Archeologist

US National Park Service; Vancouver (WA); On-site; USD 65,000 - 86,000; Full time

Job summary

Fort Vancouver National Historical Site in Vancouver, WA is seeking an Archeologist for a permanent, full-time appointment. The role focuses on planning field work, conducting investigations, and ensuring preservation of cultural resources.

You will collaborate with park staff and possibly tribal partners to document and protect archeological resources. The position requires a bachelor’s degree in archaeology or related field, plus substantial field experience and demonstrated ability to develop

Qualifications

• 4 years of archeological work experience with field work, surveys, or related duties.
• Experience planning field work for archeological/historical sites.
• Ability to develop compliance policies for cultural resources and tribal consultation.

Responsibilities

• Plan and oversee archeological field work at designated sites.
• Assist in developing compliance policies for cultural resources preservation.
• Provide archaeology guidance and training to staff; conduct investigations at project sites.

Skills

Archaeology knowledge

Field work planning

Cultural resources understanding

Education

Bachelor’s degree in archaeology

Graduate study in archaeology/anthropology

Job description

You will serve as an Archeologist Fort Vancouver National Historical Site in Vancouver, WA.

Please visit find a park for additional park information.

This is a Permanent, Competitive, Full-time, Career-Seasonal appointment.

Career-Seasonal appointments are permanent positions and include the same benefits as permanent appointments, but do not provide work on a year-round basis.

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement -08/27/2026- unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST state either 40 hours a week or Part-Time with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST state:

1. the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position;
2. starting and ending dates of employment (month/year); and
3. total hours worked (as indicated above).
4. If position was developmental in nature, resume must breakdown duties and start/end dates per grade level.

Minimum Qualification Requirements

To qualify for this position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications:

Basic Educational Requirements

In addition to the specialized experience requirements for this position, you must meet at least one of the following:

1. Education - all appropriate transcripts must be submitted for proper crediting

A. Degree

Completed a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's degree or higher that included:

• History of archeology; and
• Archeology of a major geographical area such as North America or Africa; and
• Regional archeology, archeological cultures, or sites in a specific part or portion of a major geographical area to acquire or develop a foundation for regional specialization for professional development; and
• Theory and methods of archeology. Methods include, but are not limited to, typology, classification, sampling, cultural evolution, diffusion, dating, and analytical techniques; and
• Archeological field school, to provide a basic understanding of theoretical and practical approaches to research design implementation, field preservation techniques, and report preparation by participation in actual field work;

6 semester hours of related course work in: geography, geology, or cultural geography; history, historiography, or historical archeology; environmental studies; scientific writing (nonfiction English composition); and/or surveying; Archeological field school.

-OR-

B. Related curriculum

Degree in anthropology (with emphasis on ethnology, physical anthropology, or scientific linguistics), history, American studies, or a related discipline may be accepted as satisfying in full the educational requirements, provided the curriculum supplied academic course work sufficiently similar to the requirements in A above (including archeological field school)

-OR-

2. Combination of Education and Experience

A combination of college level education or training that provided knowledge equivalent to that described in A above, plus appropriate technical experience or additional education.)

-OR-

3. Experience

4 years of archeological work experience that demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the fundamental principles and theories of professional archeology. The work experience must have included archeology field experience, which may include that gained in an archeological field school. Field experience should have included a combination of professional experience in archeological survey, excavation, laboratory analysis, and preparation of written materials. Applicants with such field experience should, after additional experience under the direction of a higher-grade archeologist, be able to demonstrate the ability to be a crew chief, directing the work of others at a single location as a part of a larger archeological project.

Specialized Experience Requirement

In addition to meeting the Basic Education requirements for this position, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors):

• Specialized experience includes:
• Planning field work for archeological and historical sites;
• Assisting in the development of compliance policy and procedures for cultural resources preservation and tribal consultation in the state;
• Providing archaeology and cultural resources technical assistance, guidance and training to various personnel;
• Conducting archeological investigations at proposed project sites to assure archeological and historical resources are identified and proper preservation procedures are followed

-OR-

Three full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a PhD or equivalent graduate degree, in archeology, anthropology, or other closely related field.

-OR-

An equivalent combination of graduate education and specialized experience as described above, that when calculated as a percentage of each requirement and added together, equals at least 100%. Only graduate education beyond the second year is creditable to meet this standard.

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.