Park Ranger (Interpretation)

Summary

This position is located within the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Guadelupe Mountains National Park, Visitor Services Division, Pine Springs, TX. Open to the first 100 applicants or until 07/20/2026 whichever comes first. All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration.

Duties

• At the full performance level (GS-9) the major duties of this position include, but are not limited to the following:
• Researches, develops, and presents formal and informal interpretive programs and services that connect park natural, cultural, and historical resource meanings to visitor interests. 2.
• Staffs visitor centers, contact stations, and roving locations to orient visitors and provide accurate resource, safety, and facility information. 3.
• Develops and presents curriculum-based education programs and interpretive media for school groups and the visiting public. 4.
• Promotes resource stewardship and Leave No
• Trace principles to foster appropriate visitor behavior and protect park resources. 5. Evaluates interpretive program effectiveness, plans new offerings, and (at the full performance level) leads interpretive themes and provides work direction to seasonal staff and volunteers. This vacancy may be used to fill additional positions as vacancies become available.

Requirements

• Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
• Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males 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 must be met by the closing date of this announcement.
• You will 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.
• You may be required to travel overnight away from home occasionally.
• You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
• Applicants must be at least (1)18 years old or (2) at least 16 years old and: (a)
• Have graduated from high school or been awarded a certificate equivalent to graduating from high school; or (b)
• Have completed a formal vocational training program; or (c)
• Have received a statement from school authorities agreeing with their preference for employment rather than continuing their education; or (d)
• Be currently enrolled in a secondary school and either work only during school vacation periods or work part-time during the school year under a formal student employment program.

Education

**Qualifications continued…** 2 full academic years of progressively higher level graduate education. -OR- master’s or equivalent graduate degree related to the occupation. -OR- Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. To combine education and experience, first take the number of semester hours or equivalent earned towards a graduate degree, in excess of 18 semester hours, and divide by 18 semester hours or equivalent. Then, take the number of months of experience and divide by 12 months. Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include transcripts. 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. 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.

Required Documents

• The following documents are required and must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 07/20/2026.
• Resume which includes a list of all significant jobs held and duties performed, with dates specified in month and year format, and indicate hours worked per week.
• If military or civilian, please include your rank and/or grade.
• Your resume must clearly show how long your have held each grade in a federal position.Resumes must not exceed two single-sided pages and resumes longer than two pages will not be accepted.
• The minimum font size is 10-point for all body text.
• Headers may be slightly larger but must remain legible.
• All resumes must maintain a minimum 0.5-inch margins on all sides to ensure readability and prevent excessive content compression.
• Including supplemental pages or attachments disguised as resume extensions are prohibited and will not be reviewed to determine your eligibility/qualifications Complete All Required Assessments.
• Merit Promotion Eligibility Documentation such as: Federal employees or former federal employees must submit a copy of their latest or last SF-50 "Notification of Personnel Action" reflecting career or career-conditional status in the competitive service, shows position title,
• Series, grade and an additional SF-50 showing highest permanent grade ever held, if not reflected on your latest SF-50.
• Examples of acceptable SF-50s include:
• Promotion, Within Rate
• Increases (WRI/WGI), or Appointment
• SF-50s. Do not submit an Award
• SF-50. Time in grade will be determined by reviewing your resume and required
• SF-50s. Your last
• Federal performance appraisal plan for your last position must reflect a rating of Fully
• Successful or equivalent. If the
• SF-50 showing highest permanent grade ever held has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess the one-year time-in-grade, as required by this announcement. In this instance, your resume must clearly show that you held that grade for one-year Veterans Preference
• Documentation (e.g. DD-214, SF-15, VA Letter as appropriate)
• Documentation for the Land Management Workforce Flexibility
• Act eligibility, which includes ALL Appointment AND Termination SF-50s for
• EACH appointment as well as
• ALL performance evaluations, for each qualifying period of temporary employment claimed. Performance Appraisals and
• Awards: All applicants must submit their most recent performance appraisal showing the official rating of record and signed by a supervisor.
• If submitting a performance appraisal not dated within the last18 months, a statement as to why it is the most recent must be submitted.
• If no performance appraisal is available, applicants must submit a statement as to why it is not available (including if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level).
• College transcripts, if qualifying based on education.
• Documentation for Interagency/Career Transition Assistance
• Plan consideration if you are a displaced
• Federal employee within the local commuting area. You must include: 1)
• Proof you are a displaced
• Federal employee, e.g., RIF Separation
• Notice, Notice of Proposed
• Removal, etc; 2)
• SF-50s (Notifications of Personnel
• Action) showing career/conditional tenure competitive status, promotion potential and duty location; and 3) your most recent performance appraisal. To exercise selection priority, displaced or surplus
• Federal employees must be rated well-qualified or above 85 on the rating criteria for this position. Noncompetitive or Special Hiring
• Authority. Applicants who are eligible to be considered based on a Noncompetitive or Special Hiring
• Authority (i.e. Schedule
• A, VRA, Peace Corps, AmeriCorp Vista, former
• PLC member, certain Military
• Spouses, 30% or More Disabled Veterans, Pathways
• Interns who have met the eligibility requirements for noncompetitive conversion, etc.) must submit appropriate documentation to verify your eligibility.
• Failure to submit any of the above-mentioned required documents will result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package.
• It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted.
• Do not submit photographs with your application package.
• Documents with photographs may not be seen by hiring officials
• You must remove your image from any badges, licenses, etc. Do not upload Adobe portfolio documents. Adobe portfolio documents are not viewable by our agency's staffing offices.