Interdisciplinary (Geographer or Physical Scientist)

US Geological Survey; Sioux Falls (SD); On-site; USD 148,000 - 192,000; Full time

Job summary

US Geological Survey is seeking a Project Manager and Coordinator for land-change monitoring activities at the EROS Center. The role involves leading project scope, timelines, deliverables, and coordinating across teams while managing contracts and budgets.

Travel up to 1-2 nights per month may be required. Qualified candidates will have remote sensing-based land-change monitoring experience, strong communication skills, and ability to collaborate with partner agencies to advance data-driven

Qualifications

• Basic Educational Requirement: Geography or related physical/social science with 24 semester hours in geography or related fields.
• Combination of education and experience acceptable as described in the basic requirements.

Responsibilities

• Operational land-change monitoring experience and project coordination.
• Lead project scope, timelines, deliverables, and contract management.
• Communicate across agency boundaries; present to executives and partners.
• Partner with other agencies for co-development of monitoring strategies.

Education

Geography or related physical/social science with 24 semester hours in geography or related fields

Job description

You will serve as the Project Manager and Coordinator for land-change monitoring activities at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center.

You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 1-2 nights per month. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.

GS-15: 147,945 (Step 1) to $192,331 (Step 10)

First time hires to the Federal government normally start at the step 1 rate.

Qualifications:

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-09/01/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

To receive credit for experience, 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.

Minimum Qualification Requirements:

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

Basic Educational Requirement AND Specialized Experience for the series to which you are applying.

Basic Educational Requirements:

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

GS-0150:

• A. Degree: geography; or related physical or social science such as geology, meteorology, economics, statistics, sociology, anthropology, political science, history, cartography, computer science, urban studies, or planning that included at least 24 semester hours in geography or related fields. You must submit transcripts.
• B. Combination of education and experience: course work as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

GS-1301:

• A. Degree: physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics. You must submit transcripts.
• B. Combination of education and experience: course work as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

-AND-

To qualify for this position at the GS-15 grade level:

Specialized Experience Requirement:

You must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-14 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience:

• Operational experience in remote sensing-based land-change monitoring, assessment, and/or projection.
• Project management expertise, including defining project scope and direction, management of timelines and deliverables, contract management, and financial tracking and planning.
• Communication and interpersonal skills to work across agency boundaries, conduct technical presentations, technical reviews, and formal presentations to executive and other levels of management.
• Partnering with other agencies or entities in collaboration for co-development of land-change monitoring strategies and data.
• Organizational strategic planning; advising on project direction, project and partner synergies, implementing operational efficiencies..

You must include hours per week worked.

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.