Land Law Examiner

Bureau of Land Management; Salt Lake City (UT); On-site; USD 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

The Bureau of Land Management in Salt Lake City, Utah seeks a Land Law Examiner to evaluate public land records, provide guidance on land conveyances, and verify data accuracy. This role requires strong knowledge of public land laws, the ability to interact with diverse stakeholders, and experience in reviewing land status and related records.

Ideal candidates will have graduate study in land law or a related field, plus experience working with land descriptions and ownership status.

Qualifications

• Experience answering inquiries about public land laws and regulations.
• Ability to review and determine land status of federal lands.
• Experience working with land conveyance status and related records.

Responsibilities

• Provide guidance on public land laws and regulations to internal and external customers.
• Review basic lands and minerals cases and relay outcomes.
• Utilize computer databases to validate data accuracy and completeness.

Skills

Public lands law knowledge

Customer inquiries handling

Education

Graduate study in land law related field

Tools

GIS/land records databases

Job description

You will serve as a Land Law Examiner with Bureau of Land Management in the following location: Salt Lake City, Utah This position is also open to public under announcement CBUM-27-13111451-DE-AWF. You must apply to each announcement separately if you wish to be considered under both recruitment methods.

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 11/24/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Competitive candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F.

For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of specialized 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 periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the work schedule requirement as the service dates will be reflected. 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.

Minimum Qualification Requirements:

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

• Specialized Experience Requirement: you must possess 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 demonstrated experience: (1) answering inquiries from the public or internal customers regarding public land laws and regulations; (2) reviewing and/or determining land status of federal lands; (3) providing answers to internal and external customers regarding the status of land conveyances; (4) reviewing data which has been entered into a database for errors, accuracy, and completeness. You must include hours per week worked. -OR-
• Education: Successful completion of at least 1 full year of graduate level education that included or was supplemented by 12 semester hours of course work related to the administration of land laws. Examples include course work in land surveying, cartography, land use law, real estate law, land appraising, land use planning, water rights, mining laws, or legal instrument review and interpretation. You must include transcripts. -OR-
• Combination of education and experience. You may meet qualifications requirement for this position with an equivalent combination of specialized experience and appropriate graduate education. Graduate level education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. To combine education and experience: first take the graduate coursework completed - up to the first year of graduate education (18 semester hours) - and divide by 18 semester hours. 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. -OR-
• Superior Academic Achievement (SAA): Successfully completed a bachelor's degree in a directly related field AND meet one of the following: (1) Class Standing: rank in the upper 3rd of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, based on the completed courses; OR (2) Grade-Point Average (GPA): earn a GPA of (a) 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) based on 4 years of education, or based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum -or- (b) 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field, or the required courses completed during the final two years. Note: GPA will be rounded to one decimal place, for example, 2.95 = 3.0, 2.94 = 2.9; OR (3) Membership in a National Scholastic Honor Society.

To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level:

• Specialized Experience Requirement: You must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: 1) Processing, adjudicating, or reviewing basic lands and minerals cases; 2) Researching and reviewing legal land descriptions and ownership status from various map and records sources; 3) Using a variety of computer and software applications to handle data; and 4) Communicating effectively with internal and external customers on routine topics. You must include hours per week worked. -OR-
• Education: Successful completion of at least a master's or equivalent graduate degree OR 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree OR LL.B. or J.D., if related. Examples of related coursework are land surveying, cartography, land use law, real estate law, land appraising, land use planning, water rights, mining laws, or legal instrument review and interpretation. You must include transcripts. -OR-
• Combination of education and experience. To combine education and experience, first take Graduate education in excess of the first year (18 semester hours) and divide by 36-semester hours. 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.

To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level:

• Specialized Experience Requirement: 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 is defined as demonstrated experience: 1) Processing and adjudicating complex and unusual minerals cases; 2) Researching, interpreting, and applying laws, rules, and regulations applicable to minerals cases; 3) Interpreting legal land descriptions and ownership status from various map and records sources; 4) Using a variety of computer and software applications to handle data and complete work assignments; and 5) Communicating effectively with a broad range of internal and external customers to resolve complex problems.. You must include hours per week worked. -OR-
• Education: Successful completion of at least a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree OR LL.M., if related. Examples of related coursework are land surveying, cartography, land use law, real estate law, land appraising, land use planning, water rights, mining laws, or legal instrument review and interpretation. You must include transcripts. -OR-
• Combination of education and experience. To combine education and experience, first take relevant graduate coursework in excess of 36-semester hours and divide by 54-semester hours. 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.

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.