Park Ranger Jobs in Howard County, MD (NOW HIRING)

You will serve as a Park Ranger (Interpretation) for the NPS, National Capital Region, Chesapeake & Ohio Canal NHP, Branch of Interpretation, located in Potomac, Maryland.

Career-Seasonal appointments are permanent positions and include the same benefits as permanent appointments, but do not provide work on a year-round basis. You will work for approximately 13 pay periods not to exceed a maximum of 25 pay periods, and you will be in a non-pay status for the remainder of the year.

Qualifications:

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-07/31/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. All candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements.

To receive credit for experience, 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. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected.

Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet Basic Educational Requirement AND/OR Specialized Experience for the series to which you are applying.

To qualify for this position at the GS-05 grade level:

• Specialized Experience Requirement: You must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-04 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: Assisted with presenting interpretive talks, educational programs, guided tours, or visitor contacts to the public in a park, museum, historic site, nature center, environmental education program, or similar setting; Provided visitor information by answering questions, explaining rules and regulations, and directing visitors to facilities, trails, exhibits, or points of interest; Assisted with preparing, organizing, or maintaining interpretive materials, exhibits, educational supplies, or program equipment; Worked with members of the public to provide courteous customer service while responding to a variety of visitor needs and inquiries; Followed established safety procedures while conducting visitor services or assisting with educational or interpretive activities.. You must include hours per week worked. -OR-
• Education: Successful completion of at least four years of education above the high school level leading to a bachelor's degree with 24 semester hours related to course work. You must include transcripts. -OR-
• Combination of education and experience. A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 36. Then divide your total number of completed undergraduate semester hours (or equivalent) by 120. Add the two percentages.

To qualify for this position at the GS-07 grade level:

• Specialized Experience Requirement: You must possess one year (1) of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 level in the Federal service which includes: Independently planned and presented interpretive talks, guided walks, educational programs, or demonstrations for diverse audiences; Researched and developed interpretive or educational program content, presentations, exhibits, or informational materials using established resource information; Provided visitor orientation and information while explaining park resources, regulations, recreational opportunities, and safety practices; Assisted in evaluating visitor programs by gathering participant feedback, maintaining program statistics, or recommending improvements; Worked collaboratively with coworkers, volunteers, interns, teachers, or partner organizations to support interpretive or educational programming.. -OR-
• Education: One full year of graduate level education in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: 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) Grad-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. -OR-
• Combination of education and experience. A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 36. Then divide your total number of completed undergraduate semester hours (or equivalent) by 120. Add the two percentages.

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

• Specialized Experience Requirement: You must possess one year (1) of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level in the Federal service which includes: Planned, developed, and delivered a variety of interpretive or educational programs that communicated natural, cultural, or historical resource themes to diverse audiences; Developed or revised interpretive products such as exhibits, curriculum materials, publications, digital content, or program outlines to support visitor education; Evaluated the effectiveness of interpretive or educational programs using visitor feedback, attendance data, or other performance measures and implemented improvements; Coordinated interpretive activities with park staff, volunteers, partner organizations, schools, or community groups to accomplish program objectives; Provided leadership or technical guidance to seasonal employees, interns, volunteers, or other staff in support of interpretive or visitor services operations.-OR-
• Education: 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. in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: 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. -OR-

*Additional Qualifications located under Education*Education:

Qualifications Continued...

• Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the first year (total graduate semester hours minus 18) by 18. Add the two percentages.

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
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. Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | U.S. Department of Education. https://www.ed.gov/about/initiatives/international-affairs/recognition-of-foreign-qualification

Employment Type: OTHER