FUL - Land Law Examiner (Minerals)
What you'd do
You will serve as a FUL - Land Law Examiner (Minerals) located within the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Montana State Office in Billings, Montana. Pay will vary based on grade level and/or duty location for which you're selected. First time hires to the Federal government normally start at the step 1 rate. You must reside within 50 miles of 5001 Southgate Drive Billings, MT.
Major duties
Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following: Applies land and mineral surveying terminology and land record systems to interpret legal land descriptions and determine accurate surface and mineral ownership using maps, plats, legal references, and related guidance. Review and apply laws, regulations, and relevant legal decisions to evaluate mineral-related claims and actions, ensuring all requirements for conditions, applications, patents, or requests are correctly met. Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing in order to convey decisions on applications, and to provide responses to questions from the public and other agencies. Ability to utilize computer equipment and software applications to input, manipulate, update, and maintain data and request support. Applies comprehensive knowledge of legal and judicial mineral reference systems to accurately process leases, licenses, patents, permits, sales, and exchanges for leasable, locatable, and saleable minerals, while providing expert guidance to others. Ability to research, analyze and interpret various laws, IBLA decisions, program handbooks and manuals, Executive Orders and agency regulations, in order to process the most complex and unprecedented claims or applications. Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level.
What you need to qualify
All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 07/27/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Competitive candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F. This position will be filled under the Field Unit Local Hiring Authority. Eligibility is limited to applicants who reside within the defined local commuting area at the time of application. For this announcement, the local commuting area is the area from which individuals can reasonably commute to the duty station under normal conditions. The defined vicinity for this position is: 50 miles from the Montana State Office located at 5001 Southgate Drive Billings, MT 59101. You must provide proof of residency within the defined vicinity (e.g. mortgage or property deed, lease/rental agreement, utility bill, insurance policy, etc.). See the Required Documents section for information on how to verify current residence. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of specialized 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 periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the work schedule requirement as the service dates will be reflected. 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. Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications: For the GS-09: One (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-07 as a Land Law Examiner or work that is directly related position. Specialized experience is further defined as demonstrated examples of the following: experience in adjudication or examination of applications & claims for the disposal, use of, or title to public lands, issuance of leases, licenses, or permits for land use. -OR- Degree: 2 full years (36 semester hours) of graduate level education leading to a master`s degree or equivalent or LL.B or J.D., if related, in a directly related field such as surveying, cartography, land use law, real estate law, land appraising or land use planning. You must submit transcripts. -OR- Combination of education and experience: course work as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. 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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