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Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
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POSITION DESCRIPTION FOR JOB POSTING |
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Position Number: 50693873 |
Description Activated On: 10/6/2025 1:59:47 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. The Regional Forest Geospatial Specialist 2 position will serve as the District GIS coordinator for District 1 while providing in-field assistance in the development of geospatial technological capacity for Bureau of Forestry land management practices by supporting these additional roles through across BOF program functions. Work would be prioritized through function stacking R&D projects as much as possible across district and program area needs and deploying the analyst as needed at the district, regional, or statewide locations as necessary for field testing products and approaches. Role in Fire This position will work with District Fire and FFP personnel to support both RX and Wildfire operations and planning. As a GIS professional, this position is an ideal candidate to receive UAS mission training for operational and planning situations. Streamlining UAS missions through the role allows for a “one stop shop” for mission operations and data analysis procedures following the UAS mission. Additional expectations of the role in the realm of Fire duties would be continued learning and qualifications through NIFC. Ideally, this position would pursue task books covering topics such as, but not limited to, GIS, UAS Piloting, Fire Ecology/Effects Analysis, and Wildfire Mitigation Techniques. At both the District and Regional level, this position stands to increase fire operational and planning capacity in both RX and Wildfire scenarios via the direct “boots on the ground” application of geospatial data collection, analyses, and use in emergency response and land management (Rx fire) decision making. Role with Forest Health As an embedded district asset, the role will work with Forest Health to implement, test, and design geospatial applications and tools to improve the capacity and efficiency of our data collection methods and processes. Forest Health has identified the Invasive Species program as an area where additional geospatial capacity in field testing and design at the District level would provide a benefit. Via the connection between Forest Health and District staff, the specialist can help to develop geospatial data collection tools that, once created and tested, can be expanded Bureau wide. Additionally, as a qualified UAS pilot the role would provide support to Forest Health via a recent and continuous stream of aerial imagery provided by resource UAS missions. Role with Geospatial Section As a GIS professional, this role will work with the Geospatial Section to develop, improve, test, and implement new and existing GIS applications at the District and Regional level. By being an in-district asset, this role can directly develop and test GIS applications in the field to ensure functionality and applicability/relevance for District operations. This housing of the position creates a crucial bridge of information between the Geospatial section in Harrisburg and field experiences and operations on the ground. As such, this position will help to push the Bureau’s Geospatial capacity and real-world application of geosciences in the field. An embedded GIS specialist at the District level will help to increase GIS capacity, while easing the burden of geospatial development on the Geospatial section in Harrisburg. Role with Resource Inventory and Monitoring This position will help to facilitate the application and design of geospatial methods in association with the Resource Inventory and Monitoring section. Due to the position’s qualifications as a GIS professional, this position will hold the capacity to work with the Resource Inventory and Monitoring section on grant-funded projects with partners to ensure geographically sound data collection methods and strategies. As an in-district asset, this role will be able to provide detail and modeling efforts not available without a “boots on the ground” approach. Additional support capacity for this section via the position would come in the form of UAS mission capacity and application to section projects and objectives when possible. Existing development around this role is exemplified by the facultative role being played by this position in enhancing collaborative efficiencies between outside research partners and District, Inventory, and Ecological Services section staff in the development of a watershed level monitoring protocol funded by a NFWF grant. Future work will be done on similar projects to model optimized approaches to watershed level liming treatments and carbon sequestration in early successional habitat types maintained through periodic Rx fire regimes. Role With Ecological Services and Conservation Science This position will facilitate the application and design of geospatial methods in association with the ecological services and conservation science sections by enhancing capacity to use remote sensing to map and model microsite and landscape level conditions for T&E habitat management plans and research projects or to assist Section biologists in developing and ground-truthing predictive models based on the field-embedded nature of this position. Efficiencies to existing field and Central Office operations will be gained through UAS applications in wildlife telemetry studies and collecting, analyzing, and modeling plant community changes to provide data supported decision making around achieving optimal target conditions in High Conservation Value Forest area management plans or other research and management work around vulnerable and declining species populations or habitat types. |
