Why This Park Ranger (Interpretation) Job Matters
Join the <strong class="text-gray-900">National Park Service</strong> and make an impact.
Park Ranger (Interpretation) Job Overview
Qualifications: All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 09/17/2026-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 Individual Occupational Requirements: To qualify for this position at the GS-05 level: Experience: To qualify, 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 may have been in assisting 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. Providing visitor information by answering questions, explaining rules and regulations, and directing visitors to facilities, trails, exhibits, or points of interest. Assisting with preparing, organizing, or maintaining interpretive materials, exhibits, educational supplies, or program equipment. Working with members of the public to provide courteous customer service while responding to a variety of visitor needs and inquiries. Following established safety procedures while conducting visitor services or assisting with educational or interpretive activities. You MUST include hours per week worked in your resume. -OR- Education: Successful completion of at least a 4-year course of study above high school leading to a bachelor's degree with 24 semester hours of related course work in a major study 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. You must include transcripts. -OR- Combination of education and experience: Combination of education and specialized experience as described above. To calculate your percentage of qualifying graduate education, divide your number of semester hours in excess of 60 semester hours by 120, or the number your school uses to represent one year of full-time graduate academic study. To calculate your percentage of experience, divide your months of qualifying specialized experience by 12. Add the two percentages. They must equal at least 100% to qualify using this option. Note: You must include a copy of your academic transcripts with your application if qualifying on education and you must include hours per week worked on your resume. To qualify for this position at the GS-07 level: Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience may have been in independently planning and presenting interpretive talks, guided walks, educational programs, or demonstrations for diverse audiences. Researching and developing interpretive or educational program content, presentations, exhibits, or informational materials using established resource information. Providing visitor orientation and information while explaining park resources, regulations, recreational opportunities, and safety practices. Assisting in evaluating visitor programs by gathering participant feedback, maintaining program statistics, or recommending improvements. Working collaboratively with coworkers, volunteers, interns, teachers, or partner organizations to support interpretive or educational programming. You MUST include hours per week worked in your resume. -OR- Education: Successful completion of at least one full year of graduate study in a related filed or achieved superior academic achievement. 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. You must include a copy of your transcripts. -OR- Combination of education and experience: Combinations of successfully completed education and specialized experience may be used to meet total experience requirements. To compute this percentage, first divide the total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide the number of completed post high school semester hours of education (that are in excess of 120 semester hours) by 120. Add the two percentages together; the total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. NOTE: Only post high school education in excess of more than four-years may be used to qualify for this position and must include 24 semester hours of related course work such as those listed above. You must include a copy of your transcripts. 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 the one decimal place, for example, 2.95 = 3.0, 2.94 = 2.9; OR (3) Membership in a National Scholastic Honor Society. To qualify for this position at the GS-09 level: Qualifications continued in "Education" section.