Wildland Firefighting Manager Branch Chief National Fire Fleet - Direct Hire Authority

Summary

One position will be filled at the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) duty location Boise, ID. Incumbent serves as Branch Chief for the National Fire Fleet, providing strategic direction, policy leadership, and oversight to ensure a safe, effective, interoperable, mission-ready wildland fire fleet supporting national preparedness, response, and extended operations across all Geographic Areas and partner agencies. For additional questions please contact Dennis Strange at [email protected].

Duties

Establish program goals, policies, standards, and guidance for fleet acquisition, maintenance, utilization, replacement, and retirement to support wildland fire preparedness, response, and extended operations. Oversee all aspects of national fire fleet acquisition, including coordination with GSA Fleet, federal procurement processes, and interagency partners to obtain vehicles and equipment that meet wildland fire mission requirements. Direct the development and implementation of national policies and standards for fleet utilization, maintenance, and repair to ensure mission readiness, cost efficiency, and safety. Lead development of national fleet policies, technical guidance documents, and standard operating procedures that support consistent implementation across all wildland fire operational units and partner agencies. Provide subject-matter expertise and authoritative recommendations on fleet issues to senior leadership, including budget submissions, risk assessments, and strategic initiatives. Represent the National Fire Fleet Program in interagency working groups, committees, and forums, including NWCG, GSA, DOI/USFS operational councils, and other national stakeholder organizations. Direct the development of integrated fleet data systems, performance dashboards, risk analysis tools, and reporting mechanisms that inform national decision-making, resource allocation, and operational planning. Requirements

U.S. citizenship required. Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered with Selective Service or qualify for an exemption. Prior primary/rigorous wildland firefighting experience is required. Must successfully complete a background investigation and/or fingerprint check. Federal salary payments are made by direct deposit per Public Law 104-134. Must be at least 18 years old by the announcement closing date. May be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime, and shift work. Must complete required training and obtain/maintain a government travel and/or purchase charge card. This is a drug-testing position. A negative pre-employment drug test is required, and the position is subject to random drug testing. Must possess and maintain a valid driver's license and operate a government vehicle as required. If new to the federal government, and this is your first appointment, 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. 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 period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards. Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. To receive credit for experience, your 2 page resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (month/year), and the resume must reflect total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time or part-time, hours must be included). If part-time, the hours must be annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount of qualified specialized experience. Resumes must not exceed two single-sided pages and resumes longer than two pages will not be accepted. You may only submit one resume. Only the document submitted as the "Resume" under the Documents section will be used to determine your qualifications/eligibility and for rating purposes. In the event you submit more than one resume, only the latest submission will be reviewed. If an applicant's resume is incomplete or does not support the requirements for minimum qualifications or specialized experience a rating of "ineligible" or "not qualified" will be applied and no consideration for employment will be granted. Prior primary wildland fire experience must be clearly documented in your resume. Note: an IQCS Master Record or equivalent document will not be used to determine or calculate prior primary wildland fire experience eligibility for this requirement. Basic Qualification Requirements: Candidates must possess Primary/Rigorous wildland firefighting experience, gained through fire line work in containment, control, suppression or use of wildland fire. You must clearly demonstrate this experience in your resume, including the months, days, and hours per week at which the work was performed to be considered. Applicants must have documented prior primary firefighting experience, with substantial service defined as either: At least one full fire season working in a primary wildland firefighting role (e.g., Engine Crew, Fire Effects Crew, Prescribed Fire/Fuels Crew, Hand Crew, Helitack Crew, Hotshot Crew, Smokejumper, Wildland Fire Modules or Fire Suppression Crews, etc.) with a federal, state, tribal, local, or private-sector organization. -OR- At least 14 days of on-the-ground fireline experience (cumulative or consecutive). Prior primary wildland fire experience must be clearly documented in your resume. Note: an IQCS Master Record or equivalent document will not be used to determine or calculate prior primary wildland fire experience eligibility for this requirement.; AND In addition to the requirements described above, the following additional experience is required: For the GW-14 level: At least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS/GW-13 level, or higher in the Federal service, or equivalent. Examples of specialized experience include: Served as the senior leader responsible for strategic direction, oversight, and state/regional or national execution of a wildland fire or fleet program, directing subordinate staff and supervisors and coordinating state/regional activities across Unit Boundaries and partner agencies. Established state/regional program goals, policies, standards, guidance, long-range plans, investment strategies, and performance metrics governing acquisition, maintenance, utilization, replacement, and retirement. Oversaw state/regional acquisition, authorized purchases, replacements, and upgrades, and aligned acquisition strategies with appropriations, Wildland Fire Funding Mechanism, Cooperative Funding Agreements, and other available resources. Directed state/regional utilization, maintenance, repair, asset tracking, lifecycle planning, replacement strategies, cost projections, and standardized maintenance protocols to sustain mission readiness, cost efficiency, and safety. Provided authoritative recommendations to senior leadership on budget submissions, risk assessments, strategic initiatives, modernization, emergency support agreements, and shared resource planning. Represented the State/Regional/National Fire Program in interagency working groups, committees, councils, and national stakeholder organizations and served as the principal liaison for modernization and resource planning. Directed integrated data systems, performance dashboards, risk analysis tools, and reporting mechanisms and analyzed performance data to identify improvements, cost savings, strategic investments, and operational risks. Led continuous improvement through after-action reviews, lessons learned, emerging technologies, industry practices, and data-informed and risk-informed decision-making. Substantial wildland firefighting experience is required to meet qualifications for secondary (administrative) covered positions. The Department of Interior defines wildland firefighting experience as: On-the-line wildland firefighting experience gained through 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. Periods of wildland firefighting experience, gained through militia and rural fire departments, can also be credited. Wildland fire is defined as any non-structure fire that occurs in the wildland. Two distinct types of wildland fire have been defined and include wildfire and prescribed fires as follows: Wildfire: Unplanned ignitions or prescribed fires that are declared wildfires. Prescribed Fires: Planned ignitions. This description includes only fire line experience on a Prescribed Fire; it does not include experience in the planning stages. Prescribed fire experience must be supplemented by fire suppression experience to be creditable as previous wildland firefighting experience. You must clearly demonstrate this experience in your resume, including the months, days and hours per week at which the work was performed in order to be considered. 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. To receive consideration for this position, you must provide updated required documents and meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement. 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). PLEASE NOTE: Applicants may meet qualification requirements but may not be eligible for special retirement coverage. If such an applicant is selected, they will be placed in the regular retirement system.

