Fish Biologist

Summary This position is located in Glacier National Park, in the Natural Resources Division. The incumbent serves as a technical advisor in fish biology for Glacier National Park. The fish biologist is responsible for program development and implementation dealing with the management and protection of aquatic and fish resources and their habitat requirements. Responsibilities Serves as fisheries biologist and subject matter expert for fisheries, aquatic resources and their habitat requirements; air quality; aquatic invasive species; and water rights. Responsible for fisheries, AIS, and air quality program development and implementation dealing with the management and protection of aquatic and fish resources and their habitat requirements and monitoring of air and water quality standards. Coordinates, develops, and maintains liaisons and effective working relations with related groups and individuals, agencies, the public, and those on adjacent lands to encourage and facilitate cooperative regional management strategies for the purposes of achieving broad ecosystem protection strategies and minimizing human impacts on the parks fish and aquatic resources. Develops and prepares major sections of resource management documents dealing with aquatic and fish resources, specifically Federally and/or state-listed listed threatened and endangered species, or species of concern. Prepares specific resources action plans, project statements, and fish management plans needed to successfully manage and protect fish and other aquatic species. In cooperation with appropriate staff, researchers, and partners, the fish biologist designs, develops, tests, and implements scientific monitoring protocols to identify, evaluate, and do long-term monitoring of fish populations and fisheries. Identifies research needs, prepares requests for proposals or statements of work, and provides oversight for research projects. Serves as a Agreements Technical Representative for fish projects conducted through contracts, interagency agreements, and cooperative agreements. Exercises the full range of administrative and technical supervision for a supporting staff. Requirements Conditions of Employment U.S. Citizenship required. Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication. Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program. Any individual who is currently holding, or has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet time-in-grade requirements (must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent in the Federal service); with few exceptions as outlined in 5 CFR 300.603(b). Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal civilian employees applying for reinstatement who have had a break in service of less than one year, as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointments. Time-in-grade does not apply to new excepted service appointments and must be met by the closing date of this announcement. You will be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided. If you are a new employee or supervisor in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period. You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 5 nights per month. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes. You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority. Applicants must be at least (1)18 years old or (2) at least 16 years old and: (a) Have graduated from high school or been awarded a certificate equivalent to graduating from high school; or (b) Have completed a formal vocational training program; or (c) Have received a statement from school authorities agreeing with their preference for employment rather than continuing their education; or (d) Be currently enrolled in a secondary school and either work only during school vacation periods or work part-time during the school year under a formal student employment program. Qualifications All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-10/30/2024-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 for each federal position listed as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of qualifying 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 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. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected. Basic requirements for the 0482 series: This position has a positive education requirement as required by the Office of Personnel Management qualification standards. Candidates who do not meet this requirement by close of this announcement will receive no further consideration for this position. Candidates must have: Successfully completed a full four year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelors or higher degree with a major field of study in biological sciences that included at least 6 semester hours in aquatic subjects such as limnology, ichthyology, fishery biology, aquatic botany, aquatic fauna, oceanography, fish culture, or related courses in the field of fishery biology; AND at least 12 semester hours in the animal sciences in such subjects as general zoology, vertebrate zoology, comparative anatomy, physiology, entomology, parasitology, ecology, cellular biology, genetics, or research in these fields. You must include transcripts with your application materials. -OR- Have an equivalent combination of education and experience that included courses equivalent to a major in biological science (i.e., at least 30 semester hours), of which a minimum of 6 semester hours were in aquatic subjects and 12 semester hours were in the animal sciences, as shown above; PLUS appropriate experience or additional course work. The quality of the combination demonstrates that you possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform the work of the position and is comparable to that normally acquired through the completion of a full four-year course of study with a major as described above. You must include transcripts with your application materials. – AND – To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level, you must possess one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement: EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: 1) conducting studies and investigations aimed at resolving habitat protection or enhancement issues for endangered fish species management; 2) providing biological information verbally and in writing to representatives or other government agencies, staff members, private interest groups, and the general public; 3) assisting managing contracts, and personnel; and 4) developing and maintaining liaisons and effective working relations with related groups and individuals, agencies, and the public in order to facilitate cooperative regional fisheries management strategies. Your resume must clearly reflect some of this experience. -OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least three years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a PhD or equivalent graduate degree from an accredited educational institution in a field that is directly related to the work of this position. You must include transcripts with your application materials. -OR- Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For instance: completed over 36 semester hours/54 quarter hours of graduate level education leading to a PhD AND 6 months professional experience that equipped me with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. You must include transcripts with your application materials. 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. 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. Additional Information A selectee receiving a first appointment to the Federal Government (Civil Service) is entitled only to the lowest step of the grade for which selected The display of a salary range on this vacancy shall not be construed as granting an entitlement to a higher rate of pay. A Recruitment Incentive May Be Authorized for a newly selected employee when appointed to a permanent, temporary, or term position. A Federal employee who is transferring to the National Park Service from another component, bureau or Federal agency and who does not meet the conditions under 5 CFR §575.102 is not eligible for a recruitment incentive. A Relocation Incentive May Be Authorized for a Federal employee when the employee must move, as directed by the National Park Service (NPS) either through a management directed reassignment or selection for employment, to a different location at least 50 miles away from the one where his/her position of record held at time of selection is currently located, due to a need of the NPS. A relocation incentive is not the same as a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) move and, as such, may be granted in conjunction with one another. This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if identical vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate. Physical Demands: The position may require strenuous physical activity including periods of standing, walking, climbing, and lifting and carrying heavy objects. Some activities will occur in physically dangerous areas or settings. The employee must be physically capable of carrying out strenuous fieldwork associated with sampling in streams, ponds, lakes, and wetlands, frequently under adverse weather conditions such as rain, snow, high humidity or excessive heat. Documentary research and report writing work is sedentary, which entails the ability to concentrate and write for long periods of time. Working Conditions: Work is performed both indoors and outdoors in all types of weather. Assignments may be performed in potentially hazardous areas including steep slopes, rocky terrain, firelines, arctic environments, swamps, deserts, and forests. Flying in fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters is possible. Will be required to operate small watercraft and electrofishing equipment. The National Park Service has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework only during an emergency or natural disaster. Documentation for the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) eligibility, You must submit ALL SF-50s and performance information for each period of temporary/term employment that qualifies for LMWFA. Performance documentation can be obtained by contacting the supervisors for the positions you served in during your 24 months. If they did not complete performance appraisals ask them to provide a statement of performance for each period of service. The statement must specify the dates for each employment period and your level of performance consistent with your SF50s.