Duties

Summary

This position is located with Office of the Secretary of Interior, Office of Federal Acknowledgement in Washington, District of Columbia.
The incumbent evaluates petitions basing decisions on anthropological considerations and firm ethno-historical evidence.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

• Evaluates petitions of groups seeking Federal acknowledgment as Indian tribes eligible for Federal services as sovereign entities.
• Independently evaluates petitioner?s claim of continuous historical existence as an Indian tribe and political entity, and makes recommendations for approval or disapproval.
• Initiates and conducts field research interviews and observations to verify statements in petitions. Holds meetings with governments, archivist, historical societies, newspapers, and other record holding groups.
• Conducts archival research in local, state, and national record centers and community sources to develop documentation.
• Identifies, analyzes and interprets the anthropological implications and requirements of Federal laws, regulations, Executive Orders and guidelines as they apply to the Organization.
• Prepares comments on legislation, reviews legislative reports on proposal affecting the Organization and the acknowledgment process.
• Conducts special studies, and prepares briefing papers, articles, speeches. Draft decisions and responses to correspondence and appeals. Edits reports.

Travel Required

25% or less - You may be expected to travel for this position.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
13

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship Required
• Indian Preference applies
• You will be required to have federal payments made by Direct Deposit.
• You may be required to successfully complete a probationary/trial period.
• A background security investigation will be required for all new hires. Appointment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication.
• If you are a male applicant born after 12/31/1959 and are required to register under the Military Selective Service Act, the Defense Authorization Act of 1986 requires that you be registered or you are not eligible for appointment in this agency.
• Incumbent is required to operate a government motor vehicle, must possess a valid driver's license, and have a safe driving record within the 3 year period immediately preceding submittal of GSA Form 3607.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:
Degree in Anthropology
OR
Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major, or a combination of courses totaling at least 24 semester hours in an appropriate field of anthropology (i.e. cultural anthropology), or related course work, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
OR
Experience: four years of appropriate experience in anthropology performing research, museum work or similar professional-level work.

If you are using education to meet the requirement above, you must include your transcripts (student copy or unofficial acceptable at the application stage). Official transcripts will be requested at a later time, if needed. A diploma will not serve as a transcript.

Specialized experience in addition to the Basic Requirement above:

GS-13 :
One year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-12 grade level performing the following duties: 1) conducting ethnographic field research of the structure or political processes of a community; 2) conducting research in archival resources such as state, Federal and local records, and 3) preparing professional anthropological and ethno-historical reports from multiple sources.

All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Education

If you are qualifying based on your education, you MUST provide transcripts or other documentation to support your educational claims. Unless otherwise stated: (1) official or unofficial transcripts are acceptable, or (2) you may submit a list with all of your courses, grades, semester, year, and credit for the course. All materials must be submitted by the closing date of the announcement.

If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) were taken on a pass/fail basis, your claim of superior academic achievement must be based upon class standing or membership in an honor society.

One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study.

If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education which shows the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html

Additional information

All new hires earn the beginning salary of their pay grade (Step 1). See 2019 Salary Tables here, select the pay chart for Washington, District of Columbia.

The full performance level of this position is GS-13.

TELEWORK: Indian Affairs has determined that the duties of the position are suitable for telework, and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.

Career Transition Assistance Programs: 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 for the position with a score of 85 or above; and, (3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility. For more information visit: http://www.opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.asp .

Former Federal Employees are required to indicate whether they received a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP) buyout in their previous employment with the Federal government, and are required to submit a copy of the applicable Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) regarding the VSIP. The majority of individuals, who accept reemployment with the Federal government within 5 years of receiving the VSIP amount, must repay the gross amount of the separation pay prior to reemployment.

If you are unable to apply online, require reasonable accommodation in the application process if you are an applicant with a disability, or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your resume will be evaluated after the closing date to determine whether you meet the basic and the minimum qualification requirements for this position as described above. Qualified candidates will then be further evaluated to assess the quality, depth, and complexity of your accomplishments, experience, and education in relation to the competencies or knowledge, skills, and abilities required for the position as demonstrated by your responses to the assessment questions. Competencies measured include:

• Research
• Sociology and Anthropology
• Technical Competence
• Writing

We will compare your resume and supporting documentation to your responses on the assessment questionnaire. If your responses to the assessment questions cannot be supported by your resume, your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your experience. Qualified applicants will be evaluated, rated and referred to the selecting official under category rating procedures, and placed in one of the following categories:

BEST QUALIFIED: Applicants possess all of the job related competencies identified above.

WELL QUALIFIED: Applicants possess a majority of the job related competencies.

QUALIFIED: Applicants meet the basic eligibility and minimum qualification requirements but do not meet the definition of Best Qualified or Well Qualified.

Qualified Indian preference candidates will be referred to the hiring manager in order of veterans' preference.

You may preview the assessment questions here in the https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/10647636 . Additional selections may be made from this announcement if identical vacancies occur within 90 days from the closing date.

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
No

Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk

Trust determination process
Suitability/Fitness

Required Documents

The following documents are required for this position:

Resume which details work experience including dates worked (mm/yy-mm/yy), position title, Grade (if federal service), and hours worked per week.

On-line Assessment Questionnaire

Transcripts (if using education to qualify) - Unofficial transcripts are acceptable; however, an official transcript may be requested at a later time.

BIA Form 4432 (if claiming Indian preference)

Veteran's documentation -

• For 5-point veterans' preference, please provide your DD-214, Copy 4 that MUST show an Honorable Discharge (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty), official statement of service from your command if you are currently on active duty, or other official documentation (e.g., copy of military orders, campaign documents as or expeditionary award citation, etc.) proving your military service was performed under honorable conditions.
• For 10-point veterans' preference, you must submit a Standard Form (SF) 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference and the supporting documentation required by that form.
• If you are a disabled veteran you must submit a Veterans Affairs (VA) letter on VA letterhead that states your overall combined rating and a DD214 (copy 4) reflecting an honorable discharge.

ALL DOCUMENTS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 11:59PM Eastern Time ON THE CLOSING DATE OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. If your application package is incomplete in any way, you will not be considered for this position, and requests for extensions will not be granted. Please double check your application package before you submit it. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WILL NOT BE SOLICITED FROM OR ACCEPTED BY THIS OFFICE.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education .

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.