Land Law Examiner (Lands & Realty)

Bureau of Land Management; Carlsbad (NM); On-site; USD 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

The Bureau of Land Management in Carlsbad, NM seeks a Lands & Realty Land Law Examiner to serve as the state’s expert on land law examining and adjudication. You will guide lower graded examiners and ensure compliance with federal land laws and policies.

The role requires interpreting legal land descriptions, coordinating with interdisciplinary specialists, and applying advanced analytical skills to evaluate status and rights. A Ph.D.

Qualifications

• At least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-09.
• Experience gathering and analyzing facts, evidence, and technical data to support final adjudication decisions.
• Adjudicating complex agreements and applications for compliance with federal land laws.
• Reviewing and validating complex applications, agreements, and case materials for accuracy and regulatory compliance.
• Coordinating with interdisciplinary specialists to ensure environmental and technical requirements are met.

Responsibilities

• Adjudicate complex land actions and ensure consistency with federal land laws and policies.
• Review and validate applications, agreements, and case materials for technical adequacy.
• Coordinate with NEPA, cultural, wildlife, engineering, cadastral, minerals, and other specialists.
• Determine applicant qualifications, land status, and interpret legal land descriptions.

Skills

Facts and data analysis

Legal adjudication

Interdisciplinary coordination

GIS

Legal research

Education

PH.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 years of graduate education related to land law

Tools

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Land records management

Legal document review

Job description

You will serve as a Land Law Examiner (Lands & Realty) with Bureau of Land Management. The incumbent serves as the state's authoritative expert in land law examining, providing guidance and expertise to lower graded examiners. First time hires to the Federal government normally start at the step 1 rate.

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 10/27/2026-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

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

• Gathering and analyzing facts, evidence, and technical data to support final adjudication decisions, including controversial or precedent-setting realty actions.
• Adjudicating complex agreements and applications for technical accuracy and compliance with federal land laws, regulations, and policies (e.g. Federal Land Policy and Management, Mineral Leasing Act)
• Reviewing and validating complex applications, agreements, and case materials for technical accuracy, legal adequacy, regulatory compliance; identifies conflicts, deficiencies, or inconsistencies and resolves them.
• Coordinates with interdisciplinary specialists (NEPA, cultural, wildlife, engineering, cadastral, minerals, range, recreation) to ensure case actions meet environmental and technical requirements and are supported by appropriate analysis
• Determining applicant qualifications and land status, including interpreting legal land descriptions, verifying boundaries, confirming applicable rights and interests, and ensuring consistency
• Applying advanced analytical and technical skills, minerals, and case-management systems; Geographic Information System tools; and land records to evaluate status, determine compliance, and support adjudication findings

You must include hours per week worked.

-OR-

Education

Successful completion of at least a PH.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or three full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., directly related to duties performed by a Land Law Examiner. 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

Combination of education and experience as listed above. 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.