Position Description

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
POSITION DESCRIPTION FOR JOB POSTING
Position Number: 00085154	Description Activated On: 8/28/2024 2:26:33 PM

Position Purpose: Describe the primary purpose of this position and how it contributes to the organization’s objectives. Example: Provides clerical and office support within the Division to ensure its operations are conducted efficiently and effectively.

To assist the Habitat Planning and Development Division Chief in ensuring that the Game Commission meets standards set forth in the Prescribed Burning Practices Act (2009), and to serve as the statewide program coordinator for the Game Commission’s prescribed fire resources and qualifications, wildfire resources and qualifications, prescribed burn plan development, prescribed fire and wildfire reporting, wildfire intelligence and weather, and to coordinate the Game Commission’s wildfire response with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Description of Duties: Describe in detail the duties and responsibilities assigned to this position. Descriptions should include the major end result of the task. Example: Types correspondence, reports, and other various documents from handwritten drafts for review and signature of the supervisor.

Description of Duties: Describe in detail the duties and responsibilities assigned to this position. Descriptions should include the major end result of the task. Example: Types correspondence, reports, and other various documents from handwritten drafts for review and signature of the supervisor.

This position is responsible for developing statewide goals and processes for building and maintaining qualified resources to conduct prescribed fires and respond to wildfire emergencies.

The position reviews and assesses prescribed fire and wildfire resources statewide for the Game Commission; incorporating data in the wildland fire qualifications databases; setting statewide qualification objectives; and determining the skills, training and experience needed to maintain and build capacity for prescribed fire implementation and wildfire response.

Based on assessed need, the position coordinates with regional and headquarters supervisors, other state and federal agencies, and non-governmental agency partners on training offerings and schedules with the result of continually improving the Game Commission’s prescribed fire program and wildfire response per the agency’s Strategic Plan.

The position develops standard operating procedures for resource qualifications, qualification tracking, post- prescribed fire reporting, and wildfire reporting, and for inspecting fire equipment and ensuring appropriate personal protective equipment for staff to perform wildland fire duties safely

The employee is also responsible for gathering and analyzing various data, reviewing task books, facilitating task book completion via inter-regional and inter-agency coordination on operational training periods, identifying program goals and deficiencies, and developing and implementing a statewide process to continually improve the prescribed fire program and the agency’s response to wildfires.

The position interacts with staff in Game Commission Headquarters, six statewide Game Commission Regions, other state and federal agencies, and non-governmental partners. This position serves as a point of contact for prescribed fire program logistics, training, and wildland fire qualification issues.

Specific job duties include:

Access and review electronic tracking systems such as IQS to record and analyze staff training levels to ensure employees meet state and federal standards in order to work on prescribed fires and wildfires. This position independently determines eligibility for each employee per those standards.

Inspect and confirm functionality of Type 6 and Type 7 engines and other wildland fire equipment and performs or recommends repairs, upgrades, or acquisitions as needed.

Coordinate with the Department of Conservation & Natural Resources, Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, The Nature Conservancy and other partners on developing and implementing statewide prescribed fire and wildfire response plans in conjunction with PGC plans.

Serves as the agency representative to the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) relating to Emergency Support Functions assigned to Firefighting. Employee may be on-call during non-working hours to respond to emergency situations.

Serve as the wildfire intelligence coordinator by providing intelligence to Habitat Planning & Development Division Chief and/or Regional Land Managers on wildfire activity, fuel conditions, wildfire danger and fire weather conditions throughout the year.

Coordinate statewide burn plan development and serve as the Technical Reviewer per standards set forth in the Prescribed Burning Practices Act of 2009 with regional staff and partner agencies.

Coordinate all prescribed fire and wildfire reporting statewide on Commission-managed lands with regional staff, providing reports internally and as required by law to other agencies.

Analyze fuels, weather and other data to develop, design and implement burn plans within the Game Commission.

Work in various capacities on low, moderate, and high complexity prescribed or wildland fires, or as an incident management team member as needed.

Serve as Burn Boss for PGC on low and moderate complexity prescribed fire operations.

Provide staff training relevant to wildland fire and other wildlife habitat management techniques.

Uses ArcGIS and web applications for prescribed fire planning, vegetation monitoring, and analysis of spatial data and imagery and provide direction to GIS staff for application development.

Create reports using Microsoft Office and ArcGIS.

Utilize various software programs for radio communications and wildland fire modeling including BEHAVE Plus and Fire Family Plus.

Coordinate with other agencies and PGC Bureaus on radio communications and interoperability of the P25 state radio system.

Travel to job sites as required.

Other duties relevant to wildland fire and wildlife habitat management as assigned.

Decision Making: Describe the types of decisions made by the incumbent of this position and the types of decisions referred to others. Identify the problems or issues that can be resolved at the level of this position, versus those that must be referred to the supervisor. Example: In response to a customer inquiry, this work involves researching the status of an activity and preparing a formal response for the supervisor’s signature.

The Forest Program Specialist responsible for oversight of the Fire Program (i.e., Fire Program Manager) makes decisions on overall fire program direction and identifying priorities/goals/strategies, fire program budgeting and expenditures, firefighter training, fire partnerships, fireteam leadership signoff, burn unit planning and prioritization, and regional fire program coordination. All decisions are guided by the Commission’s Strategic Plan, are coordinated with the Habitat Planning & Development Division and Forestry Division and are exercised in accordance with the best interest of wildlife, wildlife habitat, firefighter safety, and the future of the State Game Lands habitat resources. Decisions requiring legal opinion or higher Commission policy review are referred to the Bureau of Habitat Management Director or the Executive Director.

Requirements Profile: Identify any specific experience or requirements, such as a licensure, registration, or certification, which may be necessary to perform the functions of the position. Position-specific requirements should be consistent with a Special Requirement or other criteria identified in the classification specification covering this position. Example: Experience using Java; Professional Engineer License

Experience:

Licenses, registrations, or certifications:

1.   Class C Driver's License

2.   N/A

3.   N/A

4.

5.

6.

Essential Functions: Provide a list of essential functions for this position. Example: Transports boxes weighing up to 60 pounds.

1.	Traverse all types of terrain and work in adverse weather conditions.
2.	Understand the concepts of fire management and be able to develop and implement statewide burn plans.
3.	Maintain effective communications with diverse groups on wildland and fire-related topics with diverse groups on wildland fire-related topics.
4.	Maintain effective relationships with all levels of employees both within the Game Commission and other state/federal agencies and the public.
5.	Utilize mechanical knowledge of engines to determine working order.
6.	Critically review written documents, notably burn plans and other official documents and reports.
7.	Input data and produce reports using Microsoft Office and ArcGIS desktop and web applications.
8.	Obtain and maintain any licensure/certifications required on state or federal levels to train, or oversee other firefighters and/or equipment.
9.	Work overtime on a regular basis and be available and able to respond when on-call.
10.	Overnight stays may be required; some for extended periods of time.