Fire Chief

Summary

In this position you will work as a member of the Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center (MWEOC), Emergency Services Division, Fire Services Branch. MWEOC is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, approximately 60 miles west of Washington, DC. The ideal candidate has experience managing a fire department, evaluating fire protection systems and programs, supervising firefighters and emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and working effectively with internal & external stakeholders.

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Duties

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All MWEOC staff have emergency assignments and are considered deployed in place. Exercises and activations are planned and unplanned, and may require long hours, nights, weekends and holidays.

All MWEOC employees are: (1) required to use a government-issued electronic device (to include cellular phones); (2) subject to recall during emergency situations; and (3) required to perform work in locations both above and below ground.

What will I do in this position if hired?

In this position, you will as Fire Chief for the overall management and supervision of the fire protection and fire prevention programs for the MWEOC installation, including mission partners activities and smaller installations under their jurisdiction. Typical assignments include:

• Developing, coordinating, and implementing programs, policies, regulations, and procedures and serves as technical advisor to management on all matters pertaining to fire protection and prevention.
• Ensuring that facility emergency plans are developed and exercised, and that all fire alert and suppression systems are inspected and maintained.
• Advising on matters of fire safety, emergency medical services (EMS) delivery, hazardous material (Hazmat) containment, and fire prevention and training programs that provide prevention, education, protection, monitoring, suppression, emergency medical services, and response capabilities.
• Planning for long-range acquisition and replacement of critical equipment and supplies through a department-wide planning process and overseeing formal training program and ensures that fire rescue personnel maintain all fire; EMT/paramedic; Hazmat; and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives ( CBRNE) certifications, as well as other required training.
• Providing oversight for multiple stations, apparatus, and personnel, and serves as the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) operating in both classified and unclassified environments as well as managing and negotiating the mutual aid program involving various organizations and multiple jurisdictions.

What else do I need to know?

At FEMA, our mission is to help people before, during and after disasters, and every employee at FEMA has a role in emergency management. Every FEMA employee has regular and recurring emergency management responsibilities, though not every position requires routine deployment to disaster sites. All positions are subject to recall around the clock for emergency management operations, which may require irregular work hours, work at locations other than the official duty station, and may include duties other than those specified in the employee's official position description. Travel requirements in support of emergency operations may be extensive in nature (weeks to months), with little advance notice, and may require employees to relocate to emergency sites with physically austere and operationally challenging conditions.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

To ensure the accomplishment of our mission, DHS requires every employee to be reliable and trustworthy. To meet those standards, all selected applicants must undergo, successfully pass, and maintain a background investigation for Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) as a condition of placement into this position. This may include a credit check after initial job qualifications are determined, a review of financial issues, such as delinquency in the payment of debts, child support and/or tax obligations, as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs (see: Mythbuster on Federal Hiring Policies for additional info). For more info on background investigations for Federal jobs visit OPM Investigations.

Please ensure you meet the qualification requirements described below.

Key Requirements:

1. You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position.
2. You must successfully pass a background investigation.
3. Selective Service registration required.
4. Current federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements.
5. You must be able to obtain and maintain a Government credit card.
6. You must be able to deploy with little or no advance notice to anywhere in the United States and its territories for an extended period of time.
7. Please review the Additional Information section for additional key requirements.

Firefighter Requirements:

• Drive a government vehicle and maintain a valid State driver's license. (Please do not upload a photo ID. The license will be verified at time of tentative job offer.)
• Report for duty during inclement weather, natural disasters, and other emergency situations as directed by the Fire Chief and may be required to remain on duty after the official shift ends, e.g., mandatory overtime, subject to recall to duty.
• Wear a uniform and safety apparel in accordance with established policies and procedures.
• Wear various Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to include respirators, masks, self-contained breathing apparatus, and armored vests, and equipment.
• Successfully complete an annual Job Performance Test.
• Participate in a cardiovascular physical fitness program.
• Perform temporary duty travel for the purpose of obtaining specialized training and other fire and emergency services duties.

Qualifications

Current Federal employees must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent grade band in the Federal service. The qualification requirements listed below must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

To qualify for this position at the GS-13 level, you must possess one full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-12 level in the Federal government, which has equipped you with the skills needed to successfully perform the duties of the position. Experience may be obtained in the federal government, a state or local government, or private sector, and must demonstrate the following:

1. Managing or leading a fire department on fire protection, prevention, and life safety operations for above and below ground facilities AND;
2. Evaluating and providing expert advice for both above and underground facilities on the fire protection and prevention and life safety systems AND;
3. Managing fire department budgets, training programs, hazardous materials response operations AND;
4. Supervising and overseeing firefighter and EMT performance.

AND

In addition to the minimum qualifications described above, you must have the following certifications to be considered qualified for the position. Please upload your certifications or Firefighter transcripts showing you currently hold the required certifications in order to be found qualified. Failure to upload at time of application will result in the applicant being found not qualified.

• Fire Inspector II
• Fire Instructor II
• Fire Officer IV
• Hazmat Incident Commander

This is a primary firefighter position under the special retirement provisions of 5 U.S.C. 8336(c) and 8412 (d). Appointees to positions covered under these provisions must not have reached their 37th birthday at the time of initial appointment. Applicants over age 37 with previous firefighter experience under CSRS/FERS, may have their previous firefighter experience credited to determine if age requirement met.

