not meet this requirement by close of this announcement will receive no further consideration for this position.
- AND -
To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:
EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience working full time comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes Editing digital media such as web pages, app content, video displays. Laying out publications (with industry standard design software) such as site bulletins, newspapers, booklets, pamphlets, posters, or signs. Developing original graphics, charts, designs, or logos to support text for use in publications, exhibits, displays or presentations. You must include hours per week.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Master's or equivalent graduate degree or two full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related. Master's degree must be in major studies - commercial art, fine arts, art history, industrial design, architecture, drafting, interior design, photography, visual communication, or other fields related to the position. Some positions may also require subject-matter knowledge of medicine, science, or technical equipment. You must include transcripts. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of specialized experience as described above and education as described above. When combined equals 100% of the total requirement. You must include transcript.
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
To qualify based on education, you must submit a legible copy of transcripts from an accredited institution with your name, school name, credit hours, course level, major(s), and grade-point average or class ranking. Transcripts do not need to be official, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.
If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet qualification requirements, you must show that your education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.
Additional information
A selectee receiving a first appointment to the Federal Government (Civil Service) is entitled only to the lowest step of the grade for which selected. The display of a salary range on this vacancy shall not be construed as granting an entitlement to a higher rate of pay.
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: The work is normally sedentary and requires long period of stationary work at a computer workstation. Work also requires moderate physical exertion fabrication exhibits and signs, working from ladders, and lifting and working with maintenance staff installing signs and exhibits. Field visits are necessary for on-site inspection of phases of the production of a visual product. The incumbent occasionally must lift moderately heavy objects and operates hand tools and power tools such as hammers, screwdrivers, levels, rivet guns, saws, drills, etc.
Working Conditions: Work is normally performed in a typical office setting, however, when work is performed outside the office, it may be in the field environments or at dirty, dusty, cold, hot, wet or some otherwise uncomfortable locations indoors and outdoors, where the exhibit or display is located. Work involves moderate risks or discomforts such as working with power tools.
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.
Current surplus and current or former displaced Federal individuals who have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) 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/ICTAP eligibility must submit proof that they meet the requirements of 5 CFR 330.605(2) for CTAP and 5 CFR 330.704 for ICTAP. 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/ICTAP 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).

• Benefits
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  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 wil...