Fish and Wildlife Biologist

About the role

You will serve as a Fish and Wildlife Biologist within the Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fish & Wildlife Service Region 8, Bay-Delta Fish and Wildlife Office, located in Sacramento, CA.

What you will do

• Act as technical advisor to other Field Office staff on the habitat needs of rare, candidate, proposed, and federally listed species for the purpose of Section 7 consultations with other Federal agencies and designated non-Federal representatives; consults with staff in preparation of reasonable and prudent measures, reasonable and prudent alternatives, and conservation recommendations.
• Coordinate wide ranging initiatives involving other Federal and state agencies, organizations, and the public in fully implementing Endangered Species Act programs, the Federal Power Act, and the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act.
• Inspect projects for compliance with policies, standards, guidelines, agreements, and plans, followed by recommendations for action to assure compliance.
• Review rules, regulations, legislation and statutes pertaining to rare, candidate, proposed, threatened, and endangered fish, wildlife, and plant resources.
• Prepare and guide the preparation of written correspondence, reports, and papers pertaining to technical aspects of work that analyzes current conditions and assesses implications of future actions on rare, candidate, proposed, threatened and endangered species, fish, wildlife, and their habitats.
• Facilitates implementation of conservation actions authorized through Biological Opinions and other regulatory documents such as conservation strategies, recovery plans, and habitat management plans.

Requirements

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
• Direct Deposit participation required.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check.
• To learn more, visit ***
• Must possess and maintain a valid driver's license throughout employment.
• You may be required to wear a uniform and comply with uniform standards.
• A uniform allowance will be provided.
• As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period to evaluate your fitness and whether your continuation of employment advances the public interest.
• This probationary period is an extension of the appointment process and therefore requires the agency to determine if continued employment would advance the public interest, meet the organization goals and mission of the agency, and/or otherwise promote the efficiency of the service.
• In determining if your employment advances the public interest, the agency will consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.
• Under applicable law, the employment of an individual serving a probationary or trial period automatically terminates when that period ends unless the agency affirmatively certifies, in writing, that the individual's employment should continue and that their appointment should be finalized.
• In the absence of agency action to affirmatively certify continued employment beyond the probationary or trial period, such appointments are terminated.
• Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Education

This position does not allow substituting education for experience. This position has a mandatory education requirement.

You must submit a copy of your transcript(s) to support claimed education if substituting education for experience.

Transcripts must include your name, school name, grades, credit hours earned, major(s), grade point average or class ranking, and date the degree was conferred, if applicable. A typed list of courses, grades, semester/quarter hours, GPA, etc. will not be accepted. Non-submission may result in being rated not qualified for the position.

Unofficial transcripts are acceptable, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.

Foreign Education: To receive credit for education completed outside the United States, you must show proof that the education has been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs.

For more information on how foreign education is evaluated, visit: ***

How you will be evaluated

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g. resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the additional assessment(s) required for this position. To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. Your resume must not exceed 2 pages.

Only the document submitted as the "Resume" under the Documents section will be used to determine your qualifications/eligibility and for rating purposes. In the event you submit more than one resume, only the latest submission will be reviewed.

You will be assessed in the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): Biology Organizational Awareness Partnering Written Communication To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process.

In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires successful completion of an additional assessment, including a structured resume review. This assessment measures the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job.

All qualified non-competitive applicants and the best-qualified Merit Promotion applicants will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration or your score may be lowered.

Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. Applicants who include vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate language or information in their application package will be ineligible for further consideration for this position.

Current or former displaced Federal employees who are surplus, displaced, or involuntarily separated have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP).

To be considered under CTAP/ICTAP, you must be well-qualified, score at least 85 (i.e., meet the minimum qualification requirements, including any selective placement factors; education, and experience requirements), and be able to perform the duties of the position upon entry.

