Archeologist

Summary

You will serve as a Archeologist with the National Park Service at Mesa Verde National Park. 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 for approximately 10 months (March - December) and you will be in a non-pay status for the remainder of the year. First time hires to the Federal government normally start at the step 1 rate.

Duties

Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following: Under the guidance of the supervisory archeologist, plan and conduct NHPA Section 106 compliance that includes, but is not limited to cultural resource inventory, research, evaluation of cultural resources for NRHP eligibility, recommend measures to avoid or minimize adverse effects to cultural resources, data entry into the NPS compliance and cultural resource databases (PEPC and NPS CRIS databases), and monitoring work associated with compliance projects. Prepare professional-quality archeological documentation and technical reports that meet the standards of the Secretary of the Interior, the National Park Service, and the Colorado State Historic Preservation Office. Responsibilities include conducting archival and background research, developing historic contexts, documenting archeological sites on the appropriate Colorado SHPO forms, evaluating eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, preparing maps and spatial data using ArcGIS Pro, and producing clear, technically accurate reports. Maintain archeological records, geospatial data, and cultural resource information systems including site files, GIS databases, digital records, and other documentation to support cultural resource management, planning, research, and compliance activitie, including data entry in the NPS CRIS database. Assist supervisory archeologist in reviewing proposed park projects and planning documents for potential impacts to cultural resources and provide technical recommendations to avoid, minimize, or mitigate adverse effects. Maintain cultural resource compliance documentation using the Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) system, including preparing project records, tracking compliance milestones, maintaining administrative records, and supporting Section 106 consultation and environmental review processes, including Tribal consultation. Provide day-to-day direction and oversight for seasonal archeological technicians (graded GS-07 and lower) working on compliance projects, ensuring collected data, documents, maps, and reports meet Secretary of the Interior, National Park Service, and Colorado State Historic Preservation Office standards for archeological documentation and reporting.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 11/13/2026-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. Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications: Basic Requirement GS-0193: In addition to the specialized experience requirements for this position, you must meet at least one of the following: A. Education - 1. Degree - A degree that includes 3 semester hours each in the following course areas: 1. History of archeology, 2) Archeology of a major geographic area such as North American, 3) Regional Archeology, archeological cultures, or sites in a specific part of a major geographical area to acquire or develop a foundation for regional specialization for professional development, 4) Theory and methods of archeology. Methods include, but are not limited to, typology, classification, sampling, cultural evolution, diffusion, dating, and analytical techniques, 5) Archeological field school, to provide a basic understanding of theoretical and practical approaches to research design implementation, field preservation techniques, and report preparation by participation in actual field work. AND 6 semester hours of related course work in: 1) geography, geology, or cultural geography; 2) history; historiography, or historical archeology; 3) environmental studies; 4) scientific writing (nonfiction English composition); and/or 5) surveying; AND Archeological field school. (You must submit a college transcript (official or unofficial) to verify this claim. Failure to include your transcript(s) will make you ineligible for this position). - OR- 2. Related Curriculum - A degree in Anthropology (with emphasis on ethnology, physical anthropology, or scientific linguistics); history; American studies: or a related discipline, provided the curriculum supplies academic course work sufficiently similar to the requirements in A.1., including archeological field school (You must submit a transcript (official or unofficial) to verify this claim. Failure to include your transcript(s) will make you ineligible for this position). -OR- B. Combination of education and Experience - A combination of college-level education or training that provides the knowledge equivalent to that described in above, plus appropriate technical experience or additional education. -OR- C. Experience - Four years of archeological work experience that demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the fundamental principles and theories of professional archeology. The work experience must have included archeology field experience, which may include that gained in an archeological field school. Field experience should have included a combination of professional experience in archeology survey, excavation, laboratory analysis, and preparation of written materials. Applicants with such field experience should, after additional experience under the direction of a higher graded archeologist, be able to demonstrate the ability to be a crew chief, directing the work of others at a single location as part of a larger archeological project. To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level: Specialized Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: (1) Conducting archeological site inventories and completing site records; (2) Preparing archeological survey and excavation reports; (3) Understanding of federal historic preservation laws; and (4) using Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to record archeological site and features. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- Education: Successful completion of at least 2 years of progressively directly related higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree. You must include transcripts. -OR- Combination: Successfully completed an appropriate combination of specialized experienc