Biological Scientist

Conditions of Employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service or exempt.
• Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
• Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served.
• Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit E-Verify.
• This position is remote eligible. You will be required to sign a remote work agreement and be responsible for ensuring the approved remote worksite has adequate internet service, connectivity, and other general utility costs at your own expense.

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards.



Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. This position has a positive education requirement for either the GS-0401 or GS-1301 series. Transcripts must be provided for qualifications based on education. Provide course descriptions as necessary. Failure to provide transcripts will result in candidate not being referred for consideration.



This is an interdisciplinary position and may be filled in any of the job series listed below.



Basic Requirement:



GS-0401: Degree: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included a major field of study in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position.



OR



Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in a major field of study that included 24 semester hours in course work in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. Related course work generally refers to courses that may be accepted as part of the program major.



OR



Combination of education and experience that included 24 semester hours in course work in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position, AND experience sufficient to demonstrate that I possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform work in the occupation that is comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of a full 4-year course of study with a major in the appropriate field needed to perform the work of the occupation.



In addition to meeting the basic requirement, you must also possess experience and/or directly related education in the amounts listed below.



Specialized Experience Requirement:



GS-11: One year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-09 in Federal service. Specialized Experience is defined as 52 weeks 2 out of 3 of the following:

1. Maintaining natural resource related databases, workflow processes, communication with external systems, and associated web services;
2. Managing large data sets to include data collection, storage, and reporting information.
3. Using Standard Query Language (SQL) to extract, analyze, and interpret natural resource data.

OR



Substitution of education for experience:



Completion of a Ph.D. or equivalent graduate degree, or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or equivalent doctoral degree (coursework directly related to position being filled), if related. The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work in fields such as Biology, Ecology, Natural Resources, Environmental Science or Forestry.



OR



An appropriate combination of specialized experience and directly related graduate level education (beyond what is required for a master's degree, i.e., more than 36 semester hours leading to a Ph.D.).



Work Experience: Your resume must clearly document the following for each block of work experience; the beginning day, month and year the work assignment started and ended; the hours worked per week; position title, and series and grade if applicable; and description of duties performed. This information must be provided for each permanent, temporary or seasonal appointment/work assignment or volunteer work and should be clearly documented as a separate block of time. Incomplete, inaccurate or conflicting work history may not be credited for qualifications purposes. This can result in an applicant not being considered for the position.



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.

Education

See above for education that may be qualifying for the specific grade level.