Education

IMPORTANT - PLEASE NOTE: There is no qualifying education for the 0456 series at this grade level Additional Information: 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). PLEASE NOTE: Applicants may meet qualification requirements but may not be eligible for special retirement coverage. If such an applicant is selected, they will be placed in the regular retirement system. FERS TRANSITION REQUIREMENT: To be eligible for Secondary retirement coverage under CSRS, an employee must transfer directly (without a break in service exceeding 3 days) from a primary position to a secondary position. To be eligible for Secondary retirement coverage under FERS, an employee must: 1) transfer directly (without a break in service exceeding 3 days) from a primary position to a secondary position, AND 2) complete 3 years of service in a primary rigorous position including any such service during which no FERS deductions were withheld, AND 3) must be continuously employed in a secondary position(s) since moving from a primary rigorous position, except for any break in employment from a secondary position that began with involuntary separation (not for cause). It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure this office has enough information to determine your special retirement status to ensure you do not lose benefits (normally through submission of your work history or other documentation that demonstrates work history of approved retirement covered positions). You must let this office know if you are in a Primary retirement covered position. How You Will Be Evaluated

Applicants will be evaluated based on how whether they meet the qualification requirements. Upon receipt of the completed application package, a review of your application will be made to ensure basic qualification requirements are met. This vacancy will be filled through a Direct Hire Authority. Veterans Preference and traditional rating and ranking of applicants do not apply to positions filled under this Authority. All qualified applicants, as determined by the SHRO, will be referred for consideration. While managers and supervisors are not required to conduct interviews, it is highly recommended that they do so in order to assess the competencies of each applicant. Resumes must not exceed two single-sided pages and resumes longer than two pages will not be accepted. You may only submit one resume. Only the document submitted as the "Resume" under the Documents section will be used to determine your qualifications/eligibility and for rating purposes. In the event you submit more than one resume, only the latest submission will be reviewed. If an applicant's resume is incomplete or does not support the requirements for minimum qualifications or specialized experience a rating of "ineligible" or "not qualified" will be applied and no consideration for employment will be granted. If a determination is made that an applicant has inflated qualifications or experience on the resume, the applicant will receive no consideration for the position, as per OPM regulations. Other Information

This notice is being issued to recruit personnel to occupations for which a critical hiring need has been identified. To assist in filling these positions, OPM has granted the Department of the Interior "Direct Hire Authority". A selectee receiving a first appointment to the Federal Government (Civil Service) is entitled only to the lowest step of the grade for which selected The display of a salary range on this vacancy shall not be construed as granting an entitlement to a higher rate of pay. A Recruitment Incentive May Be Authorized for a newly selected employee when appointed to a permanent, temporary, or term position. A Federal employee who is transferring to the Department of Interior from another component, bureau or Federal agency and who does not meet the conditions under 5 CFR §575.102 is not eligible for a recruitment incentive. A Relocation Incentive May Be Authorized for a Federal employee when the employee must move, as directed by the agency either through a management directed reassignment or selection for employment, to a different location at least 50 miles away from the one where his/her position of record held at time of selection is currently located, due to a need of the agency. A relocation incentive is not the same as a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) move and, as such, may be granted in conjunction with one another. This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if identical vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate. Physical Demands: Work is primarily sedentary, involving office duties, meetings, and analysis. Occasional site visits to fleet facilities or operational locations may require walking, standing, or light physical activity. Working Conditions: Work is performed primarily in an office setting. Occasional exposure to risks occurs during inspections or visits to fleet maintenance facilities or operational environments, requiring adherence to established safety precautions.