Supervisory Water and Lands Specialist

Bureau of Reclamation

$85K — $102K *
Education, Government & Non-Profit
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5-7 years of experience in natural resource management or a related field.
  • Demonstrated leadership skills managing a multidisciplinary team.
  • Familiarity with federal laws regarding water and land resources.
  • Experience in project management, including budgeting and scheduling.
  • Ability to analyze complex interrelated technical data and planning documents.

Responsibilities

  • Lead a multi-disciplinary team in federal resource compliance.
  • Develop and implement specialized project plans using congressional appropriations.
  • Interpret legislative appropriations to meet compliance intent.
  • Review and provide recommendations for environmental and planning reports.
  • Oversee engineering and environmental studies for potential projects.
  • Collaborate with contracting officers to manage various contracts.
  • Build and maintain relationships with diverse stakeholders, including Tribes and interest groups.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive benefits package for federal employees.
  • Access to various federal benefits such as health care and retirement plans.
  • Opportunities for professional development and training.
  • Potential for job stability and security through federal employment.
Full Job Description
Summary

You will serve as a Supervisory Water and Lands Specialist with the Bureau of Reclamation.

Duties

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Serves as the Division Supervisor for a multi-disciplinary team of realty, natural resource, and water and land specialists engaged in complying with federal laws to protect resources within the Lahontan Basin Area Office (LBAO). Program areas include cultural resources, environmental, and realty laws; recreation management; water rights administration; Native American Affairs program; resource management planning; negotiation and implementation of water resources projects; negotiation and implementation of title transfer projects; and other natural resources special projects.

Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following:

  • Identifies the scope, methodology, schedule and resources required to complete projects.
  • Develops and implements specialized plans to utilize special congressional appropriations.
  • Interprets appropriations language and determines how best to meet the intent of Congress. Determines portion of work, if any, which could be done by Reclamation or other federal agencies.
  • Reviews drafts of plans of study, preliminary findings reports, plan formulation, working documents, planning reports and special reports and recommends revisions, additions and/or approval.
  • Responsible for reviewing the engineering/environmental/economic studies and related planning phases which contain location, design, cost estimates, construction plans and other features of potential projects under investigation. Assists in the preparation and review of environmental documents for assigned projects.
  • Works with Contracting Officer/Grants Officer to implement and administer a variety of assigned contracts.
  • Establishes and maintains effective working relationships with stakeholders, industrial interests, commercial and sport fishing groups, agricultural interests, Tribes, special interest groups, and with counterparts in the community and beyond.


Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Must provide proof of U.S. citizenship.
  • Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
  • Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
  • Direct Deposit participation required.


  • You may be required to travel overnight away from home for training and site visits.
  • Must maintain a valid driver's license throughout employment.
  • 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 probationary period to evaluate your fitness and whether your continuation of employment advances the public interest.

This 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 period 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 - 08/04/2026 - 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, you must meet the following minimum qualifications:

To qualify at the GS-13 grade level you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience planning work to be accomplished and setting and adjusting priorities; Monitoring budget outlays, preparing schedules for completion of work, and determining resourcing requirements; Analyzing many complex interrelated technical data and reviewing documents, planning reports and special reports and recommending revisions; and Drafting plans of study, preliminary findings reports, plan formulation activities, and finalizing reports.

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.

Promotion to the full performance level is neither guaranteed nor implied and will be based solely on your ability to satisfactorily perform the work of the position, existing work at the higher grade level, and recommendation by the position's supervisor.

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.

Applicants who include vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate language or information in their application package will be ineligible for further consideration for this position.

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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.

Benefits

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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.

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