What are the responsibilities and job description for the Land Law Examiner (Minerals). position at Bureau of Land Management?
Duties
Conditions of employment
In order to be rated as qualified for this position, we must be able to determine that you meet the qualification requirements - please be sure to include this information in your resume. No assumptions will be made about your experience.
All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 07/29/2026-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 GS-07: One (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-05 in the Federal service as a Land Law Examiner or directly related position. Specialized experience includes the examination of applications and claims for land or resources use; title searching; interpreting land records; work as a land appraiser; general practice of law that included involvement in legal transactions involving the acquisition, lease, or disposal of land
Federal employees in the competitive service are also subject to the Time-In-Grade requirement in accordance with 5 CFR 300.604. If you are a current Federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must have completed a minimum of 52 weeks at the next lower grade level.
Volunteer Experience: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
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.
Education
If using education to qualify, You MUST submit a copy of ALL your college transcripts or a list of ALL college courses that include hours and grades from an accredited U.S. college/university. Upon selection, official transcripts must be received prior to appointment. If you are using
Foreign Education: To receive credit for education completed outside the United States, you must show proof that the education has been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated, visit:
Additional information
Additional vacancies may be filled using this job announcement.
Promotion to the full performance level is neither guaranteed nor implied and will be based solely on your ability to satisfactorily perform the work of the position, existing work at the higher grade level, and recommendation by the position's supervisor.
Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the
If otherwise eligible and qualified, you may be offered a Student Loan Repayment Benefit (SLRB). The decision to offer an SLRB will be made on a case-by-case basis and is neither promised nor guaranteed.
Related Non-Federal experience or related experience as retired members of the uniformed services may be credited towards computing entitlement to leave accrual, at managerial discretion, providing that experience meets certain criteria. This provision allows new employees to earn annual leave at a higher rate than would otherwise be allowed. (5 Code of Federal Regulations, 630).
All DOI employees, their spouses, and minor children may not acquire or retain any claim, permit, lease, small tract entry, or other rights granted by the Department in Federal lands, with limited exceptions. Additional ethics prohibitions can be found here,
Applicants who include vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate language or information in their application package will be ineligible for further consideration for this position.
Physical Demands: Work is predominantly sedentary although there is some walking, stooping, and bending involved when searching for records.
Work Environment: Work is complete in a typical office setting.
Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding.
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
- Serve as the technical expert in a combination of lands, minerals leasing, mining law, adjudication functions and requirements.
- Provide advice and guidance to other examiners, management, and Solicitors on general legal principles, precedent decisions, and proper application and use of public land laws.
- Adjudicate complex cases that are received or referred for final examining decision including cases with complicated title evidence, land status issues, overlapping withdrawals, and title restrictions.
- Cases may involve conflicting laws, resource conflicts such as endangered species or archeological issues, policy conflicts which may require negotiations and extensive research.
- Conduct legal research, analyze regulations, judicial decisions, Solicitor opinions, and other decisions that impact land and mineral adjudications.
- Utilizes data, systems, and applications to collect, enter, manipulate, update, and maintain data according to prescribed Bureau and program standards.
- Ensures data quality and integrity by adherence to quality control standards and procedures.
- Present evidence and recommendations to members of the public, and land, mineral, mining, and energy related agencies.
- Provide advice, assistance, and instruction in legal interpretation and other information on land and mineral leasing laws.
- Prepares a variety of legal documents and responses to protest, contest, disclaimers, and appeals.
Conditions of employment
- U.S. Citizenship is required.
- Be sure to read the 'How to Apply' and 'Required Documents' Sections.
- You cannot hold an active real estate license: nor can you have an interest or hold stocks in firms with interest in Federal Lands.
- Direct Deposit Required.
- Appointment will be subject to a favorably adjudicated background/suitability investigation/determination.
- Your resume must contain enough information to show that you meet the qualification requirements as defined in the announcement. In addition, your responses to the questions must adequately reflect in your resume.
