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

Biological Science Technician (Fish)

Department of the Interior
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This vacancy announcement is part of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service coordinated advertisement for Biological Science Technician (Fish) GS-0404-7.

This position is also open to status candidates under announcement MR-20-10827559-DP-MP. You must apply to each announcement separately if you wish to be considered under both recruitment methods.

You may apply for up to 5 duty locations. You must apply for each duty location in which you are interested.

Overview

Help
Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
06/03/2020 to 06/09/2020
Salary
$43,251 to - $68,581 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 7
Locations
Many vacancies in the following locations:
Whiteriver, AZ
Anderson, CA
Lodi, CA
Hotchkiss, CO
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
Yes—Some locations may qualify for reimbursement of relocation expenses in accordance with agency policy. See link provided under "additional information" section.
Appointment type
Permanent
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
MR-20-10827564-DP-DE
Control number
569944900

Duties

Help

Please see a list of all positions here: Position Information


As a Biological Science Technician (Fish) your duties will include but are not limited to the following:
  • Independently monitor, plan, and implement activities related to conservation, management, and/or control of fish/wildlife.
  • Plan and implement habitat management and restoration activities.
  • Participate in investigations of moderate complexity to determine fish population status, trends, age and growth, movement, survival, and behavior.
  • Assist in planning and carrying out biological management actions designed to address the needs of species and/or habitats.
  • Capture, apply visual and radio tags, and gather biological, physiological and spatial data on fish/wildlife.
  • Assist hatchery crew in providing daily care to fish in an aquaculture facility.
  • Develop and deliver informational and/or environmental education programs to individuals, local organizations, and schools.

Requirements

Help

Conditions of employment

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or National
  • Individuals assigned male at birth after 12-31-59 must be registered for the Selective Service. To verify registration visit SSS.gov.
  • Suitability for employment, as determined by background investigation
  • The incumbent may be required to obtain and properly wear the official Fish and Wildlife Service uniform
  • May be required to successfully complete a probationary period
  • The incumbent must possess and maintain a valid State driver's license at all times during your tenure

Qualifications

Only experience and education obtained by 06/09/2020 will be considered. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work.

In order to qualify for this position you must possess the Minimum Qualification.

Minimum Qualification [GS-07]

  1. One year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility equivalent to grade GS-06 in the Federal service. Experience includes: care and feeding of all life stages of trout and salmon; record and monitor fish health, maintain and update fish culture and water quality records, maintain and improve hatchery infrastructure, equipment and grounds; rearing, distribution and maintenance of eggs, fry, parr, smolts, yearlings, and broodstock; collect, process and inventory eggs; follow established spawning procedures, perform routine health assessments including: necropsies of morbid fish, collecting ovarian fluid samples, external examination of fish for parasites and collecting blood samples; OR
  2. Successful completion of one year of graduate level education (18 semester/27 quarter hours or the school's equivalent) in an accredited college or university of that included courses directly related to the occupation, such as fishery biology, ichthyology, limnology, aquaculture, etc.; OR
  3. A combination of education and experience as described in 1 and 2 above which together equals 100% of the requirement.

Education

PROOF OF EDUCATION: All applicants who are using education or a combination of education and experience to qualify must submit copies of official or unofficial transcripts which include grades, credit hours earned, major(s), grade point average or class ranking, institution name, and student name. If any required coursework is not easily recognizable on transcripts, or if you believe a portion of a particular course can be credited toward meeting an educational requirement, you must also provide a memorandum on letterhead from the institution's registrar, dean, or other appropriate official stating the percentage of the course that should be considered to meet the requirement and the equivalent number of units. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable; however, if you are selected for the position, you will be required to produce the original official transcripts.

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.

FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html

Additional information

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): These programs apply to employees who have been or may be involuntarily separated (e.g. reduction in force, declining to relocate/transfer outside their local commuting area) from a Federal service position within the competitive service or Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: (1) meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria; (2) be rated well-qualified with a score of 85; and, (3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility (e.g., Certification of Expected Separation, Reduction-In-Force Separation Notice, or Notice of Proposed Removal or Removal Notice; SF-50 that documents the RIF separation action; or Removal and most recent performance appraisal.). For more information visit: OPM's Employee Guide to Career Transition

This position may be suitable for telework and employees may be allowed to telework with supervisory approval.
This position MAY qualify for reimbursement of relocation expenses in accordance with agency policy.
See Position Information for conditions of employment, telework availability and relocation expenses eligibility based on location.
.

How you will be evaluated

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

Once the announcement has closed, a review of your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the qualification requirements listed on this announcement. If you meet the qualifications your resume and supporting documentation will be compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine your level of experience. If, after reviewing your resume and supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications which resulted in you being listed in the highest quality category, you may lose consideration, or be assigned to a lower quality category for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully when applying, errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics):

  1. Ability to capture, handle, and tag or collar various fish/wildlife.
  2. Knowledge of principles, practices, and terminology of biological sciences and related management practices and a working familiarity with similar disciplines in order to independently plan, lead, and coordinate survey and other biological data collection and analysis projects.
  3. Knowledge of practices that affect natural resources environments (e.g., agriculture, construction) in order to recognize probable effects on and/or relationship to those resources.
  4. Ability to communicate orally in order to meet and deal effectively with people of different backgrounds, including representatives of state, Federal, Tribal resource agencies and private agencies and organizations.

All qualified candidates will be assigned to a quality category. The category assignment is a measure of the degree in which your background matches the competencies required for this position. The category ratings for this position are: Best Qualified, Well Qualified, and Qualified

The category rating process protects the rights of veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each quality category. Veterans' preference eligibles who meet the qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent will be listed in the highest quality category (except in the case of scientific or professional positions at the GS-09 level or higher).

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.