Wildlife Biologist
What you'd do
This position is located within the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Redwood National Park in Orick, California.
Major duties
This is a Merit Promotion announcement for career and career conditional National Park Service employees, Career Transition eligibles (CTAP), Current or former time-limited employees eligible under Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) and those who are eligible under the hiring paths listed above. At the full performance level (GS-11) the major duties of this position include, but are not limited to the following: Develops and prepares major sections of the park resources management plan dealing with wildlife resources. Prepares specific action plans needed to manage the wildlife component of natural systems and managed landscapes, and controversial, sensitive, endangered, feral or exotic species. Represents the superintendent when working with others on wildlife matters. Develops and maintains liaisons and effective working relations with related groups and individuals, agencies, and the public in order to encourage and facilitate cooperative regional management strategies. Attends management and professional conferences and other events for the purpose of exchanging information, presenting technical and policy information, and advancing advocacy for park stewardship. Coordinates the park's wildlife management strategies and programs with those on adjacent lands for the purposes of achieving broad ecosystem protection strategies and preventing human impacts. Negotiates cooperative and interagency agreements and other cooperative instruments needed to effectively carry out resource stewardship goals. Identifies research needs, prepares requests for proposals or statements of work, and provides oversight for research projects. Serves as a Contracting Officer's Technical Representative for projects conducted through contracts, interagency agreements, and cooperative agreements. In cooperation with appropriate staff, researchers, and partners, the wildlife biologist designs, develops, tests, and implements protocols to identify, evaluate, and do long-term monitoring of fauna. This includes conducting inventories to determine statistically valid plot distributions and design, and then implementing protocols to assess the status and trends. Writes new monitoring documents that define monitoring techniques and develops methods for future refinements of protocols. Based on results of inventories, in-depth studies, and monitoring, the incumbent develops and conducts scientifically credible protection, mitigation, and restoration projects needed to restore and/or maintain the integrity of native animal communities, critical habitat, and physical resources and to minimize human activities that impact resources. Develops and carries out statistically valid data collection protocols for the monitoring of animals species and populations and the results of protection, mitigation, and reintroduction programs. Performs data collection using the appropriate advanced technology. Performs data entry and carries out quality control checks on data collection and entry performed by others. Conducts analysis of complex data. Determines and documents the significance of findings. Prepares management and scientific reports regarding the results of protection, mitigation, reintroduction, inventory, monitoring, and research activities. Summarizes new and conventional information for use by scientists, managers, park staff, cooperators, and partners. Incorporates appropriate GIS technology into job to provide comprehensive and scientifically sound answers to inquiries from managers and others. Uses automated methods of data collection, analysis or illustration.
What you need to qualify
All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 08/24/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Competitive candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of specialized 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 periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the work schedule requirement as the service dates will be reflected. 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. Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position you MUST meet the (1) Basic Educational Requirements AND (2) Specialized Experience for the series/grade to which you are applying. Basic Educational Requirement for the Wildlife Biologist, GS-0486-11 (*SUBMISSION OF TRANSCRIPTS IS REQUIRED.) Education: Degree in biological science that included: At least 9 semester hours in such wildlife subjects as mammalogy, ornithology, animal ecology, wildlife management, or research courses in the field of wildlife biology; and At least 12 semester hours in zoology in such subjects as general zoology, invertebrate zoology, vertebrate zoology, comparative anatomy, physiology, genetics, ecology, cellular biology, parasitology, entomology, or research courses in such subjects (Excess courses in wildlife biology may be used to meet the zoology requirements where appropriate.); and At least 9 semester hours in botany or the related plant sciences. OR Combination of education and experience: equivalent to a major in biological science (i.e., at least 30 semester hours), with at least 9 semester hours in wildlife subjects, 12 semester hours in zoology, and 9 semester hours in botany or related plant science, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. -AND- In addition to the Basic Educational Requirement to qualify for this position at the GS-12 grade level, you must possess the following Specialized Experience OR Education to qualify for the grade to which you are applying. Specialized Experience: To qualify for the GS-11, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-9 grade level in the Federal service, or comparable experience not gained through Federal service. Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Specialized experience includes activities such as: - Providing input in the wildlife management program by gathering, compiling, and analyzing data to determine environmental conditions, characteristics, and values, and the interrelationship of wildlife resources with other resources; - Analyzing data and recommended solutions to problems involving a limited section of wildlife resources issues, e.g., and interpreting the effect and impact of changes on wildlife habitat as a result of specific resource activities; - Providing input in the preparation, maintenance, and revision of wildlife plans that involved interpretation of data obtained from studies and field surveys; - Determining how to mitigate wildlife related issues that impact human safety or property; developed and carried out statistically valid data collection protocols for the monitoring of animal species. Resume MUST include hours worked per week. -OR- Education: 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. You must submit all transcripts. -OR- Combination of Education and Experience: A qualifying combination of education in excess of the first two years of progressively higher-level graduate education earned toward a Ph.D. or the equivalent doctorate and specialized experience that meets 100% of the qualification requirements for this position. You must submit all 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.
Before you apply
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