Park Ranger (Interpretation)
What you'd do
This position is located within the Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Bandelier National Monument in the LOS ALAMOS, NEW MEXICO, Division of Interpretation. Open to the first 25 applicants or until 07/18/2026 whichever comes first. All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration.
Major duties
Interpretation and Communication: Develops and presents formal interpretive experiences to engage the public, makes informal visitor contacts, produces a variety of interpretive media, and engages with various audiences through digital content. Visitor Services and Facility Operation: Coordinates day-to-day operation of visitor facility, including developing work schedules, answering visitor questions, demonstrating effective customer service, providing visitor information through interpretive media, assessing facilities, and reporting damage or malfunctions. Training and Education: Develops lesson plans for curriculum based education, delivers education programs in schools and in park, and coaches, mentors, or trains other park staff, interns, volunteers, or partners. Safety: Promote personal, visitor, and co-worker safety by including risk assessments in all operational decisions and actions. Statistical Reporting and Analysis: Tracks, reports, and analyzes visitor use statistics to improve visitor services and recommends changes to procedures, interpretive products, and visitor services in response to suggestions, complaints and evolving visitor use patterns. Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level. Bandelier National Monument is comprised of over 32,817 acres, including a designated wilderness area of 23,267 acres and an 800-acre detached archeological section. The monument was created to preserve the numerous archeological and natural features that hold ancestral and traditional significance to 23 tribal nations. The monument's natural resources have been extensively surveyed and hold some of the most complete data sets for climate transition that exist in North America. Annual visitation exceeds 200,000. The monument is located 45 miles from Santa Fe, 32 miles from Espanola, and 12 miles from Los Alamos. Elevation ranges from 5,300 to 10,199 feet with headquarters located at 6,000 feet. Medical facilities, schools, and shopping are available in Los Alamos and White Rock. Los Alamos has one of the nation's best public-school systems. Cultural and recreational opportunities are abundant in Santa Fe and surrounding communities. Local cost of living is considered high.For more information, see the parks website: www.nps.gov/BAND The employees of the National Park Service care for special places that are the heritage of all Americans. Since its inception in 1916, the National Park Service has been dedicated to the preservation and management of this country's outstanding natural, historical, and recreational resources. Park ranger - interpreters connect people to parks. They play a key role in ensuring that visitors have a meaningful, satisfying, and safe park experience, help visitors decide how to spend their time in the park, and inform them about the wonders that await their discovery. Park ranger - interpreters are specially trained to engage the public so that each park visitor can find a personal connection with the meanings and values found in the places and stories of that park. They help visitors explore the many dimensions of parks by introducing them to a variety of perspectives. By providing the opportunity for visitors to care about the places they visit, they promote stewardship and the opportunity for those visitors to care for park resources. National parks are among the most remarkable places in America for recreation, learning, and inspiration. The work done by park ranger-interpreters through effective interpretive and educational programs encourages the development of a personal stewardship ethic and broadens public support for preserving and protecting park resources, so that they may be enjoyed by present and future generations.
What you need to qualify
All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-07/18/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Do not submit photographs with your application package. Documents with photographs may not be seen by hiring officials - you must remove your image from any badges, licenses, etc. Do not upload Adobe portfolio documents. Adobe portfolio documents are not viewable by our agency's staffing offices. 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. To qualify for this position at the GS-05 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 comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-04 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: Experience that demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform successfully the duties of the position to be filled. Experience may have been in technical, administrative, or scientific work, fish and wildlife management, recreation management, law enforcement, or other park-related work. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include, but are not limited to, the following: Park guide or tour leader; Law enforcement or investigative work; Archeological or historical preservation research work; Forestry and/or fire management work in a park, recreation, or conservation area; Management, assistant, or program specialist work involving the development and implementation of policy related to protection, conservation, or management of park areas or similar operations. In addition, serving as a park guide or tour leader; presenting informal interpretive talks or programs to the visiting public; staffing a visitor center or contact station providing resource and orientation information; or similar work that demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform interpretive duties. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least 4-year course of study above high school leading to a bachelor's degree with 24 semester hours of related course work You must include transcripts.-OR-Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. To combine education and experience, first take the number of months of full-time experience and divide by 12 months. Then take the number of credit hours in excess of 60 and divide by 60. Multiply the resulting decimal by 100. Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include transcripts. To qualify for this position at the GS-07 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 comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-05 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: Experience that demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform successfully the duties of the position to be filled. Experience may have been in technical, administrative, or scientific work, fish and wildlife management, recreation management, law enforcement, or other park-related work. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include, but are not limited to, the following: Park guide or tour leader; Law enforcement or investigative work; Archeological or historical preservation research work; Forestry and/or fire management work in a park, recreation, or conservation area; Management, assistant, or program specialist work involving the development and implementation of policy related to protection, conservation, or management of park areas or similar operations. In addition, independently researching, developing, and presenting formal interpretive programs (guided walks, talks, evening programs) that connect park resource meanings to visitor interests; providing interpretive and informational services to a broad range of audiences; and preparing interpretive media or materials. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- 1 full academic year of graduate education related to the occupation.-OR-Meet the criteria for Superior Academic Achievement (S.A.A.) as evidenced by one of the three following methods: I am in the upper third of my graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses; OR I have a GPA 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum, or 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in my major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; OR I am a member in one of the national scholastic honor societies.-OR-Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. To combine education and experience, first take the number of months of qualifying, full-time work experience and divide by 12. Multiply the resulting decimal by 100. Then take the number of graduate credits completed and divide by 18. Multiply the resulting decimal by 100. Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include transcripts. 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. 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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