Documents you must provide

• Resume which includes a list of all significant jobs held and duties performed, with dates in month-year format (include month/day/year format if needed for 52 weeks of experience), and indicate hours worked per week (or full-time).
• Your resume must clearly show how long you have held each grade/rank.
• Resumes must not exceed two single-sided pages and resumes longer than two pages will not be accepted.
• The minimum font size is 10-point for all body text.
• All resumes must maintain a minimum 0.5-inch margins on all sides to ensure readability and prevent excessive content compression.
• Including supplemental pages or attachments disguised as resume extensions are prohibited and will not be reviewed to determine your eligibility/qualifications.
• Your 2-page resume must contain information sufficient to make a valid determination that you fully meet the specialized experience requirements.
• If you have federal experience, you should include series, and grade for each position held, and if experience is part of a career ladder position, you must clearly distinguish the job duties and length of time working for each grade level.
• More information on how to write a Federal Resume: *** Complete All Required Assessment(s).
• Performance Appraisals and Awards: You must submit your most recent performance appraisal showing the official rating of record and signed by a supervisor dated within the past 18 months.
• If unavailable, a written explanation is required (including if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level).
• Performance awards dated within the past 5 years may also be submitted for due weight consideration.
• All College Transcript(s), if qualifying based on education.
• Eligibility Documentation: Current and former Federal employees must submit latest SF-50 (i.e. Promotion, Separation, Within Grade Increase (WGI)) showing tenure 1 or 2 in block 24, grade, and if applicable, an additional SF-50 showing the highest grade or promotion potential held.
• Time in grade will be determined by reviewing your resume and required SF-50s.
• If your SF-50 showing highest permanent grade held has an effective date within the past year, your resume must clearly show that you held that grade for one year.
• Do not submit award SF-50s.
• Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA): you must submit ALL Appointment AND Termination SF-50s for EACH Competitive time-limited appointment (block 34, code 1); AND Documentation of satisfactory performance for each period of employment claimed, such as, performance evaluations, memorandum of record, whereas the supervisor(s) documented an acceptable performance level for a specified rating/employment period.
• If not currently employed by agency, you must have been most recently separated by the hiring Bureau.
• Interagency Career Transition (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP): You MUST submit proof of eligibility including 1) copy of the agency notice, e.g., RIF Separation Notice, Notice of Proposed Removal, etc.; 2) SF-50s (Notifications of Personnel Action) showing career/conditional tenure competitive status, promotion potential and duty location; and 3) your most recent performance appraisal.
• To exercise selection priority, displaced or surplus Federal employees must be well qualified.
• For more information visit: USAJOBS Help Center - Career Transition Programs (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL).
• Failure to submit any of the above-mentioned required documents will result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package.
• It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted.
• Do not submit photographs with your application package.
• Do not upload Adobe portfolio documents.

What to expect next

Please refer to your USAJOBS account for application status; the Human Resources Office cannot respond to individual status inquiries. Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. Your application will be evaluated by the Human Resources Office to determine your eligibility for the position.

After the evaluation is complete, you will receive another notification regarding the status of your application. You can find your path with the Department of Interior at *** Any exaggeration of your experience, false statements, or attempt to conceal information may disqualify you for employment consideration.

We may verify all information you provide in your resume and questionnaire responses, through reference and/or background checks, and/or verification of your education. If you are selected, you will be contacted personally by the Human Resources Office posting this announcement.

Additional information

Additional vacancies may be filled using this job announcement. If otherwise eligible and qualified, you may be offered a recruitment or relocation incentive. The decision to offer an incentive will be made on a case-by-case basis and is neither promised nor guaranteed.

For information visit: Recruitment Incentive or Relocation Incentive. A continued service agreement may be required if it is determined you are eligible for a permanent change in duty station (PCS), recruitment, or relocation incentive.

Entitlements for payment of basic moving expenses, as required and to the extent allowed by the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) 302-3.101, are authorized for eligible applicants changing duty station when the change meets the distance tests as provided in FTR 302-1.1 and 302-2.6. All moving expenses are taxable.

In addition, relocation discretionary entitlements May be authorized for this position excluding contractor-provided home sale. All DOI employees, their spouses, and minor children may not acquire or retain any claim, permit, lease, small tract entry, or other rights granted by the Department in Federal lands, with limited exceptions.

Additional ethics prohibitions can be found here, DOI Ethics Prohibitions | U.S. Department of the Interior. Telework: The duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.