Supv Wildland Firefighter (Geographic Area Assist Chief of Fire Operations) - Direct Hire Authority

Summary These positions will serve as the Assistant Chiefs of Fire Operations, GW-0456-14, within the Geographic Areas of the U.S. Wildland Fire Service (USWFS). Please see Duties section for more information on the Geographic Areas. Additional Vacancies: One or more positions may be filled from applications received under this announcement in the advertised office or other U.S. Wildland Fire Service offices in the local commuting area. Learn more about this agency Duties Multiple positions will be placed in each of the established Geographic Areas (GAs) listed below for the US Wildland Fire Service. Candidates must use the linked map below to determine which GA(s) they would like to be considered for. Please note, location is negotiable within the Geographic Areas that incumbents are selected for. Incumbents must physically report to a DOI Federal Office. Please select EACH Geographic Area you wish to be considered for during the application process. You will only be considered for the Geographic Areas you select. US Wildland Fire Service Geographic Areas Map 1 or few vacancies in the Northwest GA 1 or few vacancies in the California GA (includes Northern/Southern California, & Hawaii) 1 or few vacancies in the Great Basin GA 1 or few vacancies in the Northern Rockies GA 1 or few vacancies in the Southwest GA 1 or few vacancies in the Eastern GA 1 or few vacancies in the Southern GA 1 or few vacancies in the Alaska GA 1 or few vacancies in the Rocky Mountain GA As a Supervisory Wildland Firefighter (Geographic Area Assist Chief of Fire Operations), your duties will include but are not limited to the following: Provides leadership, oversight, and supervision over a fire operations management program within a large and highly complex wildland fire organization. Ensures the safe and effective implementation of fire operations across the assigned geographic area and provides strategic direction, recommends policy, and operational oversight in alignment with national fire management goals and objectives. Plans, organizes, and oversees a fire operations management program that is aimed at achieving and improving wildland fire management. Serves as a senior advisor to executive leadership on developing and implementing strategic plans in support of achieving national wildland fire program objectives. Oversees the integration and cooperation of multiple disciplines to accomplish fire operations management; strategic planning; workforce planning; budget formulation and justification; quality improvement methods and initiatives; financial analysis; measurement and support, programmatic internal controls, analytics, and reporting tools. Requirements Conditions of employment Must be a U.S. Citizen or National. Suitability for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation. Direct Deposit Required. You will be required to submit to a drug test and receive a negative drug test result prior to appointment. In addition, this position is subject to random testing for illegal drug use. This position requires the incumbent to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of their official duties. Selectee must hold and maintain a valid state driver's license throughout their employment in this position. A condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest will be evaluated. Supervisory Probationary Period: Selectees who have not previously completed a supervisory probationary period, will be required to serve a one-year supervisory/managerial probationary period for this position. Notice of Financial Disclosure Report Requirement: This position is subject to a financial disclosure requirement, and you will be required to complete either OGE Form 278e or OGE Form 450 as applicable within 30 days of your appointment Individuals assigned male at birth after 12-31-59 must be registered for the Selective Service. To verify registration, visit SSS.gov. This position may require regular and recurring overtime during peak fire season. You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 25% of the time. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes. You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority. Qualifications In order to qualify for this position, you must possess the Selective Placement Factor and Minimum Qualification requirements listed below. Selective Placement Factor: This position requires a special qualification that has been determined to be essential to perform the duties and will be used as a screen out element. Those who do not provide evidence they possess the following selective factor(s) will be rated not qualified. 1. Prior on-the-line firefighting: This experience must be clearly documented in your resume with specific to and from dates, description of work performed, and hours worked per week in order to be considered. Candidates must possess substantial wildland firefighting experience, gained through fire line work in containment, control, suppression or use of wildland fire. The Department of the Interior defines wildland firefighting experience as any non-structure fire that occurs in the wildland. Wildland firefighting experience is gained through work on the fire line in containment, control, suppression or use of wildland fire. This experience can be met by serving in a temporary, seasonal, or equivalent private sector fire position. Wildland fires are categorized into two distinct types: (1) Wildfires - Unplanned ignitions or prescribed fires that are declared wildfires; and (2) Prescribed Fires - Planned ignitions. This description includes only fireline experience on a Prescribed Fire; it does not include experience in the planning stages. Prescribed fire experience must be supplemented by fire suppression experience in order to be creditable as previous wildland firefighting experience. 