Soil Conservation Technician

ID: ASC1-007

Location: Greenville, SC
Agency: NRCS
Wage/Hr: $24.99
Hours/Week: 20
Minimum Age: 55 (legislative requirement for the ACES program)

*Disclaimer: This is not a federal position. This role is offered through a partnership agreement and does not constitute an NRCS hiring action.

This position is a non-federal role funded through an existing agreement between NRCS and NEW Solutions. The enrollee is not a federal employee. The enrollee will provide direct support to farmers and landowners, enabling the implementation of conservation practices on the ground. This role contributes to meeting the mission of NRCS by enhancing capacity in field offices and ensuring timely assistance to producers. It is designed to free up NRCS staff for emergency and high-priority responses, not to replace federal staff.

This role helps ensure continued progress on conservation planning, practice implementation, and technical assistance, especially in high-demand or disaster-affected areas. Additionally, this position aligns with the priorities of the Administration for farmer-first, field-facing, and partner-enabled capacity expansion.

For over 25 years, National Experienced Workforce Solutions (NEW Solutions) has specialized in connecting experienced workers (ages 55+) with full-time and part-time job opportunities that support the critical missions of Federal Agencies across the United States.

NEW Solutions connects experienced workers (ages 55+) with the Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS). These are experienced professionals who provide technical and professional assistance to the Department of Agriculture for the Agriculture Conservation Experienced Services (ACES) Program.

Benefits:

• Paid Health Insurance Premium for positions budgeted at 60+ hours per pay period, Accrued Vacation and Sick Leave, Paid Federal Holidays, and optional Vision and Dental Insurance available for positions budgeted at 35+ hours per pay period.

Positions listed here do not guarantee employment for any definite period. Enrollment in the Experienced Worker Programs administered by NEW Solutions is temporary. The enrollment relationship between NEW Solutions and the Enrollee is an “at-will” relationship. This means that an Enrollee is free to terminate enrollment at any time during the enrollment period, and NEW Solutions and the Agency have the right to terminate the relationship with the Enrollee.

PLEASE NOTE:

• An “ACES Enrollee” is not a federal employee, nor an employee of NEW Solutions. An “ACES Enrollee” is a participant in a grant program established through a Cooperative Agreement funded by the USDA-NRCS and administered by NEW Solutions.

This opportunity applies to applicants legally eligible to work in the United States.

Duties:

The Incumbent assists the District Conservationists throughout Area 1 on an ad hoc basis with carrying out field office operations, conservation planning and USDA program implementation including outreach. This position will be primarily in an outdoor environment, traveling to remote sites throughout Area 1.

• Provides program support for the implementation of Farm Bill programs in South Carolina. Duties include typing, copying, editing, reviewing, and mailing documents, scanning, analyzing data, and developing spreadsheets and other electronic files. Also includes the use of NRCS business tools associated with Farm Bill delivery, including but not limited to Conservation Desktop and Protracts. 50%
• Assists in the monitoring of Farm Bill programs in accordance with appropriate rules, policy, and guidance. Maintains tracking and controls of programmatic records, management, and organization of information. 20%
• Communicates with and greets customers; Assists and coordinates training and meetings. Prepare letters, reports, and email communications. Files and organizes information. Prepares documents, uploads and retrieves information from SharePoint, and enters information into Excel spreadsheets and relational databases. Other duties as assigned. 20%
• Assist with the contract agreements. Communicate with program managers and program recipients to collect documentation, and submit reports, and payments. 10%

Qualifications:

Minimum of 5 year(s) of experience in Skilled as a conservation planner in the collection of resource condition data, doing resource assessments, assembling information in useable form, developing alternatives, and documenting landowner/group decisions in the conservation plan. OR HS/GED Degree in Agriculture, natural resources, agronomy or related field of study.

• Experience required with Windows, MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint

Other:

• Health and Safety Considerations: Walking through woody areas will require training in the basic first aid for tick & snake bites, an orientation session on the importance of proper wearing apparel such as long sleeve shirts, boots, sunscreen, and finally, use of the defensive driving techniques when operation a government vehicle. There will be an initial orientation session and periodic follow-up reviews.
• Physical requirements: Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.