Special Retirement Provision for Secondary Firefighter position : This position has been designated as eligible for FERS special retirement coverage per 5 CFR 842.801(a)(1), 5 CFR 842.803(b)(1) covered by 5 USC 8412(d) or CSRS special retirement coverage per 5 CFR 831.904(a) covered by 5 USC 8336(c).

Please read the following important information to ensure we have everything we need to consider your application:

• Do not copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.

• Please limit your resume to two pages. The USAJOBS database will not allow an applicant to submit an application that includes a resume over two pages.

• Your resume serves as the basis for experience related qualification determinations, and you must highlight your most relevant and significant work experience and education (if applicable), as it relates to this job opportunity. Please use your own words, be clear, and specific when describing your work history. We cannot make assumptions regarding your experience.

Are you qualifying based on your work experience?

• Qualifications are based on your ability to demonstrate in your resume that you possess one year of the specialized experience for this announcement at a comparable scope and responsibility. To ensure all of the essential information is in your resume, we encourage you to use the USAJOBS online Resume Builder. If you choose to use your own resume, it must contain the following information organized by experience/position : (1) job title, (2) name of employer, (3) start and end dates of each period of employment (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY), (4) detailed description of duties performed, accomplishments, and related skills, and (5) hours worked per week (part-time employment will be prorated in crediting experience). Federal experience/positions must also include the occupational series, grade level, and dates in which you held each grade level.

• Are you a current or former FEMA Reservist/Disaster Assistance Employee (DAE)? To accurately credit your experience from intermittent positions and Reservist Deployments, you must list the dates (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY) of deployments that are relevant to your qualifying experience, along with the job title and specific duties you were responsible for during each deployment.

• Determining length of General or Specialized Experience is dependent on the above information. Failure to provide the above information in your resume may result in your application being found "not qualified."

• 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 provides valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

• For additional information on crediting experience and/or education, please reference the OPM General Schedule Qualification Standards

Education

No Educational Substitution: There is no educational substitution for this position, and you must meet the qualifications listed in the "requirements" section of this announcement.

Additional information

• If you receive a conditional offer of employment for this position, you will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application, prior to entry on duty. False statements on any part of the application may result in withdrawal of offer of employment, dismissal after beginning work, fine, or imprisonment.
• The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act prohibits the Department of Homeland Security and its Components from requesting an applicant's criminal history record before that individual receives a conditional offer of employment. In accordance with 5 U.S. Code § 9202(c) and 5 C.F.R § 920.201 certain positions are exempt from the provisions of the Fair Chance to Compete Act. Applicants who believe they have been subjected to a violation of the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act, may submit a written complaint to View email address on click.appcast.io.
• DHS uses E-verify, an internet based system, to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States. Learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities.
• The Department of Homeland Security encourages persons with disabilities to apply, to include persons with intellectual, severe physical or psychiatric disabilities, as defined by 5 CFR § 213.3102(u), and/or Disabled Veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more as defined by 5 CFR § 315.707. Veterans, Peace Corps/VISTA volunteers, and persons with disabilities possess a wealth of unique talents, experiences, and competencies that can be invaluable to the DHS mission. If you are a member of one of these groups, you may not have to compete with the public for federal jobs. To determine your eligibility for non-competitive appointment and to understand the required documentation, click on the links above or contact the Servicing Human Resources Office listed at the bottom of this announcement.
• During the application process you will have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.
• Applying to this announcement certifies that you give permission for DHS to share your application with others in DHS for similar positions.
• A one-year probationary period is required for new Federal competitive service employees and new supervisors and managers.
• This is a Non-Bargaining Unit position.
• This position has been identified as a Testing Designated Position (TDP) because of its security, public health, and/or public safety sensitivity, you are subject to random drug testing under FEMA's Drug-Free Workplace Plan (DWP). Refusal to be tested will result in disciplinary action up to and including removal from federal service.
• The following certifications must be obtained within 1-year of appointment:
  • Fire Inspector II
  • Fire Instructor II
  • Fire Officer IV
  • Hazmat Incident Commander

• This is a temporary position not-to-exceed one (1) year. If this position remains temporary, upon completion of this assignment, the selected employee shall return to his/her original permanent position or an equivalent position in the same commuting area.
• The position may be made permanent without further competition.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

DHS offers competitive salaries and an attractive benefits package, including health, dental, vision, life, and long-term care insurance; retirement plan; Thrift Savings Plan [similar to a 401(k)]; Flexible Spending Account; Employee Assistance Program; personal leave days; and paid federal holidays.

Other benefits may include flexible work schedules; tuition reimbursement; transportation subsidies; uniform allowance; health and wellness programs; and fitness centers. DHS is committed to employee development and offers a variety of employee training and developmental opportunities. For more information, go to the DHS Careers website and select "Benefits." Disabled veteran leave will be available to any federal employee hired on or after November 5, 2016, who is a veteran with a service- connected disability rating of 30 percent or more.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.