Department: Department of Agriculture
Location(s): Columbia, Missouri
Salary Range: $124531 - $190424 Per Year
Job Summary: This position is located in the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), State Conservationist Office. The State Conservationist is responsible for overseeing the provision of state-wide soil, water, and natural resource conservation stewardship including establishment of state-specific policy, standards, practices and procedures to address and resolve natural resource concerns.
Major Duties:
Qualifications: Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including time-in-grade restrictions, specialized experience and education, as defined below. Time in grade: Current federal employees applying for a promotion opportunity must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirement of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level. Basic Education Requirement: 0401 Series Degree: biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. OR Combination of Education and Experience: Courses equivalent to a major, as shown above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. 0801Series Degree: Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree be in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) http://main.abet.org/aps/accreditedprogramsearch.aspx; or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics. OR Combination of Education and Experience: college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying professional engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following: Professional registration or licensure Written Test Specified academic courses Related curriculum For more detailed information on the 800 series please click Individual Occupational Requirements for Professional Engineering Positions. Specialized Experience: To qualify for the GS-14 level, you must possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level or higher in Federal service, or comparable experience not gained through Federal service. This experience must include: Defines clear performance goals and objectives aligned with agency direction and program mission; AND Establishes standard operating procedures (SOP's) for critical operations that includes clear assignment of roles and responsibilities, timelines and resources required; AND Oversees analyses of conservation problems and formulation of technically balanced programs and plans of action to resolve problems; AND Coordinates activities and resolves issues with area technical staff related to soil erosion, water quality, conservation operations, watershed flood prevention and protection, soil survey implementation, agricultural waste management, natural resources inventory, municipal, industrial and agricultural water supply and other environmental soil and water conservation concerns. Specialized Experience: To qualify for the GS-15 level, you must possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-14 level or higher in Federal service, or comparable experience not gained through Federal service. This experience must include: Revises existing conservation practice standards, activities, and technical guidance to incorporate new or emerging technologies and methods and to remove obsolete criteria and considerations; AND Through partnerships, apply principles of natural and social sciences to coordinate conservation strategies, expand frameworks, and adapt or establish new protocols for addressing diverse natural resource challenges; AND Responsible for coordinating appropriate activities and issues with State technical staff as it relates to conservation practices; AND Develops and establishes guidelines for State-specific strategic planning implementation which results in the establishment of immediate and long-range objectives. 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 and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
How to Apply: 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: 2026-01-02