Historian (Architectural)
What you'd do
Reclamation is seeking a career professional looking for an opportunity to capitalize on their expertise as a Historian (Architectural). Make a difference in the West by assisting in meeting increasing water demands while protecting the environment. Duty Location: Sacramento, California
Major duties
This position is located within the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, 02 - 02, Cultural Resources Branch, Sacramento, California. At the full performance level (GS-11) the major duties of this position include, but are not limited to the following: Prepares or oversees the preparation of cultural resources sections of environmental documents, including categorical exclusions, environmental assessments, and environmental impact statements. Prepares context statements, site records, determinations of eligibility, and other reports for historic structures, buildings, features, and sites affected by Reclamation programs. Designs and conducts field inventories and resource documentation to meet Reclamation's needs for identification and evaluation of historic-era resources under its control or potentially affected by its programs. Develops statements of work and associated budgets for cultural resource contracts and develops internal cost estimates to meet specific Reclamation goals. Coordinates, collaborates, and consults with cultural resource specialists within Reclamation, in private industry and other agencies, as well as the State Historic Preservation Officer and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, in accomplishing various program functions.
What you need to qualify
All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-08/11/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. To receive credit for experience, 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. Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications: Basic Educational Requirement AND Specialized Experience and/or Education for the series to which you are applying. Basic Educational Requirements: In addition to the specialized experience requirements for this position, you must meet at least one of the following: A. Degree: history; or related field that included at least 18 semester hours in history. You must submit transcripts. -OR- B. Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in history, or a major in a related field that included at least 18 semester hours in history, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. You must submit transcripts. -AND- To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level: 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: applying cultural resources management policies and procedures to determine and evaluate cultural properties; conducting cultural resources investigations; serving as an advisor or consultant in the area of cultural resources management; managing museum property. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- Education: Successful completion of at least 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D degree or possess a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in a field of study that is directly related to the duties of this position. Note: Graduate study in the social sciences or humanities may be credited when study included training in historical research methodology, or the thesis approached the subject from an historical viewpoint and used professional historical research methodology and techniques in its preparation. You must include transcripts. -OR- Combination of education and experience. To combine education and experience, first take the graduate level education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level and divide by 18 semester hours. Then take the number of months of full-time experience and divide by 12 months. Add the percentages together. The total 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
Federal applications are different: your resume should be 3–5 pages and mirror the language of this announcement. Read our federal resume guide first — it's the #1 reason qualified people get screened out.
Don't miss the next one.
Get an email the moment a similar federal job opens — postings can close in as little as 5 days.