Skip to main content
U.S. flag
Back to results

Biological Science Technician

Department of the Interior
National Park Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located in Interior Region 2, in the Inventory and Monitoring Division.

TERM positions do not convey permanent status in the Federal service and will be for a period not to exceed thirteen months, with possible extensions up to a total of four years without further competition.

Open to the first 100 applicants or until 04/03/2020 whichever comes first. All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration.

Overview

Help
Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
03/24/2020 to 03/31/2020
This job will close when we have received 50 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Salary
$52,905 to - $68,777 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 9
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Mammoth Cave, KY
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
25% or less - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Term - 13 months
Work schedule
Full-Time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
SE-1618-SERO-20-10756736-DE
Control number
563649500

Duties

Help

Responsibilities include: Oversee summer cave bats monitoring (nocturnal emergence counts) and administrative/data management elements of the cave bats monitoring program at 4 parks. Support forest vegetation monitoring, winter cave bats monitoring, cave crickets monitoring, cave aquatic biota monitoring, and other network vital signs monitoring programs. Fieldwork will likely include navigating through woods after sunset; crawling, climbing, and moving through constricted cave passages; hiking off trail, encountering uneven terrain, ticks, snakes, poison ivy; and close interactions with other wildlife. Must be able to conduct fieldwork in a safe manner following safety standard operating procedures, including during emergencies.

Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level.

Requirements

Help

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.
  • You may be required to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of your official duties. Please indicate in your application whether you possess a valid State driver's license.
  • You will be required to complete a one-year trial period.
  • You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 1-2 nights per month. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-04/03/2020-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (month/year), and the resume must reflect full and/or part-time or total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time). If part-time, the hours must be annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount of qualified specialized experience.

To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level, you must possess at least 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-07 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as work in the fields of biology, ecology, botany, forestry, natural resource management, geographic information systems, remote sensing, and geography if it equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of this position. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: field and office work related to vegetation monitoring and assessment; vegetation data collection and entry; creation of spatially explicit vegetation models for biological or natural resource management issues; and report preparation. You must include hours per week worked.

-OR-

EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least two full year of graduate education with major study in any combination of scientific or technical courses such as ecology, botany, forestry, environmental studies, natural resource management, geographic information systems, remote sensing, and geography. You must include transcripts.

-OR-

Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include transcripts.

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

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 work requires regular physical exertion such as walking or climbing over wet, rough, uneven and/or rocky surfaces; bending, crouching, stooping or reaching to observe, collect and/or record field data; or in some situations the work may require physical exertion to handle wild animals, to do vertical caving, to snorkel or kayak in a cave. Moderately heavy items, such as equipment packs weighing up to 50 pounds, must be lifted and carried on a regular basis. May be required to hike several miles in a day. In other situations, there may be special requirements for agility or dexterity such as exceptional hand/eye coordination.

Working Conditions: The work environment varies from office/laboratory settings to field sites. The work performed in the field involves regular and recurring exposure to extreme weather conditions and terrain, poisonous plants, biting insects and wild animals. The employee is required to use protective clothing such as gowns, coats, boots, goggles, gloves, helmet, dry/wet suit.

The National Park Service has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document that you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application. Click the following link for more information, https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Alternate_Application_Information.

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

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:

  • Best 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:
  • Communication
  • Project Management
  • Research
  • Technology Application

Your session is about to expire!

Your USAJOBS session will expire due to inactivity in 8 minutes. Any unsaved data will be lost if you allow the session to expire. Click the button below to continue your session.