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Research Fish Biologist

NOAA Fisheries

NOAA Fisheries

This job is no longer accepting applications

See open jobs at NOAA Fisheries.See open jobs similar to "Research Fish Biologist" Schmidt Marine.
Beaufort, NC, USA
Posted 6+ months ago

Summary

This is a Direct Hire Public Notice. Please read this Public Notice in its entirety prior to submitting your application for consideration.

This position is located in the Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC); Fisheries Assessment, Technology, & Engineering Support (FATES) Division, with one vacancy, in Beaufort, NC.

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Overview

  • Accepting applications
  • Open & closing dates

    02/05/2024 to 02/19/2024

  • Salary

    $72,553 - $158,860 per year

  • Pay scale & grade

    ZP 3 - 4

  • Help

    Location

    1 vacancy in the following location:

  • Remote job

    No

  • Telework eligible

    Yes—as determined by the agency policy.

  • Travel Required

    25% or less - You may be expected to travel for this position.

  • Relocation expenses reimbursed

    No

  • Appointment type

    Permanent -

  • Work schedule

    Full-time -

  • Service

    Competitive

  • Promotion potential

    4 - If you are selected for a position with further promotion potential, you may be non-competitively promoted if you perform successfully and if recommended by management.

  • Job family (Series)

    0482 Fish Biology

  • Supervisory status

    No

  • Security clearance

    Not Required

  • Drug test

    No

  • Position sensitivity and risk

    Moderate Risk (MR)

  • Trust determination process

    Suitability/Fitness

  • Announcement number

    NMFS SEFSC-24-12281951-DHA

  • Control number

    774425000

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Duties

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

  • Conduct and support research, focusing on life history (i.e., fish ageing, growth, and reproduction), fishery ecology, and population dynamics, to support stock assessments and improve management advice for reef fish, coastal pelagic, and highly migratory species. Fish ageing is a primary function.
  • Communicate and coordinate with staff and partners in assessing needed fishery biology and life history data and research, planning research, meeting operational deadlines, and communicating data and scientific findings.
  • Assist with design and maintenance of life history databases and ensure all data are included in formats that will be available for future access and analysis. Coordinate compilation of relevant age or reproduction data for stock assessments. Ensure availability of data to the agency and public, as specified in agency policies.
NOTE: These duties are described at the Full Performance Level of the ZP-4, the ZP-3 is developmental leading to such performance.
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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-03 is equivalent to the GS-11/12.
The ZP-04 is equivalent to the GS-13/14.

ZP-3 is Low Risk; ZP-4 is Moderate Risk.

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. Recruitment or Relocation Incentives may be authorized.
  7. This position is in the bargaining unit. This position is covered by #5627 National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center (NAIL).
  8. Selectee must provide a valid state driver's license & safe driving record.
  • 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.

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:
  • Degree: Applicants must show that they have a degree with major study in biology, zoology, or biological oceanography that included at least 30 semester hours in biological and aquatic science and 15 semester hours in the physical and mathematical sciences. This course work must have included:
  1. At least 15 semester hours of preparatory training in zoology beyond introductory biology or zoology in such courses as invertebrate zoology, comparative anatomy, histology, physiology, embryology, advanced vertebrate zoology, genetics, entomology, and parasitology; and;
  2. At least 6 semester hours of training applicable to fishery biology in such subjects as fishery biology, ichthyology, limnology, oceanography, algology, planktonology, marine or freshwater ecology, invertebrate ecology, principles of fishery population dynamics, or related course work in the field of fishery biology; and
  3. At least 15 semester hours of training in any combination of two or more of the following: chemistry, physics, mathematics, or statistics.
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-03 level:
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-02 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following:
  • Assisting with conducting research on fisheries and fish stock assessment.
  • Providing support in all aspects of biological sample analysis (i.e., age, growth or reproductive analysis) using quality control measures to ensure high data quality.
  • Assisting with evaluating scientific data and presenting programmatic and research updates at conferences and meetings.
To qualify at the ZP-04 level:
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-03 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following:
  • Conducting research on fisheries and fish stock assessment to support the management of commercial and recreational finfish and invertebrate resources.
  • Coordinating and managing all aspects of biological sample analysis (i.e., age, growth, or reproductive analysis) using appropriate quality assurance and quality control measures to ensure high data quality; and
  • Publishing research results in peer reviewed journals and disseminating research information to the scientific community.

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.

Additional information

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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. 2 year trial periods are required for research positions.

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/12281951

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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. For more information on CTAP/ICTAP please click here.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

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How to Apply

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Agency contact information

Applicant Inquiries

Address
NOAA Office of Human Capital Services (OHCS)
1315 East West Hwy
SSMC4
Silver Spring, MD 20910
US
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Next steps

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This job is no longer accepting applications

See open jobs at NOAA Fisheries.See open jobs similar to "Research Fish Biologist" Schmidt Marine.
See more open positions at NOAA Fisheries
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