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National Park Service

Park Ranger (Interpretation)

Department of the Interior · Multiple Locations

Salary
$50,460 - $81,114 per year
Pay grade
GS-7 to 9
Schedule
Full-time
Appointment
Permanent
Opened
Oct 27, 2026
Closes
Nov 12, 2026
Remote
No
Telework eligible
Yes
Security clearance
Not Required
Promotion potential
9
Announcement
MAPR-27-13098563-IMP-EG

Who may apply: Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL) · Internal to an agency

Apply on USAJOBS

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Summary

You will serve as a Park Ranger (Interpretation) with the National Park Service at Manhattan Project National Historical Park. Pay will vary based on grade level and/or duty location for which you're selected. First time hires to the Federal government normally start at the step 1 rate. This announcement will fill two vacancies. One vacancy will be filled in Richland, Washington and one vacancy will be filled in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Duties

  • Career-Seasonal appointments are permanent positions and include the same benefits as Career appointments, but do not provide work on a year-round basis. For Richland, Washington, you will work from approximately January through mid-December, and you will be in a non-pay status for the remainder of the year. The salary range for Richland, Washington is $50,460 - $80,243 per year. For Los Alamos, New Mexico, you will work from approximately mid-January through December, and you will be in a non-pay status for the remainder of the year. The salary range for Los Alamos, New Mexico is $51,007 - $81,114 per year. Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following: Researches, develops, and presents formal and informal interpretive programs and services that connect park natural, cultural, and historical resource meanings to visitor interests. Staff visitor centers, contact stations, and roving locations to orient visitors and provide accurate resource, safety, and facility information. Develops and presents curriculum-based education programs and interpretive media for school groups and the visiting public. Promotes resource stewardship and Leave No Trace principles to foster appropriate visitor behavior and protect park resources. Evaluates interpretive program effectiveness, plans new offerings, and (at the full performance level) leads interpretive themes and provides work direction to seasonal staff and volunteers.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 11/12/2026-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: To qualify for this position at the GS-07 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement: Specialized Experience Requirement: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-05 grade level in the federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Experience may have been in technical, administrative, or scientific work, fish and wildlife management, recreation management, law enforcement, or other park-related work. Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: Independently researching, developing, and presenting formal interpretive programs (guided walks, talks, evening programs) that connect park resource meanings to visitor interests; providing interpretive and informational services to a broad range of audiences; and preparing interpretive media or materials. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- Education: Successful completion of at least 1 full academic year of graduate education related to the occupation. Major study - natural resource management, natural sciences, earth sciences, history, archeology, anthropology, park and recreation management, law enforcement/police science, social sciences, museum sciences, business administration, public administration, behavioral sciences, sociology, or other closely related subjects pertinent to the management and protection of natural and cultural resources. Course work in fields other than those specified may be accepted if it clearly provides applicants with the background of knowledge and skills necessary for successful job performance in the position to be filled. You must include 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. You must include transcripts. Combination of education and experience. To combine education and experience, first take the number of months of qualifying, full-time work experience and divide by 12. Multiply the resulting decimal by 100. Then…

Education

You must submit a copy of your transcript(s) to support claimed education if substituting education for experience. Transcripts must include your name, school name, grades, credit hours earned, major(s), grade point average or class ranking, and date the degree was conferred, if applicable. A typed list of courses, grades, semester/quarter hours, GPA, etc. will not be accepted. Non-submission may result in being rated not qualified for the position. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work. Foreign Education: To receive credit for education completed outside the United States, you must show proof that the education has been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated, visit: https://www.ed.gov/about/initiatives/international-affairs/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications

Job data from USAJOBS.gov. Careers.org is not affiliated with or endorsed by OPM. Retrieved Nov 4, 2026, 3:59 AM EST.