Archeologist
What you'd do
This position is located in Natchez Trace Parkway, in the Resource Management Division.
Major duties
Is responsible for, or makes significant contributions to, the resources management plan, interpretive prospectus, and spin-off documents such as specific plans, action plans, revisions, and fiscal and budget documents. Serves as an advisor to park management on cultural resources. Identifies, evaluates, and monitors cultural resources, identifies potential threats, and makes recommendations to management regarding status and mitigation of impacts (present and future). Coordinates park cultural resources strategies and programs with those on adjacent lands for the purposes of achieving broad protection strategies and minimizing human impacts. Determines research needs and coordinates efforts toward obtaining research through various programs, grants, and contracts. Reviews archeological research project proposals, scopes of work, and task directives prepared for planning and other management purposes, including resources management plans. Serves as the Contracting Officer's Technical Representative for projects conducted through contracts, interagency agreements, and cooperative agreements. Coordinates research and reviews documents. Plans and conducts archeological research for planning documents, including general management plans, resources management plans, environmental impact statements, environmental assessments, archeological overviews and assessments, and archeological field investigations of all types, as required to meet the needs of the park. In cooperation with appropriate staff, researchers, and partners, the incumbent designs, implements, and supervises multi-phased archeological projects involving documentary, archival, and collections research; field investigations (both survey and excavation); laboratory analysis of recovered data; and professional report writing. Incorporates appropriate GIS technology into job to provide comprehensive and scientifically sound answers to inquiries from managers and others. Uses automatic methods of data collection, analysis or illustration. Inputs data into digital form and uses computer applications for data analysis, manipulation, and presentation. Is responsible for or makes significant contributions to the preparation of historic preservation documentation, compliance, and background materials for clearances, permits, licenses, etc., as required by Section 106 and Section 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Archeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA), NPS Management Policies, and cultural resources management guideline for planning and construction projects that involve cultural resources for all park undertakings. Recommends, plans for, and executes archeological investigations required to meet NHPA, ARPA, NPS guidelines, and the research needs of the park. Reviews projects initiated by park staff and makes recommendations for approval to managers. Makes presentations in parks, public gatherings, and professional meetings.
What you need to qualify
Requirements Continued... This probationary period is an extension of the appointment process and therefore requires the agency to determine if continued employment would advance the public interest, meet the organization goals and mission of the agency, and/or otherwise promote the efficiency of the service. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, the agency will consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Under applicable law, the employment of an individual serving a probationary or trial period automatically terminates when that period ends unless the agency affirmatively certifies, in writing, that the individual's employment should continue and that their appointment should be finalized. In the absence of agency action to affirmatively certify continued employment beyond the probationary or trial period, such appointments are terminated. Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. QUALIFICATIONS: All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-07/16/2026-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-11 grade level, you must possess one of the following Basic Requirements by close of the announcement: BASIC REQUIREMENTS: You must meet one of the following basic qualification requirements below, for the Archeologist GS-0193-11 position. If you do not meet these basic qualifications, you will be considered not qualified and will not receive consideration for this position. Transcripts MUST be submitted and include your name, school name, credit hours, major(s), and grade-point average or class ranking. We cannot determine eligibility without this information. 1. Education: A. Degree that included 3 semester hours each in the following course areas: History of archeology. Archeology of a major geographical area such as North America or Africa. Regional archeology, archeological cultures, or sites in a specific part or portion of a major geographical area to acquire or develop a foundation for regional specialization for professional development. Theory and methods of archeology. Methods include, but are not limited to, typology, classification, sampling, cultural evolution, diffusion, dating, and analytical techniques. Archeological field school, to provide a basic understanding of theoretical and practical approaches to research design implementation, field preservation techniques, and report preparation by participation in actual field work. -AND- Six semester hours of related course work in: geography, geology, or cultural geography; history, historiography, or historical archeology; environmental studies; scientific writing (nonfiction English composition); and/or surveying; -AND- Archeological field school. B. Related Curriculum: degree in anthropology (with emphasis on ethnology, physical anthropology, or scientific linguistics), history, American studies, or a related discipline may be accepted as satisfying in full the educational requirements, provided the curriculum supplied academic course work sufficiently similar to the requirements in A1 (including archeological field school). You must include transcripts. -OR- 2. Combination of Education and Experience: College-level education or training that provided knowledge equivalent to that described in A above, plus appropriate technical experience or additional education. You must include transcripts. -OR- 3. Experience: Four years of archeological work experience that demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the fundamental principles and theories of professional archeology. The work experience must have included archeology field experience, which may include that gained in an archeological field school. Field experience should have included a combination of professional experience in archeological survey, excavation, laboratory analysis, and preparation of written materials. Applicants with such field experience should, after additional experience under the direction of a higher grade archeologist, be able to demonstrate the ability to be a crew chief, directing the work of others at a single location as a part of a larger archeological project. You must include hours worked per week. -AND- In addition to meeting one of the basic qualification requirements listed above, applicants must also have specialized experience and/or directly related education, as outlined below: EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: conducting archeological surveys, data recovery excavations and monitoring of projects; planning and performing field inspections, research and testing, and project resource assessments; reviewing cultural resource permits and fieldwork plans; utilizing computerized systems to process and analyze archeological data; writing archeological reports on field investigations; and writing Determinations of Eligibility and National Register Nominations for archeological properties. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. You must include transcripts. -OR- Combination of Education and Experience: Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. To combine education and experience, first divide the total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide the number of completed progressively higher-level graduate education (that are in excess of 36 semester hours) by 36. Add the two percentages together; the total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include transcripts. 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.
Before you apply
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