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Biologist

Department of the Interior
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fish & Wildlife Svc Region 2, New Mexico FWS Conservation

Summary

You will serve as a Biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fish & Wildlife Svc Region 2, New Mexico FWS Conservation, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

First time hires to the Federal government normally start at the step 1 rate.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Posted yesterday · Apply by 08/12/26
Due by 11:59 p.m. ET on August 12, 2026
This job will close when we have received 50 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Location
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$51,007 - $66,311 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 7
Promotion potential
9
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
50% or less - As required to perform duties and attend training opportunities.
Appointment type
Permanent
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Represented by a union
No
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Financial disclosure required
No
Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.
Announcement number
FWS-DE-13013467-26-DSG
Control number
878464800

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open to United States Citizens; U.S. Nationals; and Career transition eligibles (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL).

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Duties

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At the full performance level (GS-09) some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following:

  • Conducts routine field experiments using established data-collection systems and extracts and analyzes data from these systems. Selects and applies standard techniques, processes, and procedures. Assists in remote data-collection systems and participates in the analysis of data from these systems.
  • In a developmental capacity, participates in collecting basic data from field investigations and assessments concerning biological, chemical, and physical processes that affect ecosystems. Reports observations in notes for use of higher grade-level employees.
  • Participate in partnerships/collaborative groups and meet with partners, stakeholders and general public to communicate mission of the USFWS, respective USFWS office priorities and conservation needs.
  • Assists biologists of higher grade in studying and preparing reports on a wide variety of biological, ecological, pathological, public use data or other information pertinent to scientific studies. Performs preliminary analysis of quantitative and qualitative data using established methods and software in ways that support project needs.
  • Maintains computer databases; Participates in the development of reports, briefings, presentations, and training materials on analytical findings and recommendations.
Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level.

Physical Demands/Work Environment: The work may involve a varied amount of field work. When engaged in field activities, the work is at times strenuous, requiring exertion such as walking over wet, rough, uneven or rocky surfaces; bending, crouching, stooping, stretching, reaching, or similar activities. The work requires average agility and dexterity. Travel to remote study sites may be required via boats, small aircraft, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, and/or on foot. Extended periods of camping in tents or cabins in remote field camps may occur. Incumbent must be able to cope with the pressure of short time deadlines, responsibilities of logistics to remote areas, cultural conflicts, and adverse weather conditions. The incumbent may be 5 6/11/2026required to lift objects weighing up to 50 pounds.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Must provide proof of U.S. citizenship.
  • Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
  • Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
  • Direct Deposit participation required.
  • Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more, visit www.dhs.gov/EVerify/.
As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or a 2-year trial period during which your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest will be evaluated.

This probationary or trial period is an extension of the appointment process and therefore requires the agency to determine if continued employment would advance the public interest, meet the organization goals and mission of the agency, and/or otherwise promote the efficiency of the service. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, the agency will consider:
  • your performance and conduct;
  • the needs and interests of the agency;
  • whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
  • whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.
Under applicable law, the employment of an individual serving a probationary or trial period automatically terminates when that period ends unless the agency affirmatively certifies, in writing, that the individual's employment should continue and that their appointment should be finalized. In the absence of agency action to affirmatively certify continued employment beyond the probationary or trial period, such appointments are terminated.

Upon completion of your probationary period or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

*Additional Requirements located under qualifications*

Qualifications

Requirements Continued...

  • Must have and maintain a valid driver's license throughout employment.
  • 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 are required to complete training, obtain and maintain a government credit card with travel and purchase authority.
  • You 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-08/12/2026 or the date that the "applicant cut-off" is reached (which may be sooner than 08/12/2026).-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

To receive credit for experience, 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.

Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications:

Basic Educational Requirement AND Specialized Experience for the series to which you are applying.

BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS: This position has basic requirements required by the Office of Personnel Management. Candidates who do not meet this requirement by close of this announcement will receive no further consideration for this position. It is recommended to upload any and all transcripts you have to justify this requirement (under grad, grad, etc). Applicants must meet one of the following before the close of the announcement:

EDUCATION: Successfully completed a bachelor's or higher in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. You must include transcripts.

-OR-

COMBINATION: A combination of education and experience in courses equivalent to a major, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. You must include hours per week worked. You must include transcripts.