2. This position has been identified as one of the key fire management positions under the Interagency Fire Program Management (IFPM) Standard. This position has been categorized as a Geographic Area Fire Program Manager, and requires selectee to meet the minimum qualification standards for IFPM prior to being placed into the position. To meet IFPM requirements, you must have possessed all of the following National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) incident management qualifications and training requirements to be considered eligible for this position (currency not required at time of referral): A) Task Force Leader (TFLD); AND B) Incident Commander Type 3 (ICT3), OR Prescribed Fire Burn Boss, Type 2 (RXB2), OR Complex Incident Management Team Command and General Staff position (CIMT C&G). AND C) M-581 "Fire Program Management," FML "Fire Management Leadership," OR M-582 Fire Program Management, LFML "Local Fire Management Leadership". In addition to the requirements described above, the following additional experience is required. Only experience and education obtained by 04/21/2026 will be considered. Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. Please be sure to include this information in your resume. No assumptions will be made about your experience. Minimum Qualifications Requirement for the GW-14 level: At least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GW/GS-13 level, or higher, in the Federal service, or equivalent, which includes all of the following: supervising or leading a staff of fire and aviation professionals responsible for a fire and aviation operations program; observing and monitoring local level utilization of fire operations equipment and resources; and ensuring safe and effective implementation of fire operations policies and procedures. 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. Applicants must meet all minimum qualification requirements for the position of interest by the closing date of the Job Announcement. Secondary Firefighter Retirement Coverage - This is a secondary/administrative firefighter position under the special retirement provisions of 5 U.S.C. 8336(c) (CSRS) and 5 U.S.C. 8412(d) (FERS). While secondary positions are not subject to the maximum entry age policy, the selectee must have prior service in a primary position (3 years of service in primary/rigorous position(s)) and meet the transfer requirement for movement from a primary to secondary position to be eligible for special retirement coverage. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure this office has enough information to determine your retirement status to ensure you do not lose benefits (normally through submission of your SF-50). YOU MUST LET US KNOW IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY IN A PRIMARY POSITION. Physical Demands: The work is normally sedentary; however, some physical exertion is required as it relates to site visits and fire line assignments which involve walking on rough, uneven terrain, long periods of standing, and exposure to extreme heat, smoke, and temperatures. Working Conditions: The work is usually performed in an office setting however field work is expected. During the wildland fire season, field work may involve high risk exposure to potentially dangerous situations or stress such as wildfire, heat, smoke, and falling rocks and trees and may require flying in small fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. Education IMPORTANT - PLEASE NOTE: There is no qualifying education for the 0456 series at the GW-14 grade level. Additional information Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): Department of Interior (DOI) Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) procedures apply in filling this vacancy. These programs apply to employees who have been involuntarily separated from a federal service position within the competitive service or Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: (1) meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria; (2) be rated well-qualified (i.e., meet the minimum qualification requirements, including any selective placement factors; education, and experience requirements) for the position with a score of 85 or above on the assessment questionnaire, and be able to perform the duties of the position upon entry. Applicants claiming CTAP/ICTAP eligibility must submit a copy of their most recent performance appraisal, proof of eligibility, and most current SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with their application. For more information visit: http://www.opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.asp. Reemployment Priority List (RPL): The RPL is the mechanism agencies use to give reemployment consideration to their former competitive service employees separated by a RIF or who have fully recovered from a compensable injury after more than one year. If you are currently on an RPL, you may be given priority consideration. PCS INFORMATION: -Entitlements for payment of basic moving expenses, as required and to the extent allowed by the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) 302-3.101, MAY be authorized for eligible applicants changing duty station when the change meets the distance tests as provided in FTR 302-1.1 and 302-2.6. All moving expenses are taxable. Incentives: If eligible and qualified, you may be offered a recruitment or relocation incentive. The decision to offer an incentive will be made on a case-by-case basis and is neither promised nor guaranteed. Reasonable Accommodation: The USWFS provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. Please visit USAJOBS Center | Reasonable accommodation policy if you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process. Cost of Living Allowance (AK/HI): In addition to the yearly salary, this position is entitled to a 1.49% - 8.64% cost-of-living allowance (COLA) as determined by https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-systems/nonforeign-areas/#url=COLA-Rates .This allowance is subject to annual review, adjustment, and rate decrease. Probation/Trial Period Con't: The probationary period is an extension of the appointment process and requires the agency to determine if continued employment would advance the public interest, meet the goals and mission of the agency, and/or promote the efficiency of the service. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 year probationary period during which your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest will be evaluated. Under completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Expand Hide  additional information 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. Benefits 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. 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.