Clarification from the agency

All U.S. Citizens - No previous Federal Service is required. CTAP and ICTAP candidates in the local commuting area.

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This is a position with the Division of Sea Turtle Science and Recovery at Padre Island National Seashore. Serves as a Biological Science Technician assisting with a variety of projects, including collection, organization, and analysis of sea turtle data and gathering information related to complex sea turtle nesting and stranding projects. The position will include both administrative functions conducted in an office setting along with field work conducted in difficult and varied environmental conditions, including high temperatures, cold temperatures, wind, and humidity in a sandy and rough beach terrain.

• Aids with coordination of daytime sea turtle patrols on remote beaches to detect nesting by Kemp's ridley and other sea turtles, including live and dead stranded sea turtles via four-wheel drive vehicles.
• Responds to observations by other staff and volunteers and aids them in the field.
• Finds nests, collects sea turtle eggs and places them in the incubation facility and corral for protected incubation; and cares for eggs (including day and night monitoring).
• May camp in a remotely-located cabin (with up to 12 other people working with the project) for up to five nights each week in conjunction with patrols, egg incubation, stranding and oversight of corral and camp.
• Documents nesting sea turtles, sea turtle nests, and live and dead sea turtles found washed ashore on the beach; tags sea turtles; releases turtle hatchlings and stranded turtles; and transports sea turtle eggs and live and dead sea turtles.
• Analyzes unhatched eggs and performs necropsies on dead sea turtles, collects biological specimens, and logs and ships specimen samples.
• Aids with providing information and technical assistance to partners, cooperating scientists, cooperators, the public and a variety of entities.
• Prepares and delivers oral presentations and training to the public, staff, volunteers, and professional groups related to conservation, research, and monitoring projects.
• Edits and writes safety plans and planning documents for project activities.
• Coordinates and aids with the management of daytime patrols conducted via utility transport vehicles and four-wheel drive vehicles to detect and protect threatened and endangered sea turtles.

Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship required.
• Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
• Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males.
• Complete the initial online assessment and USAHire Assessment, if required.
• 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. Prior to your first official motor vehicle operation, and again every year thereafter (or more frequently if management determines such need exists), you will be required to sign an affidavit certifying to your possession of a valid State issued driver's license that is current and has not been revoked, suspended, canceled, or otherwise disqualified in any way to prohibit your operation of a motor vehicle. You will also submit a photocopy of your valid State issued driver's license prior to your first official motor vehicle operation, and again every year, or more frequently if management determines such need exists. Lastly, you may be required to 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 discloses all valid driver's licenses, whether current or past, possessed by you. Please indicate in your application whether you possess a valid State driver's license.
• You may be required to complete training and operate a four-wheel drive vehicle.
• 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.
• If you are a new employee or supervisor in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period.
• You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 10 nights per month. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
• You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-05/02/2022-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-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 the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: performing biological science tasks common to natural resource management such as research activity or control program work conducting environmental monitoring and management activities, such as wildlife inventory and monitoring activities for sea turtles or other wildlife species. . 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 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-
Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, 6 months of specialized experience and half a year of directly related graduate level education. 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.

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

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 https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/11457896, and the result of the additional assessments required for this position.

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 an online assessment. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed below that are required to successfully perform the job.

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

• Attention to Detail
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Oral Communication
• Reading Comprehension
• Self-Management
• Teamwork
• Technology Application
• Wildlife Biology
• Writing

• 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.