Hydrologic Techinican

General Information

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional similar vacancies in the advertised office or other U.S. Geological Survey offices in the local commuting area.

Salary is dependent upon the associated duty station which will be determined upon hire. You may look up salary listed on the OPM locality tables OPM Locality Pay Tables based on these Locality Pay Area Definitions.

As a Hydrologic Technician within the Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center, some of your specific duties will include:

• Installing, maintaining, servicing, and troubleshooting a variety of hydrologic sensing, recording, and communications equipment and instrumentation; determines vertical datum at monitoring stations.

• Effectively managing hydrologic data, evaluates hydrologic data for accuracy, and computes accurate hydrologic records.

• Collecting hydrologic data such as surface water and groundwater level data, water quality data, water quality samples for analysis, and makes stream flow measurements.

• Recording notes using established electronic forms for leveling parties in connection with verifying the datum of gages.

• Operating a government vehicle as an incidental driver.

Physical Demands: The work regularly requires considerable dexterity, agility, and strenuous physical exertion such as: climbing and/or working from tall ladders and scaffolding; work in areas where footing is treacherous such as slippery or icy river banks, steep rocky terrain, cableways, or fast-moving water; lifting heavy objects weighing 23 kilograms (50 pounds) or more, or crouching or crawling in restricted areas.

Work Environment: Office conditions do not require special safety precautions; field conditions may include extreme heat or cold, rain or snow; hazardous conditions such as ice or flooding; or exposure to irritant or toxic chemicals. Work may require the use of personal protective equipment such as masks, coats, boots, goggles, respirators, or life jackets.

Initial consideration will be given to candidates whose applications have been received before the first cut-off date. Pathways Eligibility and Qualifications must be met for those applications submitted by the first cut-off date.

This announcement has an initial cut-off date of May 13, 2024. Cut-off dates will occur every Wednesday until the positions are filled or the announcement closes, whichever comes first. Applications received after the initial cut-off date will only be referred for consideration when the initial group is exhausted and/or there are additional vacancies to fill.

Cut-off Dates:

• May 13, 2024.

• June 13, 2024.

• July 13, 2024.

• August 13, 2024.

• September 14, 2024.

• October 15, 2024.

• October 29, 2024.

Qualification Requirements

For GS-05:

Applicants must meet one of the following to qualify for the GS-5 level:

One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-04 level in the Federal service that is in or related to the duties of this position. Specialized experience may include work as a technician or aid in engineering, earth, physical, or natural science, forestry, soil conservation, or surveying; trades or crafts work in maintenance or construction of facilities or equipment related to hydrology; drafting; or construction estimating if it equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position.

Examples of GS-4 level work assignments include: 1) Making adjustments and minor repairs to water level recorders, or other equipment used in water investigations; 2) Following well-defined methods and designated formulas; computing, extracting, compiling, and presenting geological or hydrologic data in prescribed tabular or graphic form; 3) Computing mean daily gage heights from water stage record charts, editing record tapes, and making corrections based on field notes. For examples 1-3, the work assignments involved familiar conditions, concepts, and methods that were made in terms of the objectives to be achieved without explicit instruction as to work methods. Assignments involving new, more difficult, or unfamiliar areas of work were given with more specific guidance. Explicit instructions were provided for solving technical problems involving unfamiliar conditions, methods, or concepts.

OR Applicants may substitute successful completion of a full four year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree (a) with major study in an appropriate field of science (i.e., geology, chemistry, physics, geophysics, biology, ecology, mathematics, soils, forestry, meteorology, hydrology, oceanography, physical science, atmospheric science) engineering, construction, or industrial technology, or (b) that included at least 24 semester hours, or the equivalent, in any combination of courses such as engineering, industrial technology, construction drafting, surveying, physical science, biology, or mathematics.

OR A combination of successfully completed post-high school education and specialized experience may be used to meet the qualification requirements for GS-5. Only progressive education in excess of the first 60 semester hours or 90 quarter hours (i.e., beyond the first two years) of a course of study leading to a bachelor's degree is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement, assuming the education includes the appropriate number of directly related semester hours, or the equivalent, in any combination of courses such as engineering, industrial technology, construction drafting, surveying, physical science, biology, or mathematics. (CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS ON HOW TO COMBINE UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION & SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE)

For GS-06:

Applicants must meet one of the following to qualify for the GS-6 level:

One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-05 level in the Federal service that is in or related to the duties of this position. Specialized experience may include work as a technician or aid in engineering, earth, physical, or natural science, forestry, soil conservation, or surveying; trades or crafts work in maintenance or construction of facilities or equipment related to hydrology; drafting; or construction estimating if it equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position.

Examples of GS-05 level work assignments: 1) Computing mean daily gage heights from water stage record charts, editing record tapes, and making corrections based on field observation notes; 2) Preparing maps showing well elevations and depth to water, hydrographs, profiles, and well locations. For examples 1-2, the work assignments involved some technical problems not previously encountered; problems involving concepts and methods for which guides and precedents existed, were resolved independently. General oral instructions relative to the time to be allotted to certain functions, expected time of completion of assignments, possible technical problems which may be encountered, and approaches that may be used in resolving these problems were provided.

Other examples of GS-05 level work assignments include: 1) Installing, adjusting, inspecting, and servicing crest-stage indicators, well-recorders, and other instruments for the collection of ground and surface water data; and checking gage settings to ensure continuing accuracy of the records obtained from instruments; 2) Making technical studies of hydrologic data collected in the field, and preparing material for publication, such as, drafts, maps and other illustrative material; applying datum corrections to gage height records allowing for periods of ice effect, temperature variations, and precipitation; and plotting hydrographs and analyzing differences in hydrographs with earlier records, and making necessary changes. For examples 1-2, routine assignments that involved familiar conditions, concepts, and methods were made in terms of the objectives to be achieved without explicit instruction as to work methods. Assignments involving new, more difficult, or unfamiliar areas of work were given with more specific guidance. Explicit instructions were provided for solving technical problems involving unfamiliar conditions, methods, or concepts.

OR applicants may substitute successful completion of 1 year of appropriate graduate level education (18 semester hours, 27 quarter hours or the equivalent) in hydrology or other field of study directly related to the work of this position for the required 1 year of specialized experience if it provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the work of this position.

OR applicants may substitute a combination of appropriate specialized experience (as described above) and appropriate graduate level education (as described above) that is beyond the first 1/2 year of progressive graduate study to meet the qualification requirements.

All specialized experience qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement. All educational qualification and eligibility requirements must be completed by the degree requirements date found above.