Fish and Wildlife Biologist

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Duties

• Performing data analysis and writes objective reports to evaluate findings.
• Preparing correspondence pertaining to technical aspects of the work.
• Conducting on-goings analysis of program and analyzes results of studies or investigations.
• Preparing reports with recommendation for changes, elimination, or improvement of operations and program plans.
  
  

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Requirements

Conditions of Employment

You must be a U.S. Citizen or U.S. National.

You must be suitable for federal employment, determined by a background investigation.

You must submit a resume and supporting documentation (see Required Documents).

You must submit eligibility documents for veterans consideration (see Required Documents).

You must meet any minimum education and/or experience requirements (see Qualifications).

You must submit transcript(s) to verify education requirements (see Qualifications/Education).

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet BOTH the Basic and Minimum Qualification requirements described below. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience. If qualifying based on education, a copy of your unofficial transcripts must be provided with your application.

BASIC QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT:

Degree: In an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to this position. NOTE: You must submit copies of your transcripts.

OR

Combination of Education and Experience: That includes 24 semester hours in course work in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position, PLUS appropriate experience or additional education. Note: You must submit your transcripts.

In Addition To Meeting One Of The Basic Requirements Listed Above, Applicants Must Meet The Following Minimum Qualifications Requirement In Order To Be Considered:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you have the required specialized experience and/or education for the respective grade level in which you are applying:

Specialized Experience For GS-7:

Applicants must have one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-05 grade level in the Federal service (obtained either in the private or public sectors) performing the following:(1) Environmental site assessments, (2) Clean Water Act (CWA) compliance (i.e. wetland delineations, 404, 402, or Stream Alteration permits), (3) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance (i.e. categorical exclusions, environmental assessments, or environmental impact statements), (4) Endangered Species Act (ESA) compliance (biological evaluations or assessments or initiation of informal or formal section 7 consultation), or (5) Experience with GIS to map or assess habitat.

OR

Education: Successful completion of at least 1 year of graduate-level education or superior academic achievement. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. Note: Please submit a copy of your graduate transcripts with your application. NOTE: You must include transcripts.

OR

Combination: Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. To combine education and experience, first take the total number of months of full-time qualifying experience and divide by 12 months to get a percentage of the required experience above. Then determine your education as a percentage of the education substitution stated above. When adding the two percentages, the total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include transcripts.

Specialized Experience For GS-9:

Applicants must have one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-7 grade level in the Federal service (obtained either in the private or public sectors) performing the following: (1) Environmental site assessments, (2) Clean Water Act (CWA) compliance (i.e. wetland delineations, 404, 402, or Stream Alteration permits), (3) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance (i.e. categorical exclusions, environmental assessments, or environmental impact statements), (4) Endangered Species Act (ESA) compliance (biological evaluations or assessments or initiation of informal or formal section 7 consultation), or (5) Experience with GIS to map or assess habitat.

OR

Education: Successful completion of at least 2 year of graduate-level education or superior academic achievement. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. Note: Please submit a copy of your graduate transcripts with your application. NOTE: You must include transcripts.

OR

Combination: Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. To combine education and experience, first take the total number of months of full-time qualifying experience and divide by 12 months to get a percentage of the required experience above. Then determine your education as a percentage of the education substitution stated above. When adding the two percentages, the total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include transcripts.

Specialized Experience For GS-11:

Applicants must have one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-9 grade level in the Federal service (obtained either in the private or public sectors) performing the following:(1) Environmental site assessments, (2) Clean Water Act (CWA) compliance (i.e. wetland delineations, 404, 402, or Stream Alteration permits), (3) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance (i.e. categorical exclusions, environmental assessments, or environmental impact statements), (4) Endangered Species Act (ESA) compliance (biological evaluations or assessments or initiation of informal or formal section 7 consultation), or (5) Experience with GIS to map or assess habitat.

