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Seasonal Biological Science Technician

Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Upper Delaware Scenic & Rec Rv (UPDE)

Summary

This position is located in a National Park Service organization. The purpose of the position is to perform routine and uncomplicated biological science tasks common to natural resource management. Technician work is typically associated with and supportive of a professional field; work may involve substantial elements of the work of the professional field but requires less than full knowledge of the field involved.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
02/24/2026 to 03/10/2026
Salary
$48,005 to - $62,407 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 5
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Lackawaxen, PA
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Temporary - 1560 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
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
NE-1612-UPDE-26-12885667-DE
Control number
858515700

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP), and Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP), US Citizens

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Duties

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Major Duties:

  • Conducts field site visits, measurements, observations, and evaluations.
  • Install, operate and maintain resource management equipment.
  • Acquires and maintains a working knowledge of relevant laws, regulations, policies, standards, or procedures for job duties.
  • Assist in planning, organizing, and implementing biological investigations.
  • Monitors, maintains, or updates data, records, or other information.





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
  • Direct Deposit: Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
  • Government Housing Maybe Authorized.
  • Uniform: You will be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
  • Government Charge Card: You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority.
  • Able to lift 50 pounds.
  • Physical Demands: The work is partially sedentary with prolonged standing, walking, and bending often required.
    Heavy items (e.g., packs and equipment up to 50 pounds) must be lifted and carried on a routine basis.
  • Working Conditions: The work is performed in an office, laboratory, and in the field. Field work includes exposure to
    extreme weather conditions and terrain, pesticides, poisonous plants, biting insects, and wild animals. Laboratory work may involve exposure to hazardous chemicals.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-03/10/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 for each federal position listed as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of qualifying experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience.

For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected.

To qualify for this position at the GS-05 grade level, you must possess at least one or all of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:

EXPERIENCE: Possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-04 level in the Federal service. For this position, specialized experience is experience conducting water quality monitoring, and natural resource inventory, monitoring, and/or management activities using established protocols and standard scientific equipment. Examples include conducting water quality monitoring, biological surveys and/or analysis of rivers for fish and other biota using various sampling methods, and documenting findings. In carrying out this work I followed established protocols and recorded and managed data using field notebooks and computer software (such as Microsoft Access, Excel, and/or ArcGIS). You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successfully completed four years of education above high school (120 semester hours or 180 quarter hours) leading to a bachelor's degree with major study or 24 semester hours of course work in a related field of scientific or technical study, such as biology, botany, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, physics, agriculture, or math. At least 6 semester hours of courses must be directly related to this position.
IMPORTANT - PLEASE NOTE: If you are using education to qualify you must document your course work and/or degree completed in your resume or other application materials you submit. You must submit a copy of your transcripts, or a complete list of college courses taken that identifies for each course the college or university, semester or quarter hours earned, grade received, and date completed. If you are qualifying based on education and you do not submit specific course work information as described previously, your application will be rated not qualified for consideration. (A copy of your official transcripts will be required before entrance on duty, if selected). You must include transcripts.
-OR-
COMBINATION: An equivalent combination of education and experience. 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, I have six months of the specialized experience (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 specified above (50% of the related coursework required), and at least 3 semester hours of courses are directly related to this position. (Transcripts required)

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.

Additional information

TEMP NTE Less Than 1040: 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.
TEMP NTE Less Than 1040: Employment may be terminated at any time due to fluctuations in funding levels, project needs, employee performance, or other considerations.

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. Federal employees seeking CTAP/ICTAP eligibility must submit proof that they meet the requirements of 5 CFR 330.605(2) for CTAP and 5 CFR 330.704 for ICTAP. This includes a copy of the agency notice, a copy of their most recent Performance Rating, and a copy of their most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location. Please annotate your application to reflect that you are applying as a CTAP/ICTAP eligible. If you are selected for Federal employment, you will be required to fill out a Declaration of Federal Employment, OF-306, prior to being appointed to determine your suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation. Failing to answer all questions truthfully and completely or providing false statements on your application may be grounds for not hiring you, or for firing you after you begin work. Also, you may be punished by fine or imprisonment (U.S. Code, Title 18, section 1001). ?




Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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.

Resumes must not exceed two single-sided pages and resumes longer than two pages will not be accepted. You may only submit one resume. Only the document submitted as the "Resume" under the Documents section will be used to determine your qualifications/eligibility and for rating purposes. In the event you submit more than one resume, only the latest submission will be reviewed.

Candidates who apply under Competitive Merit Promotion procedures will undergo a quality review to determine if they are highly qualified based on the content of their resume and their responses to the questionnaire. Best qualified candidates will be referred if all required supporting documentation has been provided.

Candidates who apply under Noncompetitive Merit Promotion procedures will undergo a quality review to determine if they are minimally qualified based on the content of their resume and their responses to the questionnaire. Qualified candidates will be referred if all required supporting documentation has been provided.

You will be evaluated on the following competencies:

  • Accountability
  • Biology
  • Physical Strength and Agility
  • Teamwork


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 additional assessments.

The assessment includes a cut score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment.

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