Fish and Wildlife Biologist

Salary: $89,508.00 to $116,362.00 Per Year

You will serve as a Fish and Wildlife Biologist with US Fish and Wildlife Service as a Senior Fish and Wildlife Biologist and technical advisor in one of the following field offices: Starkville, Mississippi; Hattiesburg, Mississippi; or Jackson Mississippi. Pay will vary based on grade level and/or duty location for which you're selected. First time hires to the Federal government normally start at the step 1 rate. GS-12: $89,508 - $116,362 per annum

Major duties

Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following: Conducts comprehensive habitat restoration and enhancement on private lands including planning, contracting with landowners, mapping, surveying, implementation, construction monitoring, seeding, and post-restoration monitoring to restore natural ecosystems and support federally listed and at-risk species in coordination with other Service programs. Works with National, State, and local conservation organizations to develop partnerships that leverage Service resources for habitat work. Represent the Service at professional and other meetings, including steering committees and working groups, to further habitat enhancement and restoration on private lands while providing technical assistance and regulatory information to other Service programs and Federal and state agencies to ensure satisfy requirements of the Act. Trains, mentors, and coordinates work efforts between private lands staff and other team members, when applicable, and provides quality control on agreements and accomplishment reporting.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 10/22/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Competitive candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of specialized experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the work schedule requirement as the service dates will be reflected. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications: Basic Educational Requirement AND/OR Specialized Experience for the series to which you are applying. Basic Educational Requirements: In addition to the specialized experience requirements for this position, you must meet at least one of the following: A. Degree: Degree in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. You must submit transcripts. -OR- B. Combination of education and experience: course work as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. To qualify for this position at the GS-12 grade level: Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: 1) Coordinates conservation projects with multiple partners, including state and federal agencies and nongovernmental organizations, to benefit federally trust species and address priority resource concerns. 2) Participates in the development of statewide, regional, or national private lands habitat restoration policies and procedures. 3) Develops partnerships with private landowners and other external partners to implement landscape scale habitat restoration. 4) Inputs accomplishment reporting in various databases (i.e., Habits, etc.) to ensure adequate reporting of accomplishments. You must include hours per week worked. Volunteer Experience: 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.