OR

Education: Successful completion of at least 3 year of graduate-level education or superior academic achievement. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. Note: Please submit a copy of your graduate transcripts with your application. NOTE: You must include transcripts.

OR

Combination: Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. To combine education and experience, first take the total number of months of full-time qualifying experience and divide by 12 months to get a percentage of the required experience above. Then determine your education as a percentage of the education substitution stated above. When adding the two percentages, the total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include transcripts.

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s).

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.

You must include months, years and hours per week worked to receive credit for your work and/or volunteer experience. One year of specialized experience is equivalent to 12 months at 40 hours per week. Part-time hours are prorated. You will not receive any credit for experience that does not indicate exact hours per week or is listed as "varies".

You must meet all Eligibility and Qualification requirements, including any selective placement factors if applicable, by 07/10/2024.

Education

To qualify based on education, you must submit a legible copy of transcripts from an accredited institution with your name, school name, credit hours, course level, major(s), and grade-point average or class ranking. Transcripts do not need to be official, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.

If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet qualification requirements, you must show that your education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.

PASS/FAIL COURSES: If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) were taken on a pass/fail basis, your claim of superior academic achievement must be based upon class standing or membership in an honor society.

GRADUATE EDUCATION: One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study.

Additional information

Reclamation has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and you may be allowed to telework with supervisory approval.

If otherwise eligible and qualified, you may be offered a recruitment or relocation incentive. The decision to offer an incentive will be made on a case-by-case basis and is neither promised nor guaranteed. For information visit: Recruitment Incentive or Relocation Incentive.

Current agency employees may be eligible to receive a referral bonus for recruitment of this position. For information visit: Referral Bonus Awards.

If otherwise eligible and qualified, you may request consideration for a Superior Qualifications Appointment. For information, visit: OPM Fact Sheet.

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). For additional information, please visit: Creditable Service for Annual Leave

DOI uses E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including applicant rights and responsibilities, please visit https://www.e-verify.gov/

This position is designated as a LOW RISK position. It requires a fully completed and favorably adjudicated SF85 Background Investigation (T1 or equivalent) that is current (within the last 5 years). This is a condition of employment.

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.

Physical Demands: Physical demands are limited to sitting, carrying of small batches of documents, and walking between the computer desk and other work locations of the office. Some field work may be required walking in hot and cold environments to assist in gathering field data. Field work requires some physical exertion such as walking over wet, rough, uneven, or rocky surfaces; bending, crouching, stooping, stretching, reaching, or similar activities.

Working Conditions: Work is performed in an office and/or field requiring safety consideration normal to such settings.

Male applicants born after December 31, 1959 must certify registration with the Selective Service System or that the applicant is exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. Go to: https://www.sss.gov

This is a non-bargaining unit position.

Additional vacancies may be filled using this job announcement.

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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.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

A review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the Occupational Questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job. If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses provided in the Occupational Questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation, you will be rated 'ineligible', 'not qualified', or your score may be adjusted accordingly. If a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully; errors or omissions may affect your rating.

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the additional assessments required for this position.

In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires successful completion of additional assessments, including a subject matter expert resume review. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed below that are required to successfully perform the job.

Candidates Will Be Rated And Ranked Using Category Rating Procedures. These Procedures Place Candidates With Veteran's Preference Above Non-preference Eligibles Within Each Category. Veterans With a Service Connected Disability Of At Least 10 Percent Are Listed In The Highest Quality Category, Except When The Position Being Filled Is Scientific Or Professional At The GS-09 Grade Level Or Higher. Under Category Rating, Candidates Will Be Rated And Ranked Into One Of Three Categories:

• Highly Qualified - applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are highly proficient in all requirements of the job and can perform effectively in the position
• Well Qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in most of the requirements of the job
• Qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in some, but not all of the requirements of the job.
  
  

You Will Be Evaluated On The Following Competencies:

• Fishery Biology
• Technical Competence
• Wildlife Biology
  
  

The application questionnaire can be previewed here: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12430692