Wildland Firefighter 2 - Lead Helicopter Crew Member

Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation's mission is to help ensure that Montana's land and water resources provide benefits for present and future generations.

The DNRC believes employees are their most important asset. The DNRC empowers employees to exercise professional judgment in carrying out their duties. Employees are provided with the training and tools necessary to achieve the mission. Both team effort and individual employee expertise are supported and sustained.

Core Values:

The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation’s Forestry and Trust Land Division recognizes that building a collaborative, professional, and inclusive work environment is critical to fulfilling our mission of managing, protecting, and promoting stewardship of Montana’s forests and lands for the benefit of current and future generations and our trust beneficiaries. We hold ourselves to these high standards as we are accountable to the people of Montana.

• We value and respect each other.
• We create collaborative work environments.
• We build and maintain strong relationships.
• We practice accountability.

• We celebrate our successes and take pride

Job Overview:

This position has limited Administrative Supervision responsibilities. However operationally, responsibilities will include assisting in the coordination, implementation, and supervision of wildland fire initial attack personnel and equipment to provide a safe and effective fire management capability for the Area. Work assignments require cooperation and coordination with State and Federal agencies, the general public, permanent and seasonal employees and private contractors. The position is expected to complete assigned seasonal activities related to wildland fire protection, buildings, grounds, vehicles and fire-related program projects of the Area and Units. The incumbent will assist the Helicopter Manager plan, coordinate, and implement training for Permanent and Seasonal personnel. One of the priorities for the Area is cooperator relationships; therefore, the Lead Helicopter Crewmember will maintain relationships with the adjoining DNRC Areas, Units, Federal agencies, and surrounding Counties. This position is supervised by the Area Helicopter Manager or Area Helicopter Program Manager. The Lead Helicopter Crewmember receives daily assignments related to helicopter operations and is responsible for coordinating crew tasks to meet assignment objectives. This coordination role may be extended on and off the Area during various work schedules. This position performs training, prevention, general forestry work, equipment and facilities maintenance, as well as other duties as assigned. This position may perform as an Aerial Observer in the Fixed-wing aircraft and drive helicopter support vehicles when requested by supervisors (if a State of Montana Class B CDL is obtained).

Special Information: This position is for a Temporary position to work 6-9 months to include work during the wildland fire season.

APPLICATION MATERIALS REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION ARE:

• Online State of Montana application
• Cover Letter

• Resume

HELPFUL HINT: You must check the “relevant document” box to ensure your attachments are uploading correctly to the specific application.

Benefits:

• Work/life balance
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Retirement plans
• Generous paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays
• Pre-tax flexible spending accounts
• A vibrant Employee Assistance Program
• State of Montana employment may qualify you to receive student loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Look here to learn more and understand whether or not you may qualify.

Additional benefit package information is available here.

• If you are interested in a complete job description, please contact HR at Stacey.Gabrio@mt.gov.

Minimum Qualifications:
High School diploma or equivalent. Applicant must at a minimum be fully qualified at the following: Helicopter Crewmember and Firefighter Type 1. It is desired that the incumbent be Incident Commander Type 5, Helicopter Manager, and Faller Class 2.

Physical and Environmental Demands:
Over 50% of the work this position performs is conducted outdoors in mountainous terrain with exposure to environmental hazards for long time periods. Work is seasonal in nature and requires exposure to wildfires with associated discomforts, risk of serious injury, and exposure to adverse weather and terrain. Wildfires typically involve smoke, dust, hot temperatures, and high noise levels next to aircraft, equipment, and pumps. Hazards encountered can include erratic and unpredictable fire behavior; fatigue; working at night; falling snags; insects; rolling rocks; hazardous materials; poisonous plants; working around vehicles, fire engines and heavy equipment; exposure to hovering or low flying aircraft; wild animals; operating power tools; using sharpened hand tools; driving vehicles in all conditions including off road; urban interface hazards; and prolonged exposure to smoke. Work shifts during fire assignments are typically 12 to 16 hours per shift, and sometimes require relocation for up to two weeks at fire camps set up near larger fires. These camps can be remote, and firefighters are usually required to stay in camp when not engaged in firefighting tasks. Incumbent is required to respond to assigned duty station outside normal working hours within varied response time frames depending on actual and potential fire situations, and most tasks require varied travel times operating assigned fire engine or vehicles authorized by a Class C Montana driver’s license. Position requires an ability to do physically demanding, arduous work. Many tasks are completed on steep mountainous terrain, such as digging and clearing fire line using hand tools and chainsaws, traversing long distances on foot lifting and carrying objects in excess of 50 pounds, and operating a variety of hand tools and equipment.