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Wildlife Biologist

Department of Agriculture
Forest Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located on the Northern Region, Lolo National Forest, in Missoula, MT.

The position serves as a Wildlife Program Manager and a member of an Interdisciplinary Team engaged in a variety of programs and projects at the landscape scale.

For additional information about the duties of this position, please contact Ann Hadlow at ann.hadlow@usda.gov.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
11/20/2024 to 12/02/2024
Salary
$86,962 to - $113,047 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 12
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Missoula, MT
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position for trainings and meetings.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
Yes
Announcement number
25-R1SV-12614392-F-PAM
Control number
819846900

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Applications will be accepted only from current permanent Forest Service (FS) employees with competitive status whose permanent position of record is within Region 1 only; Land Management eligibles whose last appointment was within Region 1 of the Forest Service; and CTAP/RPL eligible candidates.

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Duties

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  • Responsible for the development of the overall Forest Wildlife Management Program, including formulation of policy objectives, correlation and integration of the various activities, and the establishment of priorities.
  • Provides guidance for the development of wildlife management and habitat improvement plans at the Ranger District level, and reviews and analyzes program plans and proposals for technical soundness and adequacy in meeting overall objectives.
  • Correlates wildlife management with other resource uses such as timber, recreation, and watershed management.
  • Serves as the Forest wildlife representative on the interdisciplinary team for the Forest’s integrated planning and implementation process.
  • Provides professional leadership in inventories and evaluation of habitat conditions and needs for upland game, small game, waterfowl, furbearers, and nongame species.
  • Coordinates with neighboring Forests in maintaining effective working relationships with other agencies and organizations.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
  • Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
  • Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
  • Successful completion of one year probationary period, unless previously served.
  • Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
  • Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit e-verify.gov

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards.

Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. Transcripts must be provided for qualifications based on education. Provide course descriptions as necessary.

Basic Requirement:
Degree: biological science that included:

    • At least 9 semester hours in such wildlife subjects as mammalogy, ornithology, animal ecology, wildlife management, or research courses in the field of wildlife biology; and
    • At least 12 semester hours in zoology in such subjects as general zoology, invertebrate zoology, vertebrate zoology, comparative anatomy, physiology, genetics, ecology, cellular biology, parasitology, entomology, or research courses in such subjects (Excess courses in wildlife biology may be used to meet the zoology requirements where appropriate.); and
    • At least 9 semester hours in botany or the related plant sciences.
OR
  1. Combination of education and experience: equivalent to a major in biological science (i.e., at least 30 semester hours), with at least 9 semester hours in wildlife subjects, 12 semester hours in zoology, and 9 semester hours in botany or related plant science, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
In addition to meeting the basic requirement, you must also possess specialized experience in the amounts listed below.

Specialized Experience Requirement:

For the GS-12: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as you must meet at least 2 or more of the following specialized experience:
  • Wildlife specific program management duties (examples include: workload prioritization, policy analysis, communication and resolution of project related wildlife issues, etc.);
  • Conducted consultation for threatened and endangered species and written biological assessments for forest management projects;
  • Planned and conducted studies/projects, follow-up investigations, and evaluations, and recommended preventative or mitigative actions based on these studies;
  • Prepared environmental assessments based on analysis of study findings on the effects of management activities on wildlife resources.
Work Experience: Your resume must clearly document the following for each block of work experience; the beginning day, month and year the work assignment started and ended; the hours worked per week; position title, and series and grade if applicable; and description of duties performed. This information must be provided for each permanent, temporary, or seasonal appointment/work assignment or volunteer work and should be clearly documented as a separate block of time. Incomplete, inaccurate, or conflicting work history may not be credited for qualifications purposes. This can result in an applicant not being considered for the position.

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.

TIME IN GRADE REQUIREMENT: If you are a current federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirements of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled. This requirement must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Education

There is no substitution for education.

Additional information

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) or Reemployment Priority List (RPL): To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section. When assessed through a score-based category rating method, CTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100.

Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) provides current or former temporary and term employees the opportunity to compete for permanent competitive service positions. Individuals must have more than 24 months of service without a break between appointments of two or more years and the last temporary or term appointment must have been within Region 1 of the Forest Service. Service must be in the competitive service and have been at a successful level of performance or better. Part-time and intermittent service will be credited only for time actually worked. Non-pay status such as leave without pay is credited for up to six months in a calendar year; anything beyond six months is not credited. Applicants are responsible for providing sufficient information/documentation to determine if the 24 month criteria is met.

This position may be eligible to telework up to four days per week, based upon the duties of the position. This position may also be eligible for flexible work arrangements as determined by agency policy and any applicable collective bargaining agreements.

The Forest Service may use certain incentives and hiring flexibilities, currently offered by the Federal government, to attract highly qualified candidates. Additional Information is available on the OPM Website.

This is a bargaining unit position and is represented by either NFFE, AFGE, or NAGE.

Forest Service daycare facilities may be available.

Government Housing is not available.

We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies.

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 your qualifications for this position as evidenced by the experience, education, and training you described in your application package, as well as the responses to the Assessment Questionnaire to determine the degree to which you possess the competencies listed below:

  • Oral Communication
  • Planning and Evaluating
  • Wildlife Biology
  • Writing


Your application, including the online Assessment Questionnaire, will be reviewed to determine if you meet (a) minimum qualification requirements and (b) the resume supports the answers provided to the job-specific questions. Your resume must clearly support your responses to all the questions addressing experience and education relevant to this position.

If you meet the qualification requirements and are determined to be among the best qualified, you will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration. Noncompetitive candidates and applicants under some special hiring authorities must meet minimum qualifications to be referred.

Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you inflated your qualifications and or experience, your rating may be lowered to more accurately reflect the submitted documentation. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action.

To view the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12614392

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