Supervisory Hydrologic Technician

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS); Fort Worth (TX); Hybrid; USD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

U.S. Geological Survey in Fort Worth, TX seeks a Supervisory Hydrologic Technician to lead field and office operations for surface water, groundwater, and water quality data collection.

The Fort Worth Field Unit Chief will plan field trips, manage budgets, mentor staff, and oversee complex instrumentation installation and maintenance. Role requires technical leadership in diverse hydrologic activities and collaboration with cooperating agencies to deliver high-quality hydrologic data, with

Qualifications

• Specialized experience planning and conducting data collection from thirty or more gaging stations.
• Determining stage-discharge relations and computing mean daily, monthly and annual discharge rates.
• Coordinating groundwater surveys and hydrologic studies related to flood frequency and droughts.

Responsibilities

• Supervision of surface water, ground water, and water quality Field Office activities.
• Consults with Data Chief on operational, management, and personnel issues.
• Provides technical leadership for a range of hydrologic field activities and office procedures.
• Provides technical leadership for field construction and/or the installation, operation, maintenance, and calibration of hydrologic data-measuring instruments.
• Works closely with management in implementing the Center and Water Mission area policies and procedures.

Job description

Summary

You will serve as a Supervisory Hydrologic Technician with the Oklahoma Texas Water Science Center. This position serves as the Fort Worth Field Unit Chief and provides field trip planning; fiscal management; workforce planning; training and mentoring; field and office work; design and installation of complex instrumentation; and communications with cooperating agencies with the objective of producing high-quality hydrologic data.

This job is open to

Internal to an agency

Current federal employees of the hiring agency that posted the job announcement.

Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)

Federal employees whose job, agency or department was eliminated and are eligible for priority over other applicants.

Clarification from the agency

This is a Merit Promotion announcement for current and former career and career conditional USGS employees, Career Transition eligibles (CTAP). Refer to Required Documents section for more information.

Duties

• Supervision of surface water, ground water, and water quality Field Office activities.
• Consults with Data Chief on significant operational, management, and personnel issues.
• Provides technical leadership for a range of hydrologic field activities and office procedures.
• Provides technical leadership for field construction and/or the installation, operation, maintenance, and calibration of a variety of hydrologic data-measuring instruments.
• Works closely with management in implementing the Center and Water Mission area policies and procedures.

Requirements

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
• Direct Deposit participation required.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/.
• Must possess and maintain a valid driver's license and a US Government Motor Vehicle Operator's Identification Card throughout employment.
• You must pass a physical examination.
• You are required to complete training, obtain and maintain a government credit card with travel and purchase authority.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period to evaluate your fitness and whether your continuation of employment advances the public interest.

This probationary period is an extension of the appointment process and therefore requires the agency to determine if continued employment would advance the public interest, meet the organization goals and mission of the agency, and/or otherwise promote the efficiency of the service. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, the agency will consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Under applicable law, the employment of an individual serving a probationary or trial period automatically terminates when that period ends unless the agency affirmatively certifies, in writing, that the individual's employment should continue and that their appointment should be finalized. In the absence of agency action to affirmatively certify continued employment beyond the probationary or trial period, such appointments are terminated. Upon completion of your probationary your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

This is a supervisory position that may require completion of a supervisory probationary period.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 10/21/2026 - 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.

To qualify for this position at the GS-12 grade level:

To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: planning and conducting the computation and collection of data from approximately thirty or more gaging stations; determining stage-discharge relations, computing rating tables and mean daily, monthly and annual discharge rates from these stations. Acting as a party chief and making indirect measurements of flood flows under extremely difficult conditions. Collecting data including that required to compute flood flows by the slope-area method, by measurement of flow over dams, by flow through culverts and by flow over embankments. Obtaining hydrologic data from published and unpublished sources and conducting hydrologic studies relative to the frequency of flood and droughts. Planning and coordinating a ground water survey program for an area that may be either a small area with complex features or a larger area with planning and coordinating problems related to the scope of the ground water survey operations.

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.

