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Biological Science Technician (Wildlife)

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

Summary

Positions are TEMPORARY seasonal not to exceed 1039 hours work in a service year.

This is an open continuous vacancy announcement. Applicants will be referred periodically throughout the announcement period. Final application disposition will be completed once all positions have been filled or the announcement reaches the end of the open period stated in the announcement. The first cut-off date is 11:59 pm (est), February 21, 2023.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
02/06/2023 to 06/23/2023
Salary
$18.06 to - $22.65 per hour
Pay scale & grade
GS 5 - 7
Locations
Bar Harbor, ME
4 vacancies
Luray, VA
4 vacancies
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Temporary - Not to Exceed 1039 Hours
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
NE-1612-SHEN-23-11831020-DE
Control number
704593500

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

WHO MAY APPLY: All U.S. Citizens, Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP), Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP)

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Duties

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Wildlife Biological Science Technician duties at all grade levels include:

  • Implement established natural resource management projects related to wildlife (small/large mammals such as bear, deer, bats, shorebirds, etc.) following standard procedures/protocols.
  • Collects, organize, and record field monitoring data to produce/prepare reports, charts, and presentations to management and/or a diverse public audience with varying levels of interest and knowledge.
  • Perform wildlife trap transects, wildlife cameras surveys, grid surveys, mist netting, etc. to monitor and assess wildlife.
  • Assess resource related issues to determine wildlife management plans.
  • Use and maintain wildlife management equipment.
GS-06 technician is required to use judgement to make decisions about protocols, methods, and practices for field research and data collection and analyses. GS-07 technician is required to lead/direct crews and have a broader scope and effect in complex biological science technical support functions which affects the design, operation, and adequacy of natural resource activities.


Acadia National Park (Bar Harbor, ME):
Four Vacancies (May be eligible for telework)
Grade 05 Pay: $20.32 per hour
Grade 06 Pay: $22.65 per hour

The typical seasonal entry-on-duty period is April-November but can be variable during these months due to weather conditions, project needs, or funding. Anticipated Entry on Duty: April 2023

Acadia National Park positions
primarily perform monitoring, testing, inventory, capture, sampling, and radio telemetry of bats. Other inventory and monitoring and survey duties include peregrine falcons, alewife, and habitat restoration, maintaining deployments of passive acoustic recorders and other equipment. Data management analysis and reporting for all projects as well as others as assigned will be expected. Duties will vary from strenuous outdoor activity in rugged terrain to sedentary office work at a computer terminal. Work schedule will be highly variable based on season, night shifts, weekends, overtime, early morning, and split shift work are all expected.


Shenandoah National Park (Luray, VA):
Three Vacancies
Grade 05 Pay: $18.06 per hour
Grade 06 Pay: $20.14 per hour
Grade 07 Pay: $22.37 per hour
The typical seasonal entry-on-duty period is May-November but can be variable during these months due to weather conditions, project needs, or funding. Anticipated Entry on Duty: May 2023

Shenandoah National Park positions perform as a field assistant to park biologists to implement a human-wildlife interactions program (primarily black bear). Major duties include assessing habituated or food-conditioned black bear parkwide. The incumbent will perform aversive conditioning on habituated bears throughout the park's developed areas (ie. the ability to safely use paintball guns and noisemakers for the purposes of hazing habituated black bear). The incumbent will conduct (or assist with) food-conditioned bear culvert-trapping and will assist with relocations. Incumbent may assist with nuisance bear free-range capture work (including tagging and collaring). The incumbent may also live-trap other nuisance wildlife. Duties include conducting surveillance for potential chronic wasting disease (CWD) positive deer and conducting opportunistic CWD surveillance by sampling road-killed deer throughout the park. Selectee maintains wildlife management equipment and performs data entry into customized computer databases. The incumbent will use standardized software for wildlife data analysis and summary. The work schedule will be four ten-hour days with weekends, evenings, holidays and some overtime routinely worked.

Requirements

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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; 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.
  • You may be required to complete training and operate a four-wheel drive vehicle.
  • Government housing may be available but is not guaranteed.
  • You will be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
  • You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work.
  • 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-06/23/2023-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-05 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-04 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors) in the Biological Technician field. This experience involved: conducting wildlife inventory, monitoring, or management activities and that included performing the following duties: conduct field surveys in remote locations to document and assess wildlife presence, abundance, reproduction, and/or population dynamics using established protocols and standard scientific equipment; conduct/assist with wildlife management that may include trapping/capture, aversive conditioning, mist netting, tracking, tissue sampling, radio telemetry; etc. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, with major study or at least 24 semester hours in any combination of courses such as biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture, or mathematics. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
COMBINATION OF EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. (Note: Only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours of a course of study leading to a bachelor's degree is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirements. Two full academic years of study, or 60 semester hours, beyond the second year is equivalent to 1 year of specialized experience.) For example, 6 months of the specialized experience described above (50% of the experience requirement), and 3 years of college study from an accredited institution (50% of the qualifying education) which included at least 12 semester hours of related coursework as described above (50% of coursework required). The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include transcripts.

