Supervisory Fish Biologist

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Summary

This position is located in the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC), with two vacancies in Woods Hole, MA.

Duties

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

  • Oversee, planning and execution of scientific fishery survey programs.
  • Serve as a senior expert in providing an authoritative source of technical guidance to other functional specialists both internal and external to the organization.
  • Develop and advise on fisheries survey techniques in support of a wide variety of program projects and analytical study activities.
  • Evaluate work performance of subordinates; develop performance standards; give advice, counsel, or instruction to employees on both work and administrative matters.

Requirements

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-4 is equivalent to the GS-13/14.

“The salary for selectee’s pay may be set at any point within the pay band except for intervals 4 and 5 ($179,463 – $190,391) which is reserved for supervisory performance or for current supervisors within CAPS who already have a salary within intervals 4 and 5.”

NOTE:
* A one year supervisory probationary period may be required.
* A one year probationary period may be required. These periods can be served concurrent.
* Payment of relocation expenses is not authorized.
* Payment of relocation incentives may be authorized
* Payment of Recruitment incentives may be authorized
* This position is not in the bargaining unit.

Key Requirements:

  1. Applicants must be U.S. Citizens.
  2. Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation.
  3. Selectee may be subject to serving a one-year probationary period.
  4. More requirements are listed under Qualifications and Other Information.
  5. Must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable (www.sss.gov)
  6. Selectee must provide a valid state driver’s license & safe driving record.

Are There Any Special Requirements For This Position?

  • A background investigation will be required for this position. Continued employment will be subject to the applicant’s successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet these requirements will be grounds for termination.
  • Throughout the recruitment and hiring process we will be communicating with you via email; therefore, it is imperative that the email address you provide when applying for this vacancy remains active. Should your email address change, please notify the point of contact identified in the vacancy announcement as soon as possible so that we can update our system.

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.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

  • This position requires the operation of a Federal motor vehicle.
  • This position has physical requirements.
  • This position will operate on sea duty on NOAA vessels, working out at sea for extended periods. (Ex: Working at sea for extended periods, potentially up to, and in excess of, 20 days at a time.)
  • Must be able to obtain and maintain a valid state driver’s license to operate a government vehicle in completion of assigned tasks. Tasks include attendance at local and regional meetings, delivering or moving samples from vessels to laboratory facilities, and transporting personnel to vessels as needed.

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:

To qualify for the 0482 series:
BASIC REQUIREMENTS: This position requires applicants to meet the Basic 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 an application package. You MUST meet one of the following basic education requirements:

A. 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

B. 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.

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-4 or (GS-13/14):
SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZP-3 or (GS-12) in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following:

  • Planning or leading living marine resource projects or teams, to include assigning work, setting priorities, coordinating logistics, and providing feedback on work assignments;
  • Participating and collaborating with research partners in research investigations on stock assessment for living marine resources; and
  • Planning and conducting standardized fishery independent surveys such as trawl, dredge, or optical surveys.

Education

College Transcript: If you are qualifying based on education, submit a copy of your college transcript that lists college courses detailing each course by the number and department (i.e., Bio 101, Math 210, etc.), course title, number of credit hours and grade earned. You must submit evidence that any education completed in a foreign institution is equivalent to U.S. education standards with your resume. You may submit an unofficial copy of the transcript at the initial phase of the application process. If course content cannot be easily identified from the title of the course as listed on your transcript, you must submit an official course description from the college/university that reflects the content at the time the course was taken.

Note: Your college transcript is used to verify successful completion of degree, or college course work. An official college transcript will be required before you can report to duty.

Special Instructions for Foreign Education: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part in foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree. A listing of these accredited organizations can be found on the Department of Education’s website. You MUST provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course by course listing along with your application. Failure to provide such documentation by the closing date of the announcement will result in lost consideration. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated visit: OPM Foreign Education Evaluation.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

We will review your resume, optional cover letter and supporting documentation to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for the position.

Veteran’s Preference does not apply to direct hire recruitment procedures.

Any selections made under this notice will be processed as new appointments to the civil service. Therefore, Current Federal employees would be given new appointments to the civil service and may have to serve a new probationary period under CFR 315.802 (b).

NOTE: A one year probationary period will be required under the Direct Hire Authority unless you are a current Department of Commerce employee and are in the same line of work and with no more than a 30 day break in service.

NOTE: If it is determined that you have rated yourself higher than is supported in your description of experience and/or education as described in your resume/application, or that your resume or application is incomplete, you may be rated ineligible and/or not qualified.

To preview the announcement questionnaire, click here: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12579751

Required Documents

Required documents may be: (1) uploaded directly from your desktop; or (2) uploaded directly from your USAJOBS stored attachments.

A complete application package includes a resume, required documents and completion of the vacancy announcement questionnaire. Please see this guidance: What to include in your resume

You are highly encouraged to use USAJOBS Resume Builder to ensure all required information is included in your Resume. If you use your own resume, curriculum vitae, or any other written form you choose, for each work experience at a minimum, 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. If identifying as part-time you must state the number of hours per week. (NOTE: A full-time work schedule requires most employees to work 33-40 hours during the work week. A part-time schedule requires an employee to work less than full-time, but for a specific number of hours (usually 16-32 hours per administrative work week) on a prearranged scheduled tour of duty.)

Transcripts

If this position requires specific educational course work to qualify, or you are qualifying based in whole or part on education, you are required to provide all unofficial transcripts (undergraduate, graduate, etc.) by the closing date of this announcement or you will be disqualified from further consideration. Please ensure that all documentation is legible.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) & Inter-agency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) Eligibles

If you are claiming CTAP/ICTAP eligibility, the Servicing Human Resources Office must receive proof by the closing date of this announcement that you meet the requirements of 5 CFR 330 Subpart F for CTAP and 5 CFR 330 Subpart G for ICTAP or you will not receive priority consideration. This includes:

  • copy of the agency notice;
  • your most recent Performance Rating; and
  • your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location.

If you are a CTAP or ICTAP eligible, you will be considered well qualified if you earn a minimum score of 85 (prior to the assignment of veteran’s preference points). For more information on CTAP/ICTAP please click here.

How to Apply

Applications (resume and application questions) for this vacancy must be received on-line via USAJOBS by 11:59pm Eastern Time (ET) (Washington, D.C. time) on the closing date of this announcement. If you fail to submit a complete online resume, you will not be considered for this position. Requests for extensions will not be granted. If applying online poses a hardship for you, you must speak to someone in the Servicing Human Resources Office listed on this announcement PRIOR TO THE CLOSING DATE for assistance.

Instructions for Applying Online for this Vacancy Announcement:

  1. Click the blue “Apply Online” button.
  2. If you are not a registered USAJOBS user, please create a new account and follow the instructions to complete your application process. If you are a registered user, login to access your existing USAJOBS profile.
  3. As a registered user, select a stored resume and select one or more of your stored documents to attach to your application.
  4. Check the “Certification” box and click the “Apply for this position now!” button located at the bottom of the screen.
  5. Address the eligibility questions as well as the questionnaire containing questions and/or task statements that address the knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies for this vacancy.
  6. Submit required documents using one of the available methods listed below.
  7. If you experience technical difficulties during the online application process, please contact the USAJOBS helpdesk.

To apply for this job please visit www.usajobs.gov.