I’m pleased to notify you of our vacancy announcement for two career-ladder Fish Biologists (ZP-II/III-482) working on offshore wind projects.  One position will be in our Protected Resources Division and the other position will be our California Coast Division.  The duty locations include Arcata, CA, Long Beach, CA, Santa Cruz, CA, Santa Rosa, CA, or Seattle, WA.  The announcement will be open tomorrow for 15 days, from 10/30/23 to 11/14/23 (an extra day was added to recognize Veterans Day).  You can preview the announcement now at:

Job Announcement # (MAP):  NMFS WCR-24-12172704-ST

https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/757480100

Please pay close attention to the “Required Documents” section of the announcement, especially all of the information that must be included in your resume.  If you do not include all of the required documents and all of the required information in your application, you will not be referred for the position.  Please be sure to carefully review this section of the announcement.  Your resume must include: 

• job title(s) (including job series and grade, if federal); 
• description of duties or work performed; 
• education; 
• starting and ending dates (month and year); 
• and hours worked per week and/or full-time or part-time. 

[MB advising: see link above to full job posting and application details (will expire when position is filled). The following are excerpts from the full position description, do not necessarily include full details, and are provided for the purposes of career exploration.]

Summary

This position is located in the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), West Coast Region (WCR), with two vacancies in either Arcata, CA, Long Beach, CA, Santa Cruz, CA, Santa Rosa, CA, or Seattle, WA.

This position is also announced under vacancy number NMFS WCR-24-12172706-DE, which is open to all US Citizens or Nationals. You must apply to both announcements if you want to be considered for both.

Duties

As a Fish Biologist, you will perform the following duties:

• Demonstrate knowledge of various fish species ecology, biology and habitat requirements, and aquatic habitats for managed species. aquatic habitats associated with programs and funded projects.
• Perform recurring tasks using standard methods and techniques, identifying and resolving problems, evaluating requests for access and use of public lands, and preparing routine reports and presentations, providing technical advice to laymen.
• Interact with a variety of communities, local government representatives, nongovernmental organizations, and the scientific community on fisheries or water resource management.
• The duties above are described at the full performance level of ZP-3; the ZP-2 is developmental leading to such performance.

Conditions of Employment

This position will be filled under the DOC Alternative Personnel Systems (CAPS). This system replace the Federal GS pay plan and structure. Under CAPS, positions are classified by career, pay plan, and pay band.

The ZP-2 is equivalent to the GS-07/09.

• Salary for Long Beach, CA: $54,067 to $94,679
• Salary for Arcata, CA: $46,696 to $81,771
• Salary for Santa Rosa, CA: $57,778 to $101,179
• Salary for Santa Cruz, CA: $57,778 to $101,179
• Salary for Seattle, WA: $51,934 to $90,945

* A one year probationary period may be required.

* Payment of relocation expenses is not authorized.

* Payment of relocation/recruitment incentives may be authorized.

* This position is not in the bargaining unit.

Qualifications

Qualification requirements in the vacancy announcements are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook, which contains federal qualification standards. This handbook is available on the Office of Personnel Management’s website located at: https://www.opm.gov/policy.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS: This position has a positive Education Requirement in addition to at least one year of Specialized Experience OR substitution of education for experience OR combination (if applicable) in order to be found minimally qualified. Transcripts must be submitted with your application package. You MUST meet the following requirements:

EDUCATION:

Degree: Major in biological science that included:

• At least 6 semester hours in aquatic subjects such as limnology, ichthyology, fishery biology, aquatic botany, aquatic fauna, oceanography, fish culture, or related courses in the field of fishery biology; and
• At least 12 semester hours in the animal sciences in such subjects as general zoology, vertebrate zoology, comparative anatomy, physiology, entomology, parasitology, ecology, cellular biology, genetics, or research in these fields. (Excess course work in aquatic subjects may be used to meet this requirement when appropriate.)

OR

Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in biological science (i.e., at least 30 semester hours), of which a minimum of 6 semester hours were in aquatic subjects and 12 semester hours were in the animal sciences, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

AND

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the next lower grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular competencies/knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. This experience need not have been in the federal government.

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.

To qualify at the ZP-2 or GS-07:

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements above, applicants must also possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZP-1 or GS-05 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following:

• Collecting field data on aquatic ecosystems; and
• Preparing raw data for use in final reporting documents; and summarizing/presenting survey findings for management use.

OR

SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: 1 year of graduate-level education or superior academic achievement (S.A.A).

S.A.A. is based on (1) class standing, (2) grade-point average, or (3) honor society membership.

1. Class standing — Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses.
2. Grade-point average (G.P.A.) — Applicants must have a grade-point average of:

• 9 or higher out of a possible 4.0 (“B” or better) as recorded on their official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or
• 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 in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum.

3. Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society in one of the national scholastic honor societies recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies.