Forestry Technician (Dispatch - Assistance Intelligence Officer)

US Office of the Secretary of the Interior; Albuquerque (NM); On-site; USD 55,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

The US Office of the Secretary of the Interior seeks a Forestry Technician (Dispatch - Assistance Intelligence Officer) GW-0462-08/09 in Albuquerque, NM. This role supports initial attack fire operations, dispatches resources, and tracks large fires.

You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work. Applicants should have documented primary wildland firefighting experience and hours per week; travel during fire season may be required, and a government

Qualifications

• Specialized experience in dispatching resources for initial attack fire centers and tracking fires.
• Experience with reporting fire indices, weather, and spot weather occurrences.
• Hours per week must be included in resume to credit experience.

Responsibilities

• (Not explicitly listed in the HTML; responsibilities inferred from title and qualification descriptions.)

Skills

Dispatch resources

Fire intelligence

Hours per week

Weather reporting

Education

Graduate level forestry/related field

Tools

Fire danger rating system

Fire & aviation web apps

Weather management system

Automated dispatch system

Job description

You will serve as a Forestry Technician (Dispatch - Assistance Intelligence Officer) GW-0462-08/09 working in Albuquerque, NM with Office of the Secretary of Interior.

You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work.

You may be required to occasional travel, particularly during fire season, and you must obtain a government charge card for travel.

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 11/23/2026, unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 for each federal position listed as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of qualifying experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "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.

Selective Placement Factor(s):

This position requires a special qualification that has been determined to be essential to perform the duties and will be used as a screen out element. Those who do not provide evidence they possess the following selective factor(s) will be rated not qualified.

This is an administrative position in an organization having a firefighting mission, and is clearly in an established career path. Prior firefighting experience, as gained by substantial service in a primary firefighter position or equivalent experience outside the Federal government is a MANDATORY PREREQUISITE

Candidates must possess Primary/Rigorous wildland firefighting experience, gained through fire line work in containment, control, suppression or use of wildland fire. You must clearly demonstrate this experience in your resume, including the months, days, and hours per week at which the work was performed to be considered.

Applicants must have documented prior primary firefighting experience, with substantial service defined as either:

• At least one full fire season working in a primary wildland firefighting role (e.g., Engine Crew, Fire Effects Crew, Prescribed Fire/Fuels Crew, Hand Crew, Helitack Crew, Hotshot Crew, Smokejumper, Wildland Fire Modules or Fire Suppression Crews, etc.) with a federal, state, tribal, local, or private-sector organization; - OR -
• At least 14 days of on-the-ground fireline experience (cumulative or consecutive).

Prior primary wildland fire experience must be clearly documented in your resume.

Note: an IQCS Master Record or equivalent document will not be used to determine or calculate prior primary wildland fire experience eligibility for this requirement.

-AND-

In order to qualify for this position you must possess the Minimum Qualification requirements listed below. Only experience and education obtained by 11/23/2026 will be considered.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. Please be sure to include this information in your resume. No assumptions will be made about your experience.

Minimum Qualification

To qualify for the GW-08 grade level, 1 year (12 months) of specialized experience equivalent to GW-07 is required. Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience in the following; Dispatching and tracking of resources in an Initial Attack fire center, tracking and reporting of large fires and support of Fire Intelligence at the local or GACC level. This involves reporting fire indices, weather and spot weather occurrence. Identify shortages of critical resources and providing information for determining allocation and priority setting for these critical resources relating to personnel, aircraft, crews, equipment and supplies. Utilizes and maintains various computer programs and files: fire danger rating system, fire and aviation web applications, weather management system, automated dispatch system, and provides appropriate information and assistance to users. You must include hours per week worked.

To qualify for the GW-09 grade level, 1 year or 12 months of specialized experience equivalent to GW-08 is required. Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience in the following; Monitoring and analyzing fire behavior; ordering, tracking and evaluating needs for suppression resources and preparedness readiness to respond to wildland fires; assisting in the development of incident priorities and strategies. Utilizes and maintains various computer programs and files: fire danger rating system, fire and aviation web applications, weather management system, automated dispatch system, and provides appropriate information and assistance to users. You must include hours per week worked.

-OR-

Substitution of Education for Experience: For GW-08/09: Two full years (36 semester hours) of GRADUATE level college education or received a master's degree in a field related to range work such as a major study in forestry, range management, agriculture or a field directly related to this position.

-OR-

Combination of Education and Experience as listed above: To combine education and experience, first take the number of creditable credits. Then take the number of months of full-time experience and divide by 12 months. Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include hours per week and transcripts. For more information on grade progression (for candidates outside the federal government) please refer to the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) General Schedule Qualification Policies, section #5, Application of Qualifications Standards, section "o".

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.

Physical Demands:

Work is primarily performed in an office setting. Long hours of sitting, intense concentration, and working at peak proficiency level with irregular breaks/mealtimes are frequent, prolonged demands of the job Employee is subject to work shifts of 12-14 hours per day for extensive periods. Vehicle and aircraft travel associated with field visits and other administrative travel may be required.

Working Conditions:

The work environment involves everyday risks or discomforts which require normal safety precautions typical of such places as offices, meeting and training rooms, libraries, and residences or commercial/government vehicles, (e.g, use of sage work practices with office equipment, avoidance of trips and falls, observance of Fire regulations and traffic signals. The work area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated.