This position is located in the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC), with one vacancy in Eureka, CA. This position is also announced under vacancy number NMFS NWFSC-24-12192109-ST, which is open to Status Candidates. You must apply to both announcements if you want to be considered for both.

Duties

The working title for this position is a Marine Biologist. As a Marine Biologist, you will perform the following: Provide a high degree of scientific rigor in the collection and review of fisheries-dependent data and the training and mentoring of fisheries observers. Annotate video and other sensor data of commercial fishing operations collected by electronic monitoring systems serving similar functions as fishery observers. Provide assessments and feedback on catch and discard estimates produced by electronic monitoring systems and reviewers by following program protocols and timelines. Regularly advise and meet (in-person and through email/phone/text) with fishery observers on a range of topics, such as: proper sampling protocols, data issues, sampling advice, species identification, safety, and data entry. Assist as needed with observer or FRAM survey duties at-sea aboard fishing or research vessels as directed.

Requirements

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: BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENT: Degree: biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. OR Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. AND SELECTIVE PLACEMENT FACTOR: Experience in collecting and processing data and biological information from fisheries, as a fisheries observer at-sea aboard commercial fishing vessels for at least 120 sea days. AND 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-2 or GS-7 level: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZP-1 or GS-5 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following: Assisting observers in, or independently executing biological data collection and marine species identification (e.g., protected species, seabirds, fish, or marine mammals) and verifying the accuracy of collected data; Supporting, or participating in, training sessions on fishery-dependent sampling protocols, fish species identification, and marine safety; and Evaluating observer data to ensure data quality integrity for fisheries management and producing detailed reports on data collection methods; OR 1 full year of graduate level education OR Superior Academic Achievement: Demonstrated by a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with one of the following. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your application clearly states how you meet one of the provisions below: A grade point average (GPA) of 2.9 or higher based on a 4.0 scale for all completed undergraduate courses, or those completed in the last 2 full years of undergraduate study; OR a GPA of 3.5 or higher based on a 4.0 scale for required courses completed in a major field of study, or those courses completed in a major field of study during the last two years of undergraduate study; OR class standing of upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision of the college; OR membership in a National Scholastic Honor Society certified by the Association of College Honor Societies, excluding freshman honor societies. OR COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: A combination of education and experience as described above.

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.

Contacts

• Address NOAA Office of Human Capital Services (OHCS) 1315 East West Hwy SSMC4 Silver Spring, MD 20910 US
• Name: Victor Cruz
• Email: [email protected]