Park Ranger (Interpretation)
What you'd do
You will serve as a Park Ranger (Interpretation) with National Park Service. You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work. First time hires to the Federal government normally start at the step 1 rate.
Major duties
Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following: Researches, develops, and presents a wide variety of personal and non-personal audience-centered interpretive programs, products, and experiences. Serves as front-line representative to greet internal and external customers and respond to comments and inquiries received in-person, by telephone, and in writing; evaluates needs based on verbal and non-verbal cues to provide appropriate levels of service. Performs and coordinates day-to-day operations of visitor center, information center, ranger station, or similar facility in accordance with standard operating procedures. Uses computers, computer software, web/cloud-based systems, and office equipment to assist in the management of a visitor services operation and facilitate park wide communication. Serves as a frontline leader and/or supervisor, recruiting and managing temporary personnel (at full-performance level), coordinating day-to-day work assignments, and coaching/mentoring and training team members to achieve high-quality visitor services and professional standards in resource interpretation.
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. Competitive candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F. 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. To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level: Experience: To qualify, 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: Examples of specialized experience include, but are not limited to, supervising volunteers, interns, and youth work groups and assisting with oversight of seasonal staff, implementing a visitor services program, providing visitor services and develops guidelines and operating methods that reflect a thorough understanding of agency policies and objectives, developing and conducting interpretive presentations, and training staff and volunteers; presenting to a wide variety of audiences using a variety of fully developed interpretive skills, techniques, and tools delivered in person and through interpretive media and technology. Experience may have been in technical, administrative, or scientific work, fish and wildlife management, recreation management, law enforcement, or other park related work, which include, but are not limited to, tour leader; environmental educator or teacher; 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; or other similar work. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- Education: Successful completion of at least 2 full academic years of progressively higher level graduate education or a master's or equivalent graduate degree related to the occupation (Major Study - natural resource management, natural sciences, earth sciences, history, archeology, anthropology, park and recreation management, law enforcement/police science, social sciences, museum sciences, business administration, public administration, behavioral sciences, sociology, or other closely related subjects pertinent to the management and protection of natural and cultural resources. Course work in fields other than those specified may be accepted if it clearly provides applicants with the background of knowledge and skills necessary for successful job performance in the position to be filled). You must include transcripts. A copy of your official transcripts will be required before entrance on duty, if selected -OR- Combination of education and experience as listed above. To combine education and experience, first take the number of semester hours (or equivalent) earned towards a graduate degree, in excess of 18 semester hours, and divide by 18 semester hours (or equivalent). 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. 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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