Park Ranger (Interpretation)

Summary

You will serve as a Park Ranger (Interpretation) with National Park Service. Open to the first 50 applicants or until 10/04/2026 whichever comes first. All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration.

Duties

Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following: Develop and present formal and informal audience and learner-centered interpretive experiences using interpretive skills, techniques, and tools delivered in-person and through interpretive media and technology. Conduct straightforward research, develop, and present interpretive programs on a variety of interpretive and educational themes. Perform curatorial related functions for collections or archives. This can include routine preventative monitoring and maintenance of exhibit or collections areas; monitoring or maintenance of environmental controls or security systems; performing Integrated Pest Management functions; and/or accessioning, cataloging, and conducting inventories of artifacts. Assist in the development and implementation of a variety of cultural history projects (e.g., oral histories, demonstration projects, and/or portions of cultural history resource management plans). Identify local cultural or historic sites and structures; recommend preservation, restoration and/or maintenance needs. Assist in the completion of other cultural resources related assignments. Enhance in-park experiences by developing and offering a wide variety of fully accessible nonpersonal services and interpretive media. Review existing park policies, standards, methods, controls, and procedures. Actively engage and interact with local communities through on and off-site representation and interpretive programming. Identify and engage with new audiences and communities. Coordinate the park volunteer program. Assess Park needs and prepare relevant volunteer job descriptions. Post available volunteer positions where appropriate, including the official online recruitment portal, and schedule and conduct interviews of potential volunteers. Select, train, and schedule new volunteers; supervise, recognize, evaluate, and provide regular feedback to volunteers. Communicate effectively and apply interpersonal skills. Develop and maintain effective relationships with others; relates well to people from varied backgrounds and different situations; is sensitive to cultural diversity, race, gender, disabilities, and other individual differences.

Qualifications

Requirements Continued... As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1 year probationary 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 or trial 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 or trial period, such appointments are terminated. Upon completion of your probationary 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 - 10/04/2026-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. To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level: Experience: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-025-07 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: Experience may have been technical, administrative, or scientific work, fish and wildlife management, recreation management, law enforcement, or other park-related work. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include but are not limited to the following: Park Ranger, tour leader, or similar position. Educational fields related to the occupation include natural resource management, natural sciences, earth sciences, history, archeology, anthropology, park and recreation management, law enforcement/police science, social sciences, museum sciences, business administration, public administration, behavioral sciences, sociology, or other closely related subjects pertinent to the management and protection of natural and cultural resources. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least two years of graduate level study which is directly related to the work of the position. Examples of related education include but are not limited to; park and recreation management, natural resource management, natural sciences, earth sciences, history, archeology, anthropology, park and recreation management, law enforcement/police science, social sciences, museum sciences, business administration, public administration, behavioral sciences, sociology, or other closely related subjects pertinent to the management and protection of natural and cultural resources. One year of graduate study is considered to be 18 semester hours. You must include transcripts. -OR- Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described in A above and education as described in B above. For example, 6 months of specialized experience (50% of the specialized experience) and 18 graduate level semester hours (50% of the education), would qualify an applicant for this position. You must include 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

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 av