Land Law Examiner (Minerals)
What you'd do
Explore a career with the BLM - where our people are our most precious resource. These positions serve as a Land Law Examiner for the Utah State Office and Green River District. For more information about these locations, click on the links below: One position is located in Salt Lake City, Utah. One position is located in Vernal, Utah. We expect to fill one position for each location; however, additional positions may be filled from this announcement if they become available.
Major duties
Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following: Ensures workload is balanced amongst employees and recommends adjustments as needed. Trains and arranges trainings for employees and works on techniques for team building. Provides advice to other examiners and upper management on laws regarding minerals adjudication functions. Adjudicates complex cases (mineral leasing and mining law) referred for final examining and decision. Performs adjudication actions in geothermal resources leasing, coal management, mineral materials, disposal, multiple use mining, mining claims, land use and drill permits and oil and gas leases. Prepares written proposed rules, regulations, manuals, policies, procedures and other issues impacting operations of lands, oils and gasses, minerals and mining law adjudication. 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 -07/30/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Competitive candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F. Concurrent Announcements These positions are also open to Field Unit Local (FUL) hiring authority candidates under announcement BLM-UT-FUL-26-13013721-LMA. You must apply to each announcement separately if you wish to be considered under both recruitment methods. 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: To qualify at the GS-09 level you must meet the following: Specialized Experience Requirement: You must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: Processing and/or adjudicating lands and minerals cases; Reviewing legal land descriptions and ownership status from various map and records source; Utilizing a variety of computer and software applications to handle data; Communicating effectively with a broad range of internal and external customers. OR Education: To qualify based on education you must have a Master's or equivalent graduate degree or two years (36 semester hours) of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. Or J.D in a field study such as land surveying, cartography, land use law, real estate law, land appraising, land use planning, water rights, mining laws, or legal instrument review and interpretation. OR Combination of Education and Experience: You may meet qualifications requirement for this position with an equivalent combination of specialized experience and appropriate graduate education. Graduate level education must demonstrate the difficulty and complexity to do the work of this position. Only graduate level education in excess of 18 semester hours may be combined with experience. To qualify at the GS-11 level you must meet the following: Specialized Experience Requirement: You must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: Processing and adjudicating complex and unusual lands and minerals cases; Interpreting legal land descriptions and ownership status from various map and records sources; Utilizing a variety of computer and software applications to handle data; Communicating effectively with a broad range of internal and external customers; Preparing leases, permits, grants and other documentation. OR Education: To qualify based on education you must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctor degree or three full years (54 semester hours) of progressive higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M in a field of study such as land surveying, cartography, land use law, real estate law, land appraising, land use planning, water rights, mining laws, or legal instrument review and interpretation. OR Combination of Education and Experience: You may meet qualifications requirement for this position with an equivalent combination of specialized experience and appropriate graduate education. Graduate level education must demonstrate the difficulty and complexity to do the work of this position. Only graduate level education in excess of 36 semester hours may be combined with experience. 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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