Deputy Director, Fire and Aviation Management (FAM)

Deputy Director, Fire and Aviation Management (FAM)

Department: Department of Agriculture

Location(s): Salt Lake City, Utah, Seattle, Washington, Phoenix, Arizona, Los Angeles, California, San Francisco, California, Denver, Colorado, Washington, District of Columbia, Miami, Florida, Atlanta, Georgia, Chicago, Illinois, Indianapolis, Indiana, New Orleans, Louisiana, Boston, Massachusetts, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Kansas City, Missouri, Albuquerque, New Mexico, New York, New York, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Portland, Oregon, Austin, Texas

Salary Range: $129549 - $195216 Per Year

Job Summary: This position is located within the Washington Office Fire and Aviation Management (WO-FAM) and serves as Deputy Director for Fire and Aviation Management (FAM). The Deputy Director reports to and shares responsibility with the National Director for Fire and Aviation Management (FAM), providing technical and administrative direction on national FAM activities, operations and risk management.

Major Duties:

• Duties listed are at the full performance level GW15.
• Responsible for providing leadership, coordination, administration and direction in the formulation of standards, methods, and guides for a highly complex, national fire operations program.
• Prepares guidance based on analysis of interrelated issues of effectiveness, efficiency and productivity of mission oriented programs.
• Responsible for assistance with preparedness and suppression planning and program input for formulating policy and direction to the overall development, planning, execution, and coordination of the national Fire and Aviation program.
• Responsible for the coordination and program direction during critical fire situations establishing national priorities for all firefighting resources in concert with the National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group.
• Provides strategic oversight, advice and assistance for the national program budget. Directs formulation of national preparedness and suppression programs.
• Represents the Chief, National Director, and other Agency Officials at National and International meetings of organizations and groups concerned with Fire and Aviation Management matters as they affect natural resource protection.
• In coordination with the Director and Deputy Chief, formulates national policies, plans, and programs necessary for the administration of fire and aviation management programs.
• Develops policy that effectively translates Executive direction, Congressional mandates, and judicial determinations that affect delivery of U.S. Forest Service FAM programs.
• Provides technical and administrative supervision to employees in a variety of professional and non-professional occupations.

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 Wildland Fire Schedule Qualification Standards. Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. Transcripts must be provided for qualifications based on education. Provide course descriptions as necessary. Specialized Experience Requirement: GW14: Applicants must display one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GW13 grade level. Examples of specialized experience may include: Assisted in directing Fire and Aviation programs, standards and processes; Recommended policy or strategy changes to Fire and Aviation Management leadership and implement changes; Prepared, justified and administered program budgets for a unit; Worked with staff from all functional areas within Fire and Aviation Management, along with interagency partners; Assisted in coordinating the integration of fire management programs with other programs and interagency partners. GW15: Applicants must display one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GW14 grade level. Examples of specialized experience may include: Directed Fire and Aviation programs, standards and processes; Participated in planning and developing changes in policy, standards and procedures to Fire and Aviation Management programs; Strategically planned and administered program budgets for one or more units; Assisted in providing oversight in managing relationships with partners in large fire operations, to effectively work with all Regions/Areas, other agencies and partners. 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. FIREFIGHTER RETIREMENT COVERAGE: This is a secondary firefighter position under 5 USC 8336 (CSRS) and 8412(d) (FERS). Prior wildland firefighting experience is required. There is no age limit for entry into secondary positions. Firefighter retirement coverage of the incumbent depends upon his or her individual work history. To receive consideration for this position, you must provide updated required documents and meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement. TIME IN GRADE REQUIREMENT: If you are a current federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) or Wildland Firefighter (GW) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirements of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled. This requirement must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

How to Apply: Please view Tips for Applicants - a guide to the Forest Service application process. Please read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00a.m. - 4:00p.m., Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, contact the Agency Contact listed below well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages must be complete and submitted no later than noon ET on the closing date of the announcement to be entered into the system prior to its closing. Resumes must not exceed two pages. This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis; contact the Agency Contact to request this. To begin, click "Apply" and follow the instructions to complete the Assessment Questionnaire and attach your resume and all required documents. Please verify that documents you are uploading from USAJOBs transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded documents must be less than 5MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, TXT or Word (DOC or DOCX). Do not upload Adobe Portfolio documents because they are not viewable. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration. Please ensure your resume does not exceed two pages. Applicants who submit a resume that exceeds two pages will be removed from consideration. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, your system failure, etc.

Application Deadline: 2026-01-19