Archeologist (Seasonal)

US National Park Service; California; On-site; USD 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

The US National Park Service seeks a cultural resources specialist to work on parks with significant archeological resources. This role involves field investigations, documentation, and reporting to support preservation and compliance efforts.

Ideal candidates have archaeology/anthropology education and hands-on field experience, with skills in GIS, GPS, and map preparation for site assessment and reporting.

Qualifications

• Qualified candidates must meet basic education requirements or combination of education and experience as described.
• Experience conducting archaeological investigations and fieldwork is required.
• Ability to prepare site reports, maps, overlays, and field notes for federal review.

Responsibilities

• Conduct archaeological investigations as part of a team at one or more parks.
• Perform field surveys, site recording, and collections documentation.
• Prepare reports summarizing methods, results, and significance for NRHP eligibility.
• Assist with GIS mapping, GPS data collection, and data management.

Skills

Archaeology fieldwork

GIS mapping

Site reporting

GPS surveys

Team coordination

Education

Archaeology/Anthropology degree

Graduate study in archaeology/anthropology

Archaeological field school transcripts

Tools

GPS

GIS

Job description

Serves as a cultural resources specialist for one or more parks where archeological resources comprise a major part of the park story. The park may be one where archeological resources are predominant, or where natural resources are predominant but where significant archeological resources are present.

Anticipated Entry on Duty

April-May 2027.

Application Capacity

Open to the first 125 applicants or until 10/26/2026 whichever comes first.

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-10/26/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. To receive credit for experience, your 2 page resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (month/year), and the resume must reflect full and/or part-time or total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time). If part-time, the hours must be annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount of qualified specialized experience. Resumes must not exceed two single-sided pages and resumes longer than two pages will not be accepted. You may only submit one resume. 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.

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:

A. Education:

• History of archeology.
• Archeology of a major geographical area such as North America or Africa.
• 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.
• Theory and methods of archeology. Methods include, but are not limited to, typology, classification, sampling, cultural evolution, diffusion, dating, and analytical techniques.
• 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.

-AND-

• Six 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;

-AND-

• Archeological field school. You must include all transcripts.
• 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 above (including archeological field school). You must include transcripts.

-OR- B. Combination of Education and Experience: College-level education or training that provided knowledge equivalent to that described in A above, plus appropriate technical experience or additional education You must include hours per week worked and transcripts. -OR- C. Experience: Four 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. You must include hours per week worked.

In addition to meeting the basic entry qualification requirements, applicants must have specialized experience and/or directly related education. You must include hours per week worked.

To qualify for this position at the GS-07 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement.

EXPERIENCE

At least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as: conducted archeological investigations as an experienced crew member; prepared reports on archeological site investigations; conducted surveys using Global Positioning System (GPS) mapping techniques and preparing GIS maps and overlays; and conducted historical archeological field investigations and report preparation.

EDUCATION

Successful completion of at least one full year (18 semester hours) of progressively higher-level graduate education. To be qualifying, graduate study must have been in archeology, anthropology, or other closely related field.

• OR- Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above.

To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement.

EXPERIENCE

At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). (One grade interval work such as technician or assistant work in a single grade occupational series at the GS-07 level does NOT qualify for this position, however GS-08 level may). Specialized experience is defined as: applying the theories, principles, practices, and techniques of archeology to conduct prehistoric and historic archeological field investigations and cultural resource projects which included the preparation of survey reports, site recording forms, site maps, overlays, field notes, and using Global Positioning System (GPS); assisting with Tribal consultation; and assisting with determinations of eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places.

EDUCATION

Successful completion of at least two years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Master's or equivalent graduate degree in archeology, anthropology, or other closely related field.

• OR- Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. Only graduate education beyond the first year is creditable when combining.

To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement.

EXPERIENCE

At least one full year of professional experience equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as develop and complete archeological research, including problem definition and work planning, implementation of data collection, written summary of methods and results, and final publication of work; Contribution to interdisciplinary environmental planning and resources management teams, providing information on archeological resources and contributing to, or reviewing, planning, inventory, assessment, and compliance documents; Design, implement, and supervise archeological projects involving documentary, archival, and collections research; field investigations (both survey and excavation); laboratory analysis of recovered data; and professional report writing.

EDUCATION

Successful completion of at least three years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D., or a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in archeology, anthropology or similar coursework from an accredited college or university.

• OR- Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. Only graduate education beyond the second year (36 semester hours) is creditable.