Summary This position is located in Big Bend National Park, in the Office of the Superintendent Division. Responsibilities This position serves as the Commercial Services Program manager for Big Bend National Park and the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River. This is a new position which combines the Commercial Services duties into one, full-time, permanent position. The selectee's primary duty will be to serve as the park's Concessions Management Specialist, overseeing the management of a 15-year category 1, National Park Service concessions contract. Additional significant duties include managing the parks Commercial Use Authorizations (CUA), and the Special Park Use Permit (SPUP) program. The commercial services program is considered to be complex. The park concessionaire operates a restaurant, bar, hotel, RV park, two gas stations, and multiple camper stores in the park. The park also has a very active river guiding/touring program, that are currently managed under multiple CUAs. The park SPUPs program includes a variety of standard activities, from events, and programs, to weddings. The selectee will require a high degree of professionalism, and communication skills. The selectee will work directly with Concessions managers, business owners, external partners, the public, and park managers on issues related to the commercial services management. Daycare and School Information: The San Vicente Independent School District (SVISD) and SVISD Early Learning Center (ELC), are in Panther Junction and serve those that live in Big Bend National Park. SVISD ELC, is a state-accredited daycare facility for children ages 18 months to 4 years of age. Daycare services are currently free of charge (subject to change). The SVISD elementary school is a Texas Education Agency, A-Rated, elementary school (K-8). SVISD includes a High School Campus (9-12) starting Fall 2024. For more information about the Daycare and Schooling, contact Jessi Milam, Ed.D. Superintendent, Cell: (830) 333-1074 or SVISD School Office: (432) 244-3131. Sul Ross State University in Alpine, TX (100 miles) has a four-year university offering both in-person and online graduate programs. Area Information: Big Bend National Park encompasses 801,000 acres of the Chihuahuan Desert with more biodiversity than almost any other national park and a dark sky designation. Elevation in the park varies from 7825' to 185'. The climate is generally pleasant with hot summers (90-110+ degrees F.) and mild winters (30-50 degrees F.). Recreational opportunities include hiking, bird watching, photography, backcountry camping, bicycling, and river rafting. The park has a post office, gas stations, camper stores, restaurant, library, gym, and lodge. The gateway town of Terlingua has lodging, restaurants, hardware store, small grocery and gift stores, churches and a bank. Lajitas has limited shopping, lodging, restaurants, golf course and churches. Alpine, Texas (100 miles from PJ) has most necessities, including supermarkets, variety of stores, a hospital, pharmacies, churches, a movie theater, and a university. The nearest larger cities are Midland/Odessa (225 miles) and El Paso (325 miles). An active employee/community association sponsors social events throughout the year. Visit our website for more information: https://go.nps.gov/bigbendareainfo. Requirements Conditions of Employment U.S. Citizenship required. Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication. Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males. Complete the initial online assessment and USAHire Assessment, if required. Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program. Any individual who is currently holding, or has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet time-in-grade requirements (must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent in the Federal service); with few exceptions as outlined in 5 CFR 300.603(b). Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal civilian employees applying for reinstatement who have had a break in service of less than one year, as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointments. Time-in-grade does not apply to new excepted service appointments. Time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. You may be required to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of your official duties; a valid driver's license is required. You will be required to submit a Motor Vehicle Operator's License and Driving Record. You must also submit (within a State sealed envelope or submitted directly by the State authorities), and at your own expense, all certified driving records from all States that disclose all valid driver's licenses, whether current or past, possessed by you. You will be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided. You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work. Government quarters are available. You may be required to travel overnight away from home. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes. You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority. Qualifications All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-10/24/2024-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. 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 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. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected. To qualify for this position at the GS-9 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement: EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-7 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: Reading guidelines and contract language to determine program or contract requirements related to the management and administration of the Commercial Services Programs; performing basic analyses of collected data; providing support for developing documents related to business opportunities, such as, assisting in the development of prospectus documents, requests for proposals, and requests for bids for leases; reviewing financial reports for completeness and compliance with annual financial report instructions; drafting responses to routine inquiries and complaints from the general public; preparing routine reports using established templates; planning, coordinating and implementing simple projects, such as, real estate market studies and site visit evaluations; creating and disseminating written communication to a variety of audiences, and using software programs; such as, word processing, spreadsheet, or database (e.g., Excel, Access, Word, or similar operating systems). You must include hours per week worked. -OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least a masters or equivalent graduate degree OR two full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. NOTE: you must include a copy of your college transcripts when qualifying based on this option. Failure to provide this documentation will make you ineligible for this position. You must include transcripts. -OR- Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. As an example, I have six months of