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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At the full performance level (GS-07) the major duties of this position include, but are not limited to the following:

• Participates in investigations of moderate complexity to determine fish population status, trends, age and growth, movement, survival, and behavior.
• Captures, applies visual and radio tags, and gathers biological, physiological and spatial data on fish/wildlife.
• Assists in planning and carrying out multifaceted fish and/or wildlife studies, field investigations and surveys.
• Monitors elements of the physical environment, such as temperature, precipitation, water flow, snow depth, wind speed, and humidity.
• Assists biologists in studying and preparing reports on effects to ecosystems from development proposals of local, state, and Federal government organizations.
• Develops and uses automated databases to enter, organize and perform preliminary analysis of collected data, using standard statistical methods in preparation of fish, wildlife, and/or botany reports.
• Provides basic information on fish and wildlife resources and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to groups and individuals.

Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level.

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/.
• Must have and maintain a valid driver's license throughout employment.
• Must have a current or obtain within 12 months of employment a Swiftwater Rescue Technician 1 Certification.
• You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work.
• You are required to wear a uniform and comply with the uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
• Must be able to pass PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) open water swim test within 12 months of employment.
• You must be at least 18 years of age or older to operate government vehicles.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 year probationary during which your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest will be evaluated.

This probationary 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 your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

Qualifications:

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-08/19/2026-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:

Minimum Qualifications [GS-5]
A) One year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility equivalent to grade GS-4 in the Federal service. Examples of specialized experience may include: participating on a technical team to accomplish aquatic or fisheries related objectives; collecting and recording biological, physical, or environmental data in an aquatic or fisheries related field setting; operation, maintenance, troubleshooting and repair of sampling devices related to aquatic or fisheries related work; and using computer software (ex: ArcGIS, Field Maps, R programming, Survey123) to manage and analyze data. OR

B) Possess four years of education above high school (120 semester hours or 180 quarter hours) leading to a (full four-year course of study) bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, with coursework related to the biological sciences such as: biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture, mathematics, etc. (You MUST submit a copy of your transcripts indicating the degree earned, credit hours, and course titles in order to qualify based on education). You must include transcripts. OR

C) Possess a combination of education and experience as described above. To combine education and the number of semester hours (or equivalent) earned towards a bachelor's degree, in excess of 60 semester hours, and divide by 60 semester hours (or equivalent) Then take the number of months of full-time experience and divide by 12 months. Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must have at least 24 semester hours in any combination of courses such as: biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture, mathematics, etc. (You MUST submit a copy of your transcripts indicating the number of credit hours in order to qualify based on the combination option).

Minimum Qualifications [GS-6]
A) One year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility equivalent to grade GS-5 in the Federal service. Examples of specialized experience may include: participating in investigation to determine fish population status, trends, age and growth, movement, survival, and behavior; carrying out fish and/or wildlife studies by following research methods and established procedures for accomplishing and reporting the work; assisting in planning the logistics of habitat studies such as establishing schedules and procedures to accomplish surveys and studies. May also plan part of a project under guidance of a biologist; utilizing specialized techniques and methods to collect biological and physical environment data from field and/or facility investigations and reports findings to determine actual and potential impact on fish, wildlife, or plant resources from aquaculture, research, restoration projects or habitat improvement projects; determining approach and summarizing data using a variety of database software programs or other presentation approaches, ensuring records are detailed, precise and accurately transferred (e.g., terrestrial, geologic, geographic, hydrologic, ecologic, and environmental data). OR

B) Successfully completed one-half year of graduate education (9 semester/13.5 quarter hours, or the school's equivalent) in an accredited college or university that included courses directly related to the occupation, such as fishery biology, ichthyology, limnology, aqua culture, etc. NOTE: To qualify under this option, you must submit transcripts (official or unofficial) to verify your education. OR

C) A combination of specialized experience (as described in A above) and education (as described in B above,) that, when prorated, combine to meet the qualification requirements for this position. Experience and education are each computed as percentages of their respective requirements and must equal 100 percent when combined. (Only education beyond the second year is creditable to meet this standard.)NOTE: To qualify under this option you must submit transcripts to verify your education and include proof of your experience in the text of your resume.

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.

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
• Customer Service
• Flexibility
• Influencing/Negotiating
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Reading Comprehension
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• 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.

Current or former displaced Federal employees who are surplus, displaced, or involuntarily separated have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP). To be considered under CTAP/ICTAP, you must be well-qualified (i.e., meet the minimum qualification requirements, including any selective placement factors; education, and experience requirements), and be able to perform the duties of the position upon entry.

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.