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

Fish Biologist

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

Summary

This position is located in Crater Lake National Park, in the Division of Integrated Resources.

Open to the first 50 applicants or until 06/18/2021 whichever comes first. All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration.

Overview

Help
Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
06/07/2021 to 06/11/2021
This job will close when we have received 50 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Salary
$53,433 to - $84,049 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 9 - 11
Location
Crater Lake, OR
1 vacancy
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—You may qualify for reimbursement of relocation expenses in accordance with agency policy.
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
11
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
Yes
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
PW-1549-CRLA-21-11122898-DE
Control number
603241500

This job is open to

Help

Clarification from the agency

Area of Consideration is all qualified persons. Under Executive Order 11935, only United States citizens and nationals (residents of American Samoa and Swains Island) may compete for civil service jobs.

Videos

Duties

Help

This position serves as a technical advisor in aquatic biology within the Division of Integrated Resources at Crater Lake National Park and plays an integral role in long-term limnological monitoring and research of Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the U.S. and one of the clearest lakes in the world. The limnology program at Crater Lake is one of the longest running monitoring and research studies of a deep-water lake and includes many operational crossovers with the field of oceanography because of lake depth. This position will manage daily field operations of the limnology program and may also assist with restoration and monitoring of stream fisheries within the park. Job duties include motorboat operation and the operation of research vessel cranes and winches, as well as the development and implementation of aquatic resource management, monitoring and research projects. SCUBA dive operations may be possible depending on training. The incumbent will be expected to work in a team environment with professional biologists and seasonal technicians to protect, restore, and manage aquatic resources to meet park needs and mandates. The incumbent will be expected to increase independent program responsibilities as time progresses, ensuring they are adequately prepared for the responsibility of the position at the full performance level.

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 will be required to submit to a drug test and receive a negative drug test result prior to appointment. In addition, this position is subject to random testing for illegal drug use.
  • You will be required to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of your official duties; a valid driver's license is required. You will be required to submit a Motor Vehicle Operator's License and Driving Record. You must also submit (within a State sealed envelope or submitted directly by the State authorities), and at your own expense, all certified driving records from all States that disclose all valid driver's licenses, whether current or past, possessed by you.
  • Overtime may be required.
  • If you are a new employee in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period.
  • You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority.
  • You will be required to complete a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report, OGE-450 on an annual basis.
  • You will be required to complete and maintain a Motorboat Operator Certification (MOCC).

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by 11:59 EST when the applicant cut-off is reached (which may be sooner than 06/18/2021).

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, you must meet both the Basic Education requirements for the Fish Biologist, 0482 series AND the minimum experience or education qualifications for the GS-09 and/or GS-11 grade levels.

Basic Education Requirements for the 0482 Series: Successful completion of a bachelor's or higher degree with a major in biological science 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. (Excess course work in aquatic subjects may be used to meet this requirement when appropriate.) You must provide a copy of your transcripts.
- OR -
A combination of education and experience: 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 education. You must provide a copy of your transcripts.

- AND -


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: (1) assisting with the development and preparation of resource management plan dealing with aquatic and fishery resources; (2) conducting scientifically credible protection, mitigation, and restoration projects; (3) preparing scientific reports regarding the results of protection, mitigation, reintroduction, inventory, monitoring, and research activities; (4) Acquiring and maintaining equipment and supplies necessary for the fishery program. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least a master's or equivalent graduate degree or two (2) full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree from an accredited college or university with a major in fishery biology. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. To combine education and experience, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of completed graduate education beyond the first year by 18 (or 27 for quarter hours). NOTE: You must submit a copy of your transcripts as proof of any claimed education. You must include transcripts.

To qualify for this position at the GS-11 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-09 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: (1) Evaluating inventory and monitoring data to determine fish habitat and population trends and impacts; (2) Participating in writing or reviewing technical reports for Environmental Assessments and Impact Statements; (3) Conducting surveys to monitor existing aquatic management habitat projects; (4) Working with a variety of groups to share information pertaining to fish biology and aquatic habitat conservation, laws, and regulations. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in fishery biology. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. To combine education and experience, first compute your experience as a percentage of the experience listed above; then determine your education as a percentage of the education listed above; then add the two percentages. Only graduate education in excess of two years (i.e., 36 semester hours) may be combined with experience under this provision. 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.

ICTAP/CTAP Statement: Current surplus and current or former displaced Federal individuals who have special prior­ity selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) must be well qualified for the position to receive consideration for special priority selection. Well qualified means that the applicant meets the following: OPM qualification standards for the position; all selective placement factors, where applicable; special qualifying conditions that OPM has approved for the position, where applicable; is physically qualified with reasonable accommodation, where appropriate to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position upon entry; and is rated by the organization at least at the well qualified level on all competencies.

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.

This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if identical vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.

Promotion Potential: 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: 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 and requires the ability to concentrate and write for long periods of time.

Working Conditions: The incumbent will be stationed at Crater Lake National Park, Oregon. 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, alpine environments, swamps, deserts, and forests. Flying in fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters is possible. Will be required to operate small watercraft and electrofishing equipment. With appropriate training, the incumbent may participate in SCUBA diving activities to accomplish resource management objectives.

Telework: 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.

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. 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:
  • Data Management
  • Fishery Biology
  • Oral Communication
  • Planning and Evaluating
  • Technical Competence
  • Writing


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 an additional assessment, which will be a panel resume review. This assessment measures the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job.

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.