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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. • Conducts and oversees advanced geospatial analysis using spatial model development, predictive analytics, hypothesis testing, and spatial pattern recognition in the development and presentation of geographic solutions. •Conducts routine UAS missions to increase data collection efforts and decision-making capacity at a regional level. • Develops innovative solutions to mend the bridge between Geospatial Section in Harrisburg and the day-to-day functions of a forest district. • Designs custom queries and models using coding languages such as Python or R to prepare technical reports and graphic representations of data such as maps, charts, graphics, data layers, and other visual displays to fulfill bureau requests. • Functions as the project lead in design, interpretation, and application of geospatial data models to assist program and field managers in planning and decision making at a regional scale. • Identifies, develops, and stores standard data models and scripts used by regional Forest District staff for routine analysis and visualization assignments. • Coordinates with Bureau Section and Division staff to develop geospatial and GIS-related applications for Internet, desktop, and mobile presentation. • Plans and oversees geospatial projects that involve analyzing unique and extensive user requirements; developing a data set acquisition strategy; and reporting, tracking, and presenting project results to agency leadership. • Creates optimal organization of necessary spatial data for large or program-wide applications within a geodatabase. • Identifies data sources and supervises the acquisition, integration, quality assurance, and implementation of geospatial data. • Performs analysis on large data sets to find patterns, correlations, and anomalies to predict trends or outcomes and inform land management decisions. • Works closely with the Geospatial Section to develop and pilot the implementation and of functional standards for geospatial applications, hardware and software, geospatial data, and geodatabases across the bureau. • Partners with information technology and program staff to oversee the publishing and distribution of geospatial data and products across commonwealth agencies and to the public and ensures all information is released according to agency and commonwealth policy. • Serves as the District 1 GIS Coordinator and establishes quality assurance and quality control procedures for geospatial data and geodatabases created or used at the district or regional level. • Oversees the publishing and deployment of new applications and releases; maintains release documentation and schedules and coordinates with information technology and program area to ensure compliance with policies governing testing, verification, configuration, and deployment. • Participates in a gap analysis and assessment of GIS system requirements to execute geospatial strategy and initiatives. • Participates in the design, configuration, and maintenance of enterprise-wide geodatabases, spatial servers, or data warehouses. • Serves as team member and subject matter expert on program or agency projects and applications that require a geographic component. • Develops and oversees testing of new GIS software packages, technologies, and versions in preparation for implementation. • Applies commonwealth information technology policies and security standards to work assignments. • Provides training, job aids, and technical support and guidance to Forest District GIS Coordinators. • Develops and oversees the implementation of training plans for GIS users based on technical and project needs analysis. • Supervises the creation, maintenance, and sharing of geospatial metadata that adheres to agency and commonwealth standards. • Participates in GIS user groups, conferences, and continuing education courses to remain current on best practices. * Perform other related duties. |
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. 1. This is a professional spatial technology, data, and information management position that requires decision making skills based on analytical thinking and technical competencies in the fields of geo-spatial data management, analysis, and modeling, watershed, forest, fire, wildlife, and recreational ecology, forest management planning, and human dimensions, communications, and public relations. 2. Decision making authority for this position revolves around creative thinking and problem solving by utilizing existing or collected data and information to advance district level management efficiencies within existing guidelines, policies, and procedures set at the district, Bureau, Department, or Commonwealth level. 3. This position has both administrative and law enforcement decision making responsibility and authority in the areas of Commonwealth leases, contracts, wildfire suppression, and state forest rules and regs. 4. Requires a high degree of collaboration partnership building skills with diverse audiences, skill sets, and interests ranging from researchers and emergency personnel to timber sale contractors and laborers. 5. Respond calmly, intelligently, and constructively to complex, high-stress, and emergency situations. |
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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: M Licenses, registrations, or certifications: 1. N/A 2. N/A 3. N/A 4. N/A 5. N/A 6. N/A |
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Essential Functions: Provide a list of essential functions for this position. Example: Transports boxes weighing up to 60 pounds.
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