Wilderness Ranger Jobs in Florida (NOW HIRING)

Summary
These positions are located in Everglades National Park and Dry Tortugas National Park, in the Visitor and Resource Protection Division.

• These are Term positions. Please see the "Duties" section of this announcement for more information.

Open to the first 100 applicants or until 06/08/2026 whichever comes first. All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration.
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Duties
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These are Term positions (more than 1 year) with an initial appointment expecting to last at least 13 months but may be extended up to a total of four years. Term positions do not convey permanent status in the Federal service.
As a Park Ranger (Preventative Search and Rescue (PSAR)) you will:

• Conduct substantial analysis regarding PSAR related educational strategies and program offerings.
• Educate, interpret, and inform visitors about resources, conservation, laws, and regulations.
• Provide administrative, operational, and logistic support to PSAR related outreach activities.
• Provide operational supervision over small to complex search and rescue incidents utilizing the Incident Command System.

Area/Duty Station Information: At 1.5 million acres in size, Everglades National Park contains a vast ecosystem, with wetland sloughs and prairies, tropical hardwood hammocks, pine rocklands, extensive mangrove estuaries, and Florida Bay with its expansive seagrass meadows. This vast ecosystem is the largest subtropical wilderness area in North America and the largest legislated wilderness area east of the Rocky Mountains. More than 5 million people live on the edge of the park in the communities of Miami, Homestead, Naples and the Florida Keys. Park headquarters is located in Homestead, Fl.
South Florida has two distinct seasons (rainy and dry). The rainy season occurs from mid-April to mid-November and the dry season is from mid-November to mid-April. Heavy downpours, tropical storms and hurricanes are frequent in the rainy season, and temperatures can exceed 90'F for extended periods of time. During the dry season the skies are clear and sunny, and temperatures vary from mid 60's to mid 70's. Occasional cold fronts can cause temperatures to dip into the 40's and 50's. South Florida offers a wide variety of recreational activities including diving, paddling, fishing, bicycling etc. Urban communities adjacent to the park offer a wide variety of sporting events, performances and concerts, museums, festivals and more! The vibrant diversity of South Florida offers unique opportunities for an immersive cultural living experience.
For more information about the local area, please visit:

• Everglades National Park official website: http://www.nps.gov/ever/index.htm
• Monroe County and the Florida Keys: Monroe County, FL - Official Website | Official Website
• Miami Dade County Chamber of Commerce: http://www.m-dcc.org/

Requirements
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Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship required.
• Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
• Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males.
• Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
• You will be required to submit to a drug test and receive a negative drug test result prior to appointment. In addition, this position is subject to random testing for illegal drug use.
• You will be required to submit to a pre-employment and periodic physical examination.
• You will be required to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of your official duties; a valid driver's license is required. You will be required to submit a Motor Vehicle Operator's License and Driving Record. You must also submit (within a State sealed envelope or submitted directly by the State authorities), and at your own expense, all certified driving records from all States that disclose all valid driver's licenses, whether current or past, possessed by you.
• You may be required to complete training and operate a four-wheel drive vehicle.
• You will be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
• You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work.
• You will be required to complete a one-year trial period.
• You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 5 nights per month. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
• You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority.
• Applicants must be at least (1)18 years old or (2) at least 16 years old and: (a) Have graduated from high school or been awarded a certificate equivalent to graduating from high school; or (b) Have completed a formal vocational training program; or (c) Have received a statement from school authorities agreeing with their preference for employment rather than continuing their education; or (d) Be currently enrolled in a secondary school and either work only during school vacation periods or work part-time during the school year under a formal student employment program.

Qualifications
Requirements Continued...

• You must have the ability to lift up to 50 lbs.
• You will be required to possess an Emergency Medical Responder Certification within 12 months of Entrance on Duty.
• You will be required to operate small watercraft less than 26 feet in length.
• If you do not already possess one, you will be required to obtain a Department of the Interior Motorboat Operator Certification Course (MOCC) certification within 6 months of Entering on Duty.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a one year trial period, during which your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest will be evaluated.
This trial 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 trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.
Qualifications
All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-06/08/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.
Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (month/year), and the resume must reflect full and/or part-time or total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time). If part-time, the hours must be annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount of qualified specialized experience.
SELECTIVE FACTOR: These positions perform emergency medical response work and Emergency Medical Certification at the First Aid Level (or higher) is required at the time of application. You must provide documentation of meeting the Selective Factor with your application package to receive further consideration. Candidates who do not meet this requirement by close of this announcement, and provide documentation with their application package to support such claims, will receive no further consideration for these positions. DO NOT SUBMIT DOCUMENTS WITH PHOTOGRAPHS. Photographs may not be included with application packages. Please be sure photographs are redacted prior to submitting supporting documentation. Submission of photographs on supporting documentation will result in disqualification from further consideration for the position of GS-0025-09 Park Ranger (Preventative Search and Rescue (PSAR)).
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To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:
EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Experience may have been technical, administrative, or scientific work, fish and wildlife management, recreation management, law enforcement, or other park-related work. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include but are not limited to the following: park guide or tour leader; law enforcement or investigative work; archeological or historical preservation research work; forestry and/or fire management work in a park, recreation, or conservation area; management, assistant, or program specialist work involving the development and implementation of policy related to protection, conservation, or management of park areas or similar operations. Additionally, experience must include: planning, coordinating, and conducting search and rescue (SAR) and preventative search and rescue (PSAR) operations in remote or high risk environments; responding to emergency incidents involving lost, injured, or overdue visitors; assessing risk, terrain, weather, and visitor behavior to prevent incidents; coordinating multi-agency responses with local, state, tribal and federal partners; and providing visitor education and outreach focused on safety, risk management and resource protection. . You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least two full academic years of progressively higher-level graduate education or a master's or equivalent graduate degree related to the occupation. Directly-related fields include 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. Two years of graduate study is considered to be 36 semester hours. You MUST submit a copy of transcripts.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of experience and education as described above. To combine experience and education, first take the number of months of full-time experience and divide by 12 months. Then take the number of semester hours, or equivalent, earned towards a graduate degree, in excess of 18 credit hours, and divide by 18 credit hours, or equivalent. Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include 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.
Education
To qualify based on education, you must submit a legible copy of transcripts from an accredited institution with your name, school name, credit hours, course level, major(s), and grade-point average or class ranking. Transcripts do not need to be official, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.
If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet qualification requirements, you must show that your education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.
ICTAP/CTAP: Current surplus and current or former displaced Federal individuals who have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) must be well qualified for the position to receive consideration for special priority selection. Well qualified means that the applicant meets the following: OPM qualification standards for the position; all selective placement factors, where applicable; special qualifying conditions that OPM has approved for the position, where applicable; is physically qualified with reasonable accommodation, where appropriate to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position upon entry; and is rated by the organization at least at the well qualified level...