Forester

About the role

This position is located in Region 6, Mt. Hood National Forest and serves as the timber program manager. Positions may be filled at one or more of the duty locations included in this announcement.

Final determination of the duty location will be made at the time of the job offer. For additional information about the duties of this position, please contact Bradley Goehring at *** USDA Employees: Please refer to the Next Steps section.

What you will do

• Prepares long-range functional plans including formulation of policies, objectives, and priorities and the correlation and integration of natural resource plans into the overall land management planning.
• Leads the development of short and long term action plans associated with an integrated vegetation management program and associated budgets.
• Develops technical guides and standards for timber marking and sale preparation, contract selection and preparation, and harvesting techniques to meet integrated program objectives in collaboration with first level units and staff areas.
• Oversees and conducts team-based technical field reviews of project implementation of timber sales and integrated resources contracts to assess consistency with Forest Service direction.
• Serves as a consultant and advisor to other staff officers and to first level units in all aspects of timber management functions and practices associated with timber management with a focus on integration between program areas.
• Assumes leadership and fully participates in the integration of programs and budgets to foster efficient and effective restoration of forested ecosystems.

Requirements

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
• Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
• Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check.
• To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit e-verify.gov The U.S. Government utilizes Trusted Workforce 2.0 to implement Continuous Vetting (CV) as a-whole-of government approach to personnel security.
• If selected for this position, you will be subject to continuous automated record checks of criminal, financial, and public record databases throughout your period of eligibility or employment, replacing traditional periodic reinvestigations.
• As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest.
• In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.
• Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Education

There is no substitution of education for specialized experience.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated based on your qualifications for this position as evidenced by the experience, education, and training you described in your application package, as well as the responses to the Assessment Questionnaire to determine the degree to which you possess the competencies listed below: Forest Management Oral Communication Planning and Evaluating Timber Your application, including the online Assessment Questionnaire, will be reviewed to determine if you meet (a) minimum qualification requirements and (b) the resume supports the answers provided to the job-specific questions.

Your resume must clearly support your responses to all the questions addressing experience and education relevant to this position. If you meet the qualification requirements and are determined to be among the best qualified, you will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration.

Noncompetitive candidates and applicants under some special hiring authorities must meet minimum qualifications to be referred. Accomplishment Record Review: If you are found minimally qualified, a rating panel will review your resume and Accomplishment Record narratives.

Accomplishment Record narratives should clearly demonstrate your proficiency in the competencies listed above. Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you inflated your qualifications and or experience, your rating may be lowered to more accurately reflect the submitted documentation.

Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action.

To view the application form, visit: *** Your application will be reviewed to verify that you meet the eligibility and qualification requirements for the position prior to issuing referral lists to the selecting official. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted.

Log in to your USAJOBS account to check your application status.

You must choose to turn on email notifications in your USAJOBS profile if you want to receive important email notifications that may impact your applicant experience (e.g. If you start an application and do not submit it prior to the closing date, USAJOBS will send an email reminder that the closing date is approaching and your application is in an incomplete status).

Documents you must provide

• The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete.
• Encrypted documents will not be accepted.
• Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration.
• Resume that includes: Personal Information: name, address, contact information; Education; Work Experience related to this position as described in the major duties including work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment; title, series, grade (if applicable); other qualifications.
• Resume cannot exceed 2 pages.
• If education is required or being used to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts.
• An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application if it includes your name and the necessary course information; however, if you are selected, official transcripts will be required prior to entering on duty.
• Education must have been successfully obtained from an accredited school, college or university.
• If any education was completed at a foreign institute, you must submit with your application evidence that the institute was appropriately accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as equivalent to U.S. education standards.
• There are private organizations that specialize in this evaluation and a fee is normally associated with this service.
• For a list of private organizations that evaluate education, visit the NACES website.
• All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.
• Current Forest Service employees: Most recent non-award Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) showing you are/were in the competitive service, highest grade held (or promotion potential) on a permanent basis, position title, series and grade AND Most recent performance appraisal (dated within 18 months) showing the official rating of record, signed by a supervisor, or statement why the performance appraisal is unavailable.
• A performance plan is not an acceptable substitute.
• Surplus or displaced employees eligible for CTAP or RPL priority must provide: proof of eligibility (RIF separation notice, notice of proposed removal for declining a transfer of function or directed reassignment to another commuting area, notice of disability annuity termination), SF-50 documenting separation (as applicable), current performance appraisal with rating of at least "Fully Successful" or equivalent, and your most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with your application per 5 CFR 330.
• Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act: Copies of Notification of Personnel Action(s) (SF-50) showing the employee served in eligible appointment(s) for a period(s) of more than 24 mos w/o a break between appointments of two+ years.
• Include initial hire actions, extensions, conversions and separation Sf-50s for each period.
• Submit performance rating(s) showing acceptable performance for each period counted towards eligibility signed by supervisor(s).
• If documentation does not exist for one or more periods, submit a statement from supervisor(s) indicating acceptable performance.
• Applicants who do not have performance documentation for any period shall provide a reason why the documentation is not available and statement that performance for all periods was at an acceptable level.

What to expect next

Employees of the following USDA agencies who apply for this position, whose current permanent grade is equal to the grade of the advertised position, and whose selection would result in a relocation outside the commuting area of their current duty station may not currently be considered for selection to this position: Agricultural Research Service; Economic Research Service; National Institute of Food and Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service; United States Forest Service; Food and Nutrition Administration; Foreign Agricultural Service; Rural Development and component organizations; the Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) mission area, to include the FPAC Business Center, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Risk Management Agency, and Farm Service Agency and Farm Service Agency County employees; Office of the General Counsel; and Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights.

This guidance is in alignment with the court order dated October 13, 2026, in American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, et al. v. United States Department of Agriculture, Case No. 26-cv-09976-VC (N.D. Calif.).

Under the Fair Chance Act, agencies are not allowed to request information about an applicant's criminal history until a conditional offer of employment has been made, except as allowed for access to classified information; assignment to national security duties or positions; acceptance or retention in the armed forces; or recruitment of a Federal law enforcement officer.

An applicant may submit a complaint, or any other information related to an organization's alleged noncompliance with the Fair Chance Act. The complaint must be submitted within 30 calendar days of the date of the alleged noncompliance.

To make a Fair Chance Act inquiry or complaint, send an email with the appropriate information to ***, subject line: Fair Chance Act. You may receive an email asking if you are still interested in the position and requesting information by a given deadline.

Failure to timely respond to this email may result in non-selection.

Additional information

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) or Reemployment Priority List (RPL): To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors.

CTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section. When assessed through a score-based category rating method, CTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100.

Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) provides current or former temporary and term employees the opportunity to compete for permanent competitive service positions. Individuals must have more than 24 months of service without a break between appointments of two or more years and the last temporary or term appointment must have been with the Forest Service.

Service must be in the competitive service and have been at a successful level of performance or better. Part-time and intermittent service will be credited only for time actually worked. Non-pay status such as leave without pay is credited for up to six months in a calendar year; anything beyond six months is not credited.

Applicants are responsible for providing sufficient information/documentation to determine if the 24 month criteria is met. The Forest Service may use certain incentives and hiring flexibilities, currently offered by the Federal government, to attract highly qualified candidates. Additional Information is available on the OPM Website.

Salary wage as shown is for Rest of the U.S. Final salary will be determined at the time of selection dependent on the duty location. For more information, refer to the Office of Personnel Management, Salary and Wages web page. This is a bargaining unit position and is represented by either NFFE, AFGE, or NAGE.

Forest Service daycare facilities may be available. Government Housing may be available. We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies.

Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.