Historian (Seasonal)

About the role

You will serve as a Historian (Seasonal). This position is located with the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Yosemite National Park, with a duty station of El Portal, CA. You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work.

First time hires to the Federal government normally start at the step 1 rate. Open to the first 30 applicants.

What you will do

• Assist with simple presentations and observes higher-graded staff conducting briefings, lectures, and visitor programs.
• Conduct basic historical research using reports, archives, and other sources; assists in preparing charts, tables, and drafting basic text.
• Learn to provide introductory historical education and visitor interaction.
• Learn to collect basic cultural resource field data and identify historical/cultural objects or sites using established manuals and protocols.
• Draft limited sections of reports and participate as a team member on simple projects (oral histories, written histories, conservation tasks, etc.).
• Learn how to investigate cultural/historic sites not documented in park files.
• Assist in coordinating visiting professionals under close supervision In addition to the duties above, at the GS-07 level you will perform the higher graded duties listed below.
• Expand knowledge through independent study, developmental assignments, literature review, on-site studies, and fieldwork.
• Participate more substantively in archaeological field studies, geological mapping, consult with Native organizations, and broader historical reporting.
• Write letters and responses to inquiries using developed knowledge of park resources, policy, prior research, and available sources.
• Provide full historical education and visitor interaction, delivering content independently.
• Collect, analyze, and report on cultural resource conditions, including measuring impacts of management actions (restoration, visitor dispersal, development).
• Draft more complex report sections, work plans, and implementation strategies, and complete small historian actions independently.
• Investigate undocumented cultural/historic sites to a level enabling identification, protection, or interpretation.
• Assist in coordinating visiting professional work with increased responsibility and less supervision.
• Apply standard historian practices with judgment, selecting methods, approaches, and sources.
• Exercise greater judgment when guidelines require interpretation or selection among alternatives.
• GS-09 Duties in addition to the duties above Assists in advising on the park's cultural resources, particularly history.
• In concert with the supervisor or higher-graded specialist, identifies, evaluates, and monitors cultural resources, identifies potential threats, and makes recommendations to management regarding status and mitigation of impacts (present and future).
• Develops and maintains liaisons and effective working relations with related groups and individuals, agencies, and the public.
• Attends management and professional conferences and other events for the purposes of exchanging information and advancing advocacy for park stewardship.
• Creates and develops limited segments of cultural resources management plans, interpretive prospectus documents, and spin-off documents such as specific plans, action plans, revisions, and fiscal and budget documents.
• Coordinates park historical and other cultural resources strategies and programs with activities on adjacent lands for the purposes of achieving broad protection strategies and minimizing human impacts.
• Conducts historical research for planning documents, including general management plans, special history studies, resources management plan, environmental impact statements, environmental assessments, and special resource studies as required to meet the needs of the park.
• Locates source material within and outside the park and makes recommendations and/or determinations of significance for additions to the park's museum and archives collection.
• Conducts oral history interviews based on available precedents and oversees their transcription.
• Assembles bibliographies and acquaints park staff with recent historical scholarship pertinent to the park's resources and themes.
• Summarizes material for park staff.
• Maintains a site-specific database.
• Provides peer review for NPS and non-NPS historical studies, as requested.
• Seeks peer review for own work.
• Assists with making contributions to the preparation of historic preservation documentation, compliance, and background materials for clearances, permits, licenses, etc., as required by Section 106 and Section 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), NPS Management Policies, and cultural resources management guideline for all park undertakings.
• Recommends, plans for, and executes historical investigations required to meet NHPA, NPS guidelines, and the research needs of the park.
• Reviews projects initiated by park staff and makes recommendations for approval to park managers.
• Assists in providing professionally accurate interpretive programs that discuss historical and/or cultural resources.
• May represent park on NPS regional task groups or similar organizations.

Requirements

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or U.S. National.
• Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
• Direct Deposit participation required.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check.
• To learn more, visit ***
• Must have and maintain a valid driver's license throughout employment.
• You are required to wear a uniform and comply with the uniform standards.
• A uniform allowance will be provided.
• You 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

You must submit a copy of your transcript(s) to support claimed education if substituting education for experience.

Transcripts must include your name, school name, grades, credit hours earned, major(s), grade point average or class ranking, and date the degree was conferred, if applicable. A typed list of courses, grades, semester/quarter hours, GPA, etc. will not be accepted. Non-submission may result in being rated not qualified for the position.

Unofficial transcripts are acceptable, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.

Foreign Education: To receive credit for education completed outside the United States, you must show proof that the education has been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs.

Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | U.S. Department of Education. ***

How you will be evaluated

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials e.g. resume, supporting documents, the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of any additional assessments required for this position. Your resume must not exceed 2 pages.

Only the document submitted as the Resume under the Documents section will be used to determine your qualifications/eligibility and for rating purposes. In the event you submit more than one resume, only the latest submission will be reviewed.

If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses provided in the Assessment Questionnaire, your score will be adjusted accordingly. If a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications or experience, you can lose consideration for this position. Candidates will be rated and ranked using Category Rating procedures.

These procedures place candidates with veteran's preference above non-preference eligibles within each category. Veterans with a service-connected disability of at least 10 percent are listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher.

Under Category Rating, candidates will be rated and ranked into the following categories: Best Qualified - applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are highly proficient in all requirements of the job and can perform effectively in the position.

Well Qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in most of the requirements of the job.

Qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in some, but not all of the requirements of the job.

You will be assessed in the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): History and Archaeology Interpersonal Skills Project Management Reading Comprehension Research Written Communication Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration.

Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process including the application, application questionnaire and announcement questionnaire. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job.

Current or former displaced Federal employees who are surplus, displaced, or involuntarily separated have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program CTAP or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program ICTAP.

To be considered under CTAP/ICTAP, you must be well-qualified, score at least 85 i.e., meet the minimum qualification requirements, including any selective placement factors; education, and experience requirements, and be able to perform the duties of the position upon entry.

Documents you must provide

• Resume which includes a list of all significant jobs held and duties performed, with dates in month-year format (include month/day/year format if needed for 52 weeks of experience), and indicate hours worked per week (or full-time).
• Your resume must clearly show how long you have held each grade/rank.
• 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.
• 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.
• Your 2-page resume must contain information sufficient to make a valid determination that you fully meet the specialized experience requirements.
• If you have federal experience, you should include series, and grade for each position held, and if experience is part of a career ladder position, you must clearly distinguish the job duties and length of time working for each grade level.
• More information on how to write a Federal Resume: *** Complete All Required Assessments.
• All college transcript(s).
• Please submit both undergraduate and graduate level transcripts, as applicable.
• Veterans Preference Documentation, if applicable.
• Veterans must submit a copy of your latest Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, DD-214 (member 4 copy) or other Documentation of Service and Separation under Honorable Conditions, as listed on the SF15.
• If you are a Disabled Veteran, Purple Heart Recipient, or Parent or Spouse of a Disabled or Deceased Veteran, you must submit all additional proof required by the SF15, and if applicable, a completed SF15.
• You may request a copy of your Department of Veterans Affairs letter from *** or call ***.
• If you are a veteran within 120 days of discharge, you must submit signed documentation from the Armed Forces certifying: 1) your expected release/retirement from active duty, 2) under honorable conditions, 3) your pay grade/rank/rate at time of discharge, 4) dates of active-duty service, 5) any campaign or expeditionary medals received, & 6) dated within 120 days of your separation.
• Interagency Career Transition (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP): You MUST submit proof of eligibility including 1) copy of the agency notice, 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 well qualified.
• For more information visit: USAJOBS Help Center - Career Transition Programs (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL).
• 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 all documents.
• Do not upload Adobe portfolio documents.
• Adobe portfolio documents are not viewable by our agency's staffing offices.

What to expect next

You may check the status of your application at any time by logging in to your USAJOBS account as we will not be responding to inquiries about the status of applications as long as the system has been updated. Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email.

Your application will be evaluated by the Human Resources Office to determine your eligibility for the position. After the evaluation is complete, you will receive another notification regarding the status of your application. You can find your path with the Department of Interior at ***

Any exaggeration of your experience, false statements, or attempt to conceal information may disqualify you for employment consideration. We may verify all information you provide in your resume and questionnaire responses, through reference and/or background checks, and/or verification of your education.

If you are selected, you will be contacted personally by the Human Resources Office posting this announcement. Applicants will get a response from this announcement by approximately September-October 2026

Additional information

Additional vacancies may be filled using this job announcement. Physical Demands: The work is sedentary, but at times requires travel to repositories of information, and may require visits to remote sites which require walking or riding over rough, uneven surfaces.

Documentary research and report writing work is sedentary, entails the ability to concentrate and write for long periods of time. Work Environment: Most work is performed in offices, archives, and libraries. Assignments may entail work with dusty records or objects.

All Department of Interior (DOI) employees, their spouses, and minor children may not acquire or retain any claim, permit, lease, small tract entry, or other rights granted by the Department in Federal lands, with limited exceptions. Additional ethics prohibitions can be found here, ***