Natural Heritage Trust
Job Announcement
Date: March 3, 2020
Title: Historic Preservation Program Technician
Work Location: New York State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO)
Peebles Island State Park, Peebles Island Resource Center, Waterford, NY
42.784628, -73.680622
Number of Positions: 3
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) and the Natural Heritage Trust (NHT) are accepting applications in the Division for Historic Preservation (DHP) to fill three positions in the Information Resources Unit. Serving as the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), the Division helps federal, state and municipal agencies, communities and property owners identify, evaluate, preserve and revitalize historic and cultural resources.
Position Overview: The Historic Preservation Program Technician is a full-time, temporary position that will assist the SHPO with improving and enhancing its Geographic Information System (GIS)-based Enterprise information application for the State/National Registers and Survey programs. New York State has over 6,200 properties officially designated in the State and National Registers, including over 120,000 individual properties, plus several hundred thousand additional properties that have been inventoried and evaluated for possible inclusion and designation.
It is critical that the Cultural Resource Inventory System (CRIS) database of properties be up-to-date and accurate as it provides the basis for reviews undertaken as part of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, Section 14.09 of the New York State Historic Preservation Act of 1980, the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), and federal and state financial incentive programs. The goal of this initiative is to provide direct support and to update, expand and enhance SHPO’s historic resources and archaeological site inventory. All of these tasks involve communicating closely with other SHPO staff and preservation partners. NHT staff assigned to this program will work with staff in the Survey, National Register. Archaeology and Information Resources units at SHPO to verify existing data, make corrections and updates as required, convert and migrate legacy data. The Historic Preservation (HP) Program Technicians will work under the direct supervision of the Information Resources Unit Coordinator.
Primary Responsibilities
• Detail-oriented work verifying the accuracy of building locations and associated attributes in CRIS
• Reconciling legacy data with newly acquired data to ensure accuracy and consistency
• Review and process HP inventory and geospatial data submitted via the CRIS Trekker mobile app by the HP consultants
• Upload digital inventory forms from Trekker mobile app into CRIS
• Utilize historic preservation data for review, analysis, and publication using desktop and online GIS platforms
• Perform field work collecting spatial data for NR eligible buildings, structures and districts and other Park inventory using the Trekker mobile data collection solution
• Evaluate and assess properties/prepare determinations of National Register eligibility
• Work with DHP staff to fulfill geographic and other digital information needs including geo-processing, database management and the conversion and migration of legacy datasets
• Assist on various GIS projects and tasks as needed
Occasional overnight travel and fieldwork throughout the state may be required.
Minimum Qualifications: The candidate must have a bachelor’s degree or higher in History, Public History, Architectural History, Historic Preservation, Anthropology or Urban Planning and one year of professional experience in historic preservation or cultural resource management with emphasis in historic resources surveys, documentation and/or National Register nominations. A master’s degree or 30 graduate credit hours toward a master’s degree in one of these fields may be substituted for the one-year experience requirement. Strong organizational and communication skills. Valid Driver’s license.
Preferred Skills/Experience: Knowledge of New York State history or architectural history and experience conducting historic resources surveys; preparing determinations of National Register eligibility; writing National Register nominations; maintaining databases and project management. Knowledge of state and federal historic preservation programs and strong written and verbal communications skills. Additional consideration will be given to those candidates who can demonstrate advanced knowledge and experience in ESRI’s Geographic Info Systems (GIS) and familiarity with ArcGIS Online.
Project Funding and Duration: These positions are funded through the NHT and the selected candidates will be employees of the NHT with work conducted under the supervision of SHPO. There is currently funding for these positions for up to three years.
Salary: $46,500 year. Full benefits package.
To Apply: Please email a letter of interest, resume or CV, and names and contact information for three professional references to Michael Schifferli, Historic Preservation Information Resources Coordinator, Michael.Schifferli@parks.ny.gov (518-268-2180) by March 31, 2020. Please insert the words “HP Technician” in the subject line.