Physical Scientist

Summary You will serve as a Physical Scientist with National Park Service. Career-Seasonal appointments are permanent positions and include the same benefits as Career appointments, but do not provide work on a year-round basis. You will work from approximately mid-January through mid-December, and you will be in a non-pay status for the remainder of the year (2 pay periods / 4 weeks). Responsibilities Serve as a technical advisor in the physical sciences for Timpanogos Cave National Monument. Responsible for program development and implementation related to geology, caves and karst formations, soils, hydrology, hydrogeology, air quality, acoustics, paleontology, and related fields and activities. Prepare management and scientific reports regarding the results of protection, mitigation, restoration, inventory, monitoring, and research activities. Following established procedures and within a defined scope, conduct scientifically credible protection, mitigation, and restoration projects needed to prevent resource damage and to minimize human impacts. Work closely with park education staff to incorporate new information into park and partner education programs. Area/Housing Information: Timpanogos Cave National Monument is located on Utah State Hwy 92 in American Fork Canyon, 10 miles east of exit 284, I-15. The monument is surrounded by the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, which includes several wilderness areas. It is located 10 minutes away from nearby cities of Cedar Hills, Highland, Lehi, Pleasant Grove, and American Fork. There are plenty of premier outdoor activities that can be experienced near the monument such as camping, hunting, fishing, snow skiing, boating, rock-climbing, mountaineering, caving, and hiking. Schools with grades kindergarten through 12 are in all of the nearby cities. A wide selection of housing options, shopping facilities, hospitals, movie theaters, banks, churches, and universities are available all along the Wasatch Front. The State's main metropolitan population cities including Provo, Salt Lake City, and Ogden are all within a 1-hour drive radius. The Headquarters office elevation is 5,600 feet. Temperatures can range from below 0 in the winter to above 100 degrees F in the summer. Government housing is not available. For more information about Timpanogos Cave National Monument, please visit: Timpanogos Cave National Monument (U.S. National Park Service). Requirements Conditions of Employment Must be a U.S. Citizen or National. Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication. Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service. Direct Deposit participation required. Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more, visit First time hires to the Federal government normally start at the step 1 rate. Must possess and maintain a valid driver's license throughout employment. You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work. You are required to wear a uniform and comply with uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided. You may be required to travel overnight away from home. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes. You are required to complete training, obtain and maintain a government credit card with travel and purchase authority. Vertical Caving Experience - Demonstrate the ability to safely and efficiently travel in the vertical environment negotiating Alpine Single Rope Technique (SRT) rigging components including rebelays, redirects, and traverses within 1 year of appointment. Additional Requirements located under qualifications Qualifications Requirements Continued: As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period to evaluate your fitness and whether your continuation of employment advances the public interest. This probationary period is an extension of the appointment process and therefore requires the agency to determine if continued employment would advance the public interest, meet the organization goals and mission of the agency, and/or otherwise promote the efficiency of the service. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, the agency will consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Under applicable law, the employment of an individual serving a probationary period automatically terminates when that period ends unless the agency affirmatively certifies, in writing, that the individual's employment should continue and that their appointment should be finalized. In the absence of agency action to affirmatively certify continued employment beyond the probationary period, such appointments are terminated. Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Qualifications: All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 09/17/2026-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. Basic Requirements for the General Physical Science Series, 1301: A. You must have a degree in physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics. You must include a copy of your transcripts. -OR- B. You must have a combination of education and experience. Education equivalent to one of the majors shown above that included at least 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science, plus appropriate experience or additional education. You must include a copy of your transcripts. Minimum Qualifications for the GS-09 Physical Scientist: To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement: EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the federal service. Specialized experience is experience that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position to be filled. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include, but are not limited to, the following: 1) Collects field data contributing to a basic natural resources inventory or monitoring program; 2) Performs a variety of technical tasks, such as selecting samples, interpolating missing data, uncovering clear discrepancies, solving minor problems and performing scientific analyses; 3) Drafts workplans and implementation strategies; and/or 4) Investigates cultural sites, natural resources, historic scenes, and subjects to identify, protect or interpret them. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of two (2) years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree in a related field. The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. (Two years of graduate education is 36 semester hours.) You must include a copy of your transcripts. -OR- Successful completion of a combination of graduate level education and specialized experience that together meets the requirements of the position. Only graduate education in excess of 18 semester hours may be used to qualify applicants for this grade level. For example, 6 months of the specialized experience (50% of experience), and 27 semester hours of directly related graduate level college study in an accredited institution (50% of education), meet 100% of the qualification requirements. You must include a copy of your 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. Education This position has a mandatory education requirement. You must submit a copy of your transcript(s) to support claimed education if substituting education for experience. Transcripts must include your name, school name, grades, credit hours earned, major(s), grade point average or class ranking, and date the degree was conferred, if applicable. A typed list of courses, grades, semester/quarter hours, GPA, etc. will not be accepted. Non-submission may result in being rated not qualified for the position. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work. Foreign Education: To receive credit for education completed outside the United States, you must show proof that the education has been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated, visit: Additional Information Additional vacancies may be filled using this job announcement. Physical Demands: The position may require strenuous physical activity including periods of standing, walking, climbing, and lifting and carrying heavy objects. Some activities will occur in physically dangerous areas or settings. Documentary research and report writing work is sedentary, entails the ability to concentrate and write for long periods of time. Work Environment: Work is performed both indoors and outdoors in all types of weather. Assignments may be performed in potentially hazardous areas including steep slopes, rocky terrain, volcanoes, caves, fire lines, arctic environments, swamps, deserts, and forests. Flying in fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters is possible. Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments. ( All DOI employees, their spouses, and minor children may not acquire or retain any claim, permit, lease, small tract entry, or other rights granted by the Department in Federal lands, with limited exceptions. Additional ethics prohibitions can be found here, DOI Ethics Prohibitions | U.S. Department of the Interior.