-AND-


To qualify for this position at the GS-07 grade level:
  • Specialized Experience Requirement: you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to successfully perform the duties of a Biologist. Examples of specialized experience include: collecting basic data from field investigations and assessments concerning biological, chemical, and physical processes that affect ecosystems; conducting routine field experiments using established data-collection systems and extracting and analyzing data from these systems; assisting biologists of higher grade in studying and preparing reports on a wide variety of biological, ecological, pathological, public use data or other information pertinent to scientific studies; assisting in remote data-collection systems and participating in the analysis of data from these systems. Experience equivalent to the GS-05 may be professional work at the developmental or trainee level. Lower graded technician/assistant work alone at the GS-05 grade level is not qualifying for this series. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
  • Education: Successful completion of at least one year of progressively higher-level graduate education from an accredited educational institution concentrated in a field that is directly related to the work of the position to be filled, such as in ecology, biology, botany, natural resource management; or other directly related subject matter. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that number cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester (27 quarter) hours should be considered an academic year of graduate study. You must provide transcripts that demonstrate graduate level coursework. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
  • Combination of education and experience. Only graduate level education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be combined with experience. For example, I have six months of the specialized experience (50% of the experience requirement), and 9 semester hours or 14 quarter hours of appropriate directly related graduate education (50 percent of the education requirement). The total percentage must equal at least 100%.
-OR-
  • Superior Academic Achievement (SAA): Successfully completed a bachelor's degree in a directly related field AND meet one of the following: (1) Class Standing: rank in the upper 3rd of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, based on the completed courses;OR (2) Grad-Point Average (GPA): earn a GPA of (a) 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) based on 4 years of education, or based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum -or- (b) 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field, or the required courses completed during the final two years. Note: GPA will be rounded to one decimal place, for example, 2.95 = 3.0, 2.94 = 2.9; OR (3) Membership in a National Scholastic Honor Society.
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

This position has a mandatory education requirement.

You must submit a copy of your transcript(s) to support claimed education if substituting education for experience. Transcripts must include your name, school name, grades, credit hours earned, major(s), grade point average or class ranking, and date the degree was conferred, if applicable. A typed list of courses, grades, semester/quarter hours, GPA, etc. will not be accepted. Non-submission may result in being rated not qualified for the position. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.

Foreign Education: To receive credit for education completed outside the United States, you must show proof that the education has been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs. Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | U.S. Department of Education. https://www.ed.gov/about/initiatives/international-affairs/recognition-of-foreign-qualification

Additional information

Additional vacancies may be filled using this job announcement.

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.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

Related Non-Federal experience or related experience as retired members of the uniformed services may be credited towards computing entitlement to leave accrual, at managerial discretion, providing that experience meets certain criteria. This provision allows new employees to earn annual leave at a higher rate than would otherwise be allowed. (5 Code of Federal Regulations, 630).


All Department of Interior (DOI) employees, their spouses, and minor children may not acquire or retain any claim, permit, lease, small tract entry, or other rights granted by the Department in Federal lands, with limited exceptions. Additional ethics prohibitions can be found here, https://www.doi.gov/ethics/ethics-prohibitions.

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.

The duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.

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.

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 any additional assessment(s) required for this position.

Your resume must not exceed 2 pages. 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 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 the following 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 assessed in the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

  • Attention to Detail
  • Decision Making
  • Flexibility
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Teamwork

In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires successful completion of the USA Hire Assessment, if required.

If fewer than three eligible and available candidates per vacancy result, the agency will expand the group of candidates in accordance with the pre-announced supplement strategy and 5 CFR 332.402(f).

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

Providing false or misleading information on your resume or supporting documentation may result in removal from consideration or other action consistent with applicable federal hiring regulations. Applicants who include vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate language or information in their application package will be ineligible for further consideration for this position.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The Department of the Interior protects and manages the Nation's natural resources and cultural heritage; provides scientific and other information about those resources; and honors its trust responsibilities or special commitments to American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and affiliated Island Communities. Click here to learn more about The Department of the Interior and its bureaus.

The mission of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is to work with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. Click here to learn more about The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Agency contact information

Daniel Garner

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