To qualify for this position at the GS-06 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-05 grade level in Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors) in the Biological Technician field. This experience involved: conduct field surveys in remote locations to document and assess wildlife presence, abundance, reproduction, and/or population dynamics using established protocols and standard scientific equipment; conduct/assist with wildlife management that may include trapping, aversive conditioning, relocation, mist netting, tracking, tissue sampling, radio telemetry, etc. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least one full year of graduate education in an accredited educational institution (18 semester hours) in coursework directly related to the work of this position (such as biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, natural resource management). You must include transcripts.
-OR-
COMBINATION OF EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, 6 months of specialized experience (50% of experience requirement), and 6 months of graduate education as described above (50% of education requirement). The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include transcripts.

To qualify for this position at the GS-07 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-06 grade level in Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors) in the Biological Technician field. This experience involved: lead field surveys in remote locations to document and assess wildlife presence, abundance, reproduction, and/or population dynamics using established protocols and standard scientific equipment; lead wildlife management projects that may include black bear culvert trapping, aversive conditioning, relocation; endangered bat capture, sampling, tracking by using mist nets, tissue sampling, and radio telemetry; white-tail deer Chronic Wasting Disease surveillance/sampling; etc. and demonstrates experience that directly affects the design, operation, and adequacy of natural resource activities (independently resolving problems; selecting best course of action for planning and executing work; and applying a wide range of conventional methods and solutions to new situations). You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least one full year of graduate education in an accredited educational institution (18 semester hours) in coursework directly related to the work of this position (such as biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, natural resource management). You must include transcripts.
-OR-
COMBINATION OF EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, 6 months of specialized experience (50% of experience requirement), and 6 months of graduate education as described above (50% of education requirement). 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.


PARK LOCATIONS:

Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine, serves as the duty station. Acadia National Park is located 50 miles southeast of Bangor, Maine, and 240 miles northeast of Boston, Massachusetts. Acadia National Park protects a landscape of rare scenic beauty. Acadia's mountains are the highest rocky headlands on the Atlantic shore of the United States, and the vistas from these mountaintops encompass forested woodlands, shimmering lakes, quiet marshes, bold rocky shores, and coastal islands. Surrounding the park on all sides, the ocean strongly influences the park's character. Visitation exceeds three million visitors annually, with the highest visitation occurring in July and August.

Shenandoah National Park is located in Virginia, approximately 90 miles southwest of Washington, D.C. The park consists of approximately 199,000 acres of land, including 80,000 acres designated as wilderness. It also contains 105 miles of Skyline Drive and 101 miles of the Appalachian Trail. Annual visitation is around 1.5 million, which has direct and extensive economic impact on the surrounding area (eight counties and nine municipalities). The park's natural, cultural and recreational resources are of vital interest to local and regional businesses, political leaders, conservation and outdoor recreation organizations, and the Commonwealth of Virginia. These positions will be duty stationed out of Park Headquarters Complex, located approximately 4 miles from Luray, Virginia; a small rural community in the Shenandoah Valley with all the usual facilities and services including schools, and a population of about 4900. Nearby local towns include Harrisonburg, 33 miles; Winchester, 44 miles; and Charlottesville, 66 miles. Temperatures range from zero to mid-nineties, average maximum is 83 degrees with high humidity and average minimum is 26 degrees with snow and ice.


Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) or Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP): For information on how to apply as an ICTAP or CTAP eligible see http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/ctap_guideline.pdf. To be well-qualified and exercise selection priority for this vacancy, displaced Federal employees must be rated at 85 or above on the rating criteria for this position.

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.

Non-Competitive Rehire Eligibility: Temporary seasonal employees can only maintain their non-competitive rehire eligibility if they work no more than a combined total of Temporary NTE less than 1040 hours anywhere in the National Park Service (NPS) within their established service year. Accordingly, non-competitive rehire eligibility allows for re-appointment to the same position or another position appropriate for temporary appointment with the same qualification requirements (5 CFR 316.402[b][7]), based on series and grade, anywhere in the major subdivision (NPS).

If you have held a temporary seasonal appointment in the past 12 months and have already worked the maximum temporary appointment less than 1040 hours during that period, you are still welcome to apply. However, please be aware that exceeding the limit of 1040 hours in your established service year will result in the loss of your non-competitive rehire eligibility.

The limit can be exceeded by working multiple temporary seasonal positions that result in a combined total greater than 1040 hours. The limit also can be exceeded by working a single temporary seasonal appointment that exceeds 1040 hours, unless granted an exception by OPM.


Employment may be terminated at any time due to fluctuations in funding levels, project needs, employee performance, or other considerations.



PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The positions involve some long-distance hiking, up to 5 miles a day in steep, mountainous terrain in all types of weather. Must be capable of lifting, carrying and packing objects and loads of 40-50 pounds.

WORK ENVIRONMENT: The work is performed in an office, laboratory, and in the field. Field work includes frequent exposure to extreme weather conditions including high heat and humidity, cold, wind, and rain and terrain; and exposure to pesticides, poisonous plants, biting insects, ticks (including ticks that carry Lyme disease), and wild animals. Laboratory work may involve exposure to hazardous chemicals.


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:
  • Leadership
  • Oral Communication
  • Technology Application
  • Wildlife Biology


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