This position is located in the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC), with three vacancies in Narragansett, RI, Orono, ME, or Woods Hole, MA. This is a term appointment not to exceed 13 months with possible extensions up to a total of 10 years without further competition. Appointment to this position will not convey permanent status in the Federal service.

Duties

As a Biological Science Technician, you will perform the following duties: Provide at-sea research cruise technical support and scientific sampling operations to ensure quality control and data collection consistency. Provide expertise in identification of marine organisms and other ecosystem components to identify, process, and collect samples. Use complex technical equipment. Assist with project planning and maintenance of planned timelines, leadership and coordination of relevant staff for defined efforts. Coordinate with field operation staff to execute staging and de-staging of equipment and supplies for research cruises and other field operations. Develop procedures and practices for the general maintenance, storage, inventory and procurement of boat-related or project-specific scientific equipment used in the laboratory or field. Conduct regular maintenance on small boats and related equipment, or technical electronic gear to ensure data quality control practices are in place, and assist with developing databases. Work in spreadsheets and database programs to conduct standardized quality control auditing procedures, develop summarized results for seasonal research cruise data reports, and provide research data for internal and external data requests. NOTE: These duties are described at the full performance level of the ZT-3; the ZT-2 is developmental leading to such performance.

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 EDUCATION: There is no positive education requirement for this position. 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 ZT-2 or GS-05 level: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZT-1 or GS-04 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following: Assisting with collection of scientific data in the field; and Conducting general maintenance, storage, or inventory of small boat-related or project-specific scientific equipment. OR SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with major study or at least 24 semester hours in any combination of courses such as biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture, or mathematics. At least 6 semester hours of courses must have been directly related to the position to be filled. The successful completion of a full course of study of at least 12 months in a school for clinical laboratory technicians may be substituted for the 1 year of specialized experience required at the GS-5 level for positions involving microbiology and biochemistry technician work. OR COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: A combination of education and experience as described above. Note: Only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours of a course of study leading to a bachelor's degree is qualifying for combination. To qualify at the ZT-3 or GS-09 level: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZT-2 or GS-08 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following: Participating in the collection, processing or analyzing of field data taken for research on marine mammals (such as marine mammals, sea turtles, fish, and plankton, etc.); Performing laboratory analyses of data taken from the field; and Organizing or managing databases of data that has been collected from research. OR SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: Two full years of graduate education or a master's degree in biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture, or mathematics. OR COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: A combination of education and experience as described above. Note: Only education in excess of one full year of graduate education is qualifying for combination. CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT/PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: This position requires the operation of a Federal motor vehicle. Coordinates with field operation staff and executes staging and de-staging of equipment and supplies for researching cruises and other field operations which require the operation of a Federal motor vehicle. This position has physical requirements. This position requires regular at-sea duty working on deck for up to 12 hours and lifting of up to 50 lbs. Additional at-sea requirements: prolong walking and standing; climbing stairs and rope ladders; donning survival suits. Must be able to obtain and maintain a valid state driver's license to operate a government vehicle in completion of transporting experimental fishing equipment and gear in Federal vehicles, visit NOAA NMFS laboratories and attend meetings. May require scientific dive certification, small boat coxswain certification, or other specialized requirements for meeting survey needs.

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: Mark Delong
• Email: [email protected]