Packer

Packer

Department: Department of Agriculture

Location(s): Prescott, Arizona, 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: $27.36 - $27.36 Per Hour

Job Summary: This position is located within a National Forest. The incumbent is responsible for packaging, kit building, loading/unloading of supplies and equipment as well as repairing and refurbishing supplies and equipment.

Major Duties:

• Collates, assembles, inventories, and build kits from individual components according to National Fire Equipment System (NFES) standards.
• Determines packing configuration assembles items according to kit component packing lists and inspects for accuracy.
• Incumbent may participate in the development of prototype kits, developing the packing configuration and kit component requirements for field use.
• Arranges, seals and tags items and equipment that requiring specialized handling. Packs tools, materials and equipment using a wide variety of standard packing methods and techniques that include items of a large, heavy or fragile nature.
• Selects the packing materials taking into account such factors as size, type, weight, fragility, method of transportation, storage facility and final destination. Packs items wood, fiberboard boxes, metal containers, and cartons.
• Makes independent judgements and decisions within the framework of oral and written instructions and accepted methods, techniques and procedures.
• Uses and maintains various types of equipment for the purpose of packaging such as heat sealers, hand powered and mechanical shrink wrap, banding and stapling machines.
• Coordinates, suggests and makes substitutions to packing list and configuration as needed. Packs and labels material following agency, federal and international packing and shipping requirements for hazardous and non-hazardous materials and items.
• Provides for the care of supplies in storage (COSIS) to protect from deterioration or damage. Applies first in, first out (FIFO) and monitors date procedures for food and other expiring items.
• May assemble specialized kits transported by air and delivered via parachute to remote work sites.
• Packs kits using protective material to withstand impact and avoid breakage and spillage (i.e., initial attack kits containing equipment such as chainsaws and hazmat containers of petroleum products and food subsistence).
• May also mix fuel and oil to correct ratio per equipment type as well as fills and seals fuel containers. Repairs and rehabilitates fire supplies and equipment to NFES standards.
• Incumbent researches and refers to manufacturer’s specifications, stock catalogs, manuals, research and technology data and cache memos to prevent damage and preserve the lifespan of items.
• Cleans fabric materials (i.e. nomex, coated nylon cordura, fiber reinforced vinyl) using proper water pressure and temperatures.
• Disassembles and reassembles supplies to replace parts, apply oils, rust inhibitors and other preservation materials to ensure proper working condition. Some items may require painting.
• Provides and/or recommends possible substitutes and interchangeable items, or refurbishment procedures, such as for changes to kit configuration, component packing lists, and refurbishment guidelines.
• Maintains issue records against special projects and reports items charged. Monitors working condition of tools and equipment. Performs visual and operating checks to determine when tools and equipment should be tested, repaired, and/or calibrated.
• Determines equipment damage or receives reports from users on the condition of tools and equipment. Identifies when it may be cost effective to replace rather than repair tools or equipment.
• Handles or oversees one or more product lines within assigned area, instructing, training, and inspecting the work efforts of temporary seasonal personal as the senior employee.
• Works with a high degree of independence in determining sequences of loading and unloading trucks and other material conveyances, developing space utilization plans, and implementing the movement of materials.

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 Federal Wage System Qualifications 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. Applicants will be evaluated on their ability to perform the duties of the position rather than length of experience. Eligibility will be determined by the relevance, scope and quality of all experience and training, regardless of where or how acquired. Applicants will be ranked and rated based on their knowledge of the job elements identified in this announcement. Ability to do the work of the position without more than normal supervision. Technical Practices (theoretical, precise, artistic) Ability to Interpret Instructions, Specification, etc. (other than blueprints) Use of Measuring Instruments To Use and Maintain Tools and Equipment Knowledge of Materials Dexterity and Safety There is no substitution of education for this position. 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.

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 (7:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Mountain Time Zone, 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: 2026-01-14