Supervisory Fire Management Specialist (Prescribed Fire & Fuels)

Duties

Incumbent provides program management oversight for a high complexity fire/fuels management program.  Develops fuels treatment alternatives to support management decisions while adhering to applicable laws, regulations, policies, and guidelines. Evaluates individual fuels treatments as well as the effectiveness of the overall program and makes recommendations for improvement.

Provides program oversight and guidance related to the use of prescribed fire and naturally ignited wildfires to achieve Land and Resource Management Plan objectives.  Represents the organization in multi-agency fuels management activities.

Collects information through a variety of methods, including field surveys, computer modeling, and specific literature searches. Stays abreast of state-of-the-art computer modeling software and scientific methods to support fire use, air quality, and fuel treatment planning and applications. Disseminates information on technological advancements in the field of natural resources management for use in land use planning and other activities. 

Coordinates multi-disciplinary field studies related to fuels management program issues to determine effectiveness of treatments.

Develops local policy, standards, and guidelines for the Forest's Fuel Management Program, including aspects in environmental assessments, prescribed burning plans, fuel treatment standards, inventories, and smoke management.

Analyzes current plans and initiates changes within guidelines or makes recommendations to meet changing conditions within the limits of current or anticipated funding.

Serves as a member of an interdisciplinary team planning, developing, and implementing land management plans, compliance documents, and agreements.  Provides assistance to other resource program managers in the design of fuels management prescriptions and implementation plans.  Participates in the development, review, and modification of the fire management plan. Develops, reviews and monitors fuels management plans

Implements and administers prescribed fire activities, wildfire response, and fuels management activities to ensure targets are achieved, management objectives are met and mitigation measures are adequate.

Ensures own and other's welfare and safety in all aspects of project implementation. Identifies training needs and participates in prescribed fire, mechanical fuels treatment, chemical herbicide application, and wildland fire and safety training.

Plans the work to be accomplished by the unit, assigns work to employees, and establishes production or quality standards for the unit’s work.  Establishes and communicates guidelines and performance requirements to employees; conducts formal performance reviews; and identifies and provides for the developmental and training needs of employees.  Hears and resolves employee complaints, effects minor disciplinary measures, and recommends action in more serious cases.  

Performs administrative and human resources management functions for the unit; provides advice, counsel or instruction on both administrative and work matters; and assures full compliance with safety regulations.

Duties stated are at the full performance level.

Qualifications

You must possess the Basic Requirements identified below to be considered eligible for this position. Transcripts must be provided with the application to validate that coursework requirements are met. 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. Your application or resume must clearly show that you possess the appropriate experience requirements.

Basic Requirements:

A. Degree: Biological sciences, agriculture, natural resources management, chemistry or related disciplines appropriate to the position.

-OR-

B. Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major course of study in biological sciences, agriculture or natural resources management, chemistry or at least 24 semester hours in biological sciences, natural resources, wildland fire management, forestry, or agriculture equivalent to a major field of study, plus appropriate experience or additional education that is comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in the biological sciences, agriculture, or natural resources.

In addition to the basic requirements described above, you must meet the following experience requirements. Your application or resume must clearly show that you possess the specialized experience requirements. Specialized experience is defined as experience that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled and has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position.

GS-11: One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-9. Experience must have included all of the fire program management elements as described below:

• Reviewing and evaluating fire management plans for ecological soundness and technical adequacy; and
• Conducting field inspections before and after prescribed or wildland fires to determine if resource objectives were achieved and/or to evaluate the effectiveness of actions taken; and
• Developing analyses on the ecological role of fire and its use and/or exclusion, and smoke management.

In addition to fire program management, appropriate experience must have included either prescribed fire/fuels management - or - fire management operations as described below:

Prescribed fire/fuels management - experience in a broad range of activities such as:

• Professional forest or range inventory methods and procedures (e.g., Brown's planar intercept for dead and down fuels; live fuel loading assessments);
• Analysis of fuel loadings and determination of appropriate fuel treatment methods and programming;
• Land use planning and environmental coordination;
• Evaluation of prescribed burn plans or fire management plans to ensure fire containment is possible and identification of appropriate suppression contingencies if containment is not obtained.

Fire management operations - analyzing and applying fire management strategies, plus experience in at least five of the following activities:

• Mobilization and dispatch coordination
• Fire prevention and education
• Training
• Logistics
• Equipment development and deployment
• Fire communication systems
• Suppression and preparedness
• Aviation

GS-12: One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11. Experience must have included all of the fire program management elements as described below:

• Reviewing and evaluating fire management plans for ecological soundness and technical adequacy; and
• Conducting field inspections before and after prescribed or wildland fires to determine if resource objectives were achieved and/or to evaluate the effectiveness of actions taken; and
• Developing analyses on the ecological role of fire and its use and/or exclusion, and smoke management.

In addition to fire program management, appropriate experience must have included either prescribed fire/fuels management - or - fire management operations as described below:

Prescribed fire/fuels management - experience in a broad range of activities such as:

• Professional forest or range inventory methods and procedures (e.g., Brown's planar intercept for dead and down fuels; live fuel loading assessments);
• Analysis of fuel loadings and determination of appropriate fuel treatment methods and programming;
• Land use planning and environmental coordination;
• Evaluation of prescribed burn plans or fire management plans to ensure fire containment is possible and identification of appropriate suppression contingencies if containment is not obtained.

Fire management operations - analyzing and applying fire management strategies, plus experience in at least five of the following activities:

• Mobilization and dispatch coordination
• Fire prevention and education
• Training
• Logistics
• Equipment development and deployment
• Fire communication systems
• Suppression and preparedness
• Aviation

Selective Placement Factor:

• A minimum 90 days experience performing on-the-line (Primary/Rigorous) wildland fire suppression duties as a member of an organized fire suppression crew or comparable unit that utilized knowledge of wildland fire suppression, containment or control techniques and practices under various conditions. This experience must be documented with specific dates in the online application or resume.
• Successfully completed the Primary NWCG Core Requirement of Prescribed Fire Burn Boss Type 2 (RXB2) - AND
• Successfully completed the Secondary NWCG Core Requirement of Incident Commander Type 3 (ICT3) or Task Force Leader (TFLD) - OR
• Successfully completed the Primary NWCG Core Requirement of Prescribed Fire Burn Boss Type 2 (RXB2) and Secondary NWCG Core Requirement of Helibase Manager Type 1 (HEB1).

In order to be considered for this position, copies of your Official Transcripts and/or Technical Fire Management (TFM) certificates MUST be attached to your application.

Additional information on the qualification requirements for this position are outlined in the Interagency Fire Program Management 401 Supplemental Guide and the OPM Qualification Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions and are available at these websites:

http://www.ifpm.nifc.gov/standard/standard/DOI_PB_07-13.pdf
http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/Standards/group-stds/gs-prof.asp

To receive consideration for this position, you must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

TIME IN GRADE REQUIREMENT: If you are a current federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirements of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled. This requirement must be met by the closing date of this announcement.