- May require a one year probationary period or two year trial period depending on appointment type.
- If selected for this position, you will be required to annually complete a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report, OGE-450 within 30 days of reporting to duty. (Required only for GS-9/GS-11)
- Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
In order to be rated as qualified for this position, we must be able to determine that you meet the qualification requirements - please be sure to include this information in your resume. No assumptions will be made about your experience.
All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 07/29/2026-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 GS-07: One (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-05 in the Federal service as a Land Law Examiner or directly related position. Specialized experience includes the examination of applications and claims for land or resources use; title searching; interpreting land records; work as a land appraiser; general practice of law that included involvement in legal transactions involving the acquisition, lease, or disposal of land
- OR- One (1) full year (18 semester hours) of graduate level education leading to a master's degree or equivalent that included or was supplemented by 12 semester hours or course work related to the administration of land laws. Examples include course work in land surveying, cartography, land use law, real estate law, land appraising, land use planning, water rights, mining laws, or legal instrument review and interpretation
- OR- 1 year of graduate-level education or superior academic achievement. Superior Academic Achievement (See OPM's General Policies,
- OR- Combination of Education and Experience: You may meet qualifications requirement for this position with an equivalent combination of specialized experience and appropriate undergraduate/graduate education. Undergraduate/graduate level education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position.
- OR- Education: A master's or equivalent graduate degree in a directly related field such as surveying, cartography, land use law, real estate law, land appraising or land use planning water rights, mining laws, or legal instrument review and interpretation.
- OR- Two full years (36 semester hours) of graduate level education leading to a master`s degree or equivalent or LL.B or J.D., in a directly related field such as surveying, cartography, land use law, real estate law, land appraising or land use planning water rights, mining laws, or legal instrument review and interpretation.
- OR- Combination of Education and Experience: You may meet qualifications requirement for this position with an equivalent combination of specialized experience and appropriate graduate education. Graduate level education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position.
- OR- a Ph. D. or equivalent doctoral degree
- OR- 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree. OR related LL. M. OR A combination of qualifying experience and appropriate graduate education. Graduate level education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify.
Federal employees in the competitive service are also subject to the Time-In-Grade requirement in accordance with 5 CFR 300.604. If you are a current Federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must have completed a minimum of 52 weeks at the next lower grade level.
Volunteer Experience: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
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.
Education
If using education to qualify, You MUST submit a copy of ALL your college transcripts or a list of ALL college courses that include hours and grades from an accredited U.S. college/university. Upon selection, official transcripts must be received prior to appointment. If you are using
Foreign Education: To receive credit for education completed outside the United States, you must show proof that the education has been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated, visit:
Additional information
Additional vacancies may be filled using this job announcement.
Promotion to the full performance level is neither guaranteed nor implied and will be based solely on your ability to satisfactorily perform the work of the position, existing work at the higher grade level, and recommendation by the position's supervisor.
Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the
If otherwise eligible and qualified, you may be offered a Student Loan Repayment Benefit (SLRB). The decision to offer an SLRB will be made on a case-by-case basis and is neither promised nor guaranteed.
Related Non-Federal experience or related experience as retired members of the uniformed services may be credited towards computing entitlement to leave accrual, at managerial discretion, providing that experience meets certain criteria. This provision allows new employees to earn annual leave at a higher rate than would otherwise be allowed. (5 Code of Federal Regulations, 630).
All DOI employees, their spouses, and minor children may not acquire or retain any claim, permit, lease, small tract entry, or other rights granted by the Department in Federal lands, with limited exceptions. Additional ethics prohibitions can be found here,
Applicants who include vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate language or information in their application package will be ineligible for further consideration for this position.
Physical Demands: Work is predominantly sedentary although there is some walking, stooping, and bending involved when searching for records.
Work Environment: Work is complete in a typical office setting.
Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding.
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.