Education

This position does not allow substituting education for experience.

Additional information

Additional vacancies may be filled using this job announcement.

If otherwise eligible and qualified, you may be offered a relocation incentive. The decision to offer an incentive will be made on a case-by-case basis and is neither promised nor guaranteed. For information visit: Relocation Incentive. A continued service agreement may be required if it is determined you are eligible for a permanent change in duty station (PCS) or relocation incentive.

All DOI employees, their spouses, and minor children may not acquire or retain any claim, permit, lease, small tract entry, or other rights granted by the Department in Federal lands, with limited exceptions. Additional ethics prohibitions can be found here, DOI Ethics Prohibitions | U.S. Department of the Interior.

Physical Demands/Work Environment: Work is performed in both office and field settings. Field assignments involve climbing and/or working from ladders, scaffolding, or other elevated structures; working on uneven/slippery, or steep terrain; lifting/carrying equipment weighing 50 pounds or more; working in confined or restricted spaces. Tasks require sustained periods of standing, wading in fast-moving or deep water, or operating in adverse weather conditions. Field assignments often involve working near or in rivers, canals, wetlands, and storm-impacted areas that are unstable, slippery or steep. Encounters with aggressive dangerous wildlife, biting insects, dense vegetation, poisonous plants, and other natural hazards. Field sites may involve risks such as flooding, fast moving water, ice, heavy equipment, traffic, or exposure to irritant or toxic chemicals. Travel to remote or difficult to access locations is common. Field duties may require the use of hard hats, gloves, boots, googles, respirators, life jackets, or other specialized safety gear.

The duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

Scientific Hydrologic Data Collection

Compute/Analyze/Review Data

Supervision

Manages Infrastrucure Maintenance/Construction

Administrative Tasks and Budgeting

Quality Assurance and Control

Leadership

Your resume must not exceed 2 pages. 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.

Failure to submit any of the above-mentioned required documents will result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted.

Do not submit photographs with your application package.

Do not upload Adobe portfolio documents.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

Required Documents

All required documents must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) - 10/21/2026 - unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

• Resume which includes a list of all significant jobs held and duties performed, with dates in month-year format (include month/day/year format if needed for 52 weeks of experience), and indicate hours worked per week (or full-time). Your resume must clearly show how long you have held each grade/rank. Resumes must not exceed 2 single-sided pages and resumes longer than 2 pages will not be accepted. The minimum font size is 10-point for all body text. All resumes must maintain a minimum 0.5-inch margins on all sides to ensure readability and prevent excessive content compression. Including supplemental pages or attachments disguised as resume extensions are prohibited and will not be reviewed. Your 2-page resume must contain information sufficient to make a valid determination that you fully meet the specialized experience requirements. Resume Builder: https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/what-to-include
• Complete All Required Assessment(s).
• Performance Appraisals and Awards: You must submit your most recent performance appraisal showing the official rating of record and signed by a supervisor dated within the past 18 months. If unavailable, a written explanation is required (including if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level). Performance awards dated within the past 5 years may also be submitted for due weight consideration.
• Eligibility Documentation:
  • Current and former Federal employees must submit latest SF-50 (i.e., Promotion, Separation, Within Grade Increase (WGI)) showing tenure 1 or 2 in block 24, grade, and if applicable, an additional SF-50 showing the highest grade or promotion potential held. Time in grade will be determined by reviewing your resume and required SF-50s. If your SF-50 showing highest permanent grade held has an effective date within the past year, your resume must clearly show that you held that grade for one year. Do not submit award SF-50s.
  • Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP): You MUST submit proof of eligibility including 1) copy of the agency notice, e.g., RIF Separation Notice, Notice of Proposed Removal, etc.; 2) SF-50s (Notifications of Personnel Action) showing career/conditional tenure competitive status, promotion potential and duty location; and 3) your most recent performance appraisal. To exercise selection priority, displaced or surplus Federal employees must be well qualified. For more information visit: USAJOBS Help Center - Career Transition Programs (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL).

Failure to submit any of the above-mentioned required documents will result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted.