Biologist

Summary

This position is located in Natural Resources Stewardship and Science, in the Wildlife Health Branch and is engaged in the study, inventory, monitoring, restoration, and management of a broad range of natural resources and and administering the NPS Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

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Duties

The major duties of the Biologist position include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Develops and maintains liaisons and effective working relations with related groups and individuals, agencies and the public.
• Attends management and professional conferences, meetings, and other events representing the NPS for the purpose of exchanging information and advancing NPS park stewardship.
• Prepares specific action plans pertaining to the management and protection of natural resources.
• Coordinates natural resource strategies and programs to achieve broad ecosystem protection stratagies.
  
  
  

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Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship required.
• Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
• Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males
• Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
• Any individual who is currently holding, or has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet time-in-grade requirements (must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent in the Federal service); with few exceptions as outlined in 5 CFR 300.603(b). Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal civilian employees applying for reinstatement who have had a break in service of less than one year, as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointments. Time-in-grade does not apply to new excepted service appointments. Time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.
• 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 3 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-10/12/2024-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-09 grade level, you must meet one of the following basic qualifications in order to be eligible for this position: If you do not meet these basic requirements, you will be considered not qualified and will not receive consideration for this position.

Have a degree in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position.

• OR
  
  
  

Have a Combination of education and experience -- course work as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

-AND-

To qualify for the Biologist position at the GS-09 grade, you must meet the following minimum qualifications by the closing date of this announcement.

EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: (1) independently carrying out ecological or biological studies with a number of variables following established protocols, (2) performing established, standardized tests and analyses on a broad range of biological studies; (3) conducting seasonal monitoring of biological or ecosystem components; recording, compiling, and organizing data; (4) develop written reports; and using computer-based technology such as geographic information systems (GIS), spreadsheets, and databases. You must include hours per week worked.

-OR-

EDUCATION: Have successfully completed at least two years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's equivalent degree. You must include transcripts.

-OR-

Have successfully completed at least two years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's equivalent degree. You must include transcripts.

You must include months, years and hours per week worked to receive credit for your work and/or volunteer experience. One year of specialized experience is equivalent to 12 months at 40 hours per week. Part-time hours are prorated. You will not receive any credit for experience that does not indicate exact hours per week or is listed as "varies". Experience listed as full-time will be credited at 40 hours per week.

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

A selectee receiving a first appointment to the Federal Government (Civil Service) is entitled only to the lowest step of the grade for which selected The display of a salary range on this vacancy shall not be construed as granting an entitlement to a higher rate of pay.

A Recruitment Incentive May Be Authorized for a newly selected employee when appointed to a permanent, temporary, or term position. A Federal employee who is transferring to the National Park Service from another component, bureau or Federal agency and who does not meet the conditions under 5 CFR

• 575.102 is not eligible for a recruitment incentive.
  
  
  

A Relocation Incentive May Be Authorized for a Federal employee when the employee must move, as directed by the National Park Service (NPS) either through a management directed reassignment or selection for employment, to a different location at least 50 miles away from the one where his/her position of record held at time of selection is currently located, due to a need of the NPS. A relocation incentive is not the same as a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) move and, as such, may be granted in conjunction with one another.

This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if identical vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.

Physical Demands: The position may require strenuous physical activity including periods of standing, walking, climbing, and lifting and carrying heavy objects. Some activities will occur in physically dangerous areas or settings. Documentary research and report writing work is sedentary, entails the ability to concentrate and write for long periods of time.

Working Conditions: Work is performed both indoors and outdoors in all type of weather. Assignments may be performed in potentially hazardous areas including steep slopes, rocky terrain, volcanoes, caves, firelines, artic environments, swamps, deserts, and forests. Flying in fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters is possible.

The National Park Service has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.

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• Help A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
  
  
  

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

Natural Resources Stewardship and Science

1849 C Street, NW

Washington, DC 20240

US