specialized experience and 27 semester hours or 41 quarter hours of appropriate directly related graduate education (50 percent of the education requirement.) You must include copies of your college transcripts when qualifying based on this option. Failure to include this documentation will make you ineligible for this position. To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement: EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-9 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: performing evaluations of concessions, commercial or hospitality service providers such as food service, overnight lodging, transportation services, guided activities or retail sales, to ensure compliance with contracts/commercial use authorizations or quality control of services or goods provided; collecting, tracking, compiling, and maintaining data related to concessions or commercial uses using a variety of computer software applications; performing analysis of concessions or commercial services uses data for feasibility and comparability studies; preparing reports related to concessions or commercial services or special uses; and making recommendations to senior staff in relating to Concessions, commercial, hospitality services or special uses schedule. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR three full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree OR LL.M., if related. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. NOTE: you must include a copy of your college transcripts when qualifying based on this option. Failure to provide this documentation will make you ineligible for this position. -OR- Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. As an example, As an example, I have six months of specialized experience and 2 1/2 years of graduate education. NOTE: Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade may be used to qualify for a combination. This means that my first two years of graduate study are not qualifying. You must include copies of your college transcripts when qualifying based on this option. Failure to include this documentation will make you ineligible for this position. 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. Documentation for the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) eligibility, submission of ALL SF-50s and performance information for each period of temporary/term employment that qualifies for LMWFA. Performance documentation can be obtained by contacting the supervisors for the positions you served in during your 24 months. If they did not complete performance appraisals ask them to provide a statement of performance for each period of service. The statement must specify the dates for each employment period and your level of performance (dates should match the dates on the SF-50s). Education To qualify based on education, you must submit a legible copy of transcripts from an accredited institution with your name, school name, credit hours, course level, major(s), and grade-point average or class ranking. Transcripts do not need to be official, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work. If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet qualification requirements, you must show that your 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. Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Reasonable\_Accommodations\_for\_USA\_Hire Current surplus and current or former displaced Federal individuals who have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) must be well qualified for the position to receive consideration for special priority selection. Well qualified means that the applicant meets the following: OPM qualification standards for the position; all selective placement factors, where applicable; special qualifying conditions that OPM has approved for the position, where applicable; is physically qualified with reasonable accommodation, where appropriate to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position upon entry; and is rated by the organization at least at the well qualified level on all competencies. Federal employees seeking CTAP/ICTAP eligibility must submit proof that they meet the requirements of 5 CFR 330.605(2) for CTAP and 5 CFR 330.704 for ICTAP. This includes a copy of the agency notice, a copy of their most recent Performance Rating, and a copy of their most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location. Please annotate your application to reflect that you are applying as a CTAP/ICTAP eligible. If you are selected for Federal employment, you will be required to fill out a Declaration of Federal Employment, OF-306, prior to being appointed to determine your suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation. Failing to answer all questions truthfully and completely or providing false statements on your application may be grounds for not hiring you, or for firing you after you begin work. Also, you may be punished by fine or imprisonment (U.S. Code, Title 18, section 1001). Additional Information 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 National Park Service 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 National Park Service (NPS) 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 NPS. 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. Promotion to the full performance level is neither guaranteed nor implied and will be based solely on your ability to satisfactorily perform the work of the position, existing work at the higher grade level, and recommendation by the position's supervisor. Physical Demands: Concession facilities include (but are not limited to) front and back of the house locations at hotels, commercial kitchens, restaurants, retail facilities, warehouses, employee housing, stable operations, marinas, and assigned landscapes. While some work is performed in an office setting, the position requires familiarity with park resources and concession facilities and services which may include may require hiking on park backcountry trails, overnight stays in the backcountry which require carrying a heavy backpack, horseback riding, bicycling, rafting, extensive walking, etc. There may be some requirements to travel on water vessels and small aircraft. A current driver's license may be required. Working Conditions: Duties can require periods of outdoor work where the incumbent will be exposed to severe weather conditions in some areas of the park, including temperatures well below freezing to in excess of 110°F. Assessment of facilities and concessions operations may be performed on foot and by utilizing a vehicle. Concessions management at Big Bend National Park may result in exposure to hazardous environments, construction sites, or exposure to unknown substances. A wide range of personal protective equipment and clothing may be required to be used and worn, some of which may be uncomfortable, hot or inconvenient to wear. Adherence to specific safety procedures is required. The National Park Service has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework only during an emergency or natural disaster.