Overview

  • Open & closing dates

     11/13/2020 to 12/12/2020

  • Service

    Competitive

  • Pay scale & grade

    GS 12

  • Salary

    $84,045 to $109,264 per year

  • Appointment type

    Permanent

  • Work schedule

    Full-Time

Apply here: https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/584348100#new_tab

Duties

Summary

What General Information Do I Need To Know About This Position?

Salary:
GS-12: $84,045 (Step 01) to $109,264 (Step 10);

NOTE: First time hires to the Federal Government are typically hired at the Step 01.

This position and is being advertised concurrently with the following announcements:
Open to current or former Federal employees: USGS-21-10960938-ST-BWB

Responsibilities

As a Research Social Scientist/Biologist within the Washington Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit, some of your specific duties will include:

  • Plans, conducts, and directs research related to social or biological resources, with application to contemporary science, policy and management needs.
  • Conducts research that is cooperator driven and provides scientific basis for management and policy decisions.
  • Serves as subject matter expert in social science and biology, providing leadership and guidance to government and private agencies and university representatives through participation in meetings, conferences and work groups.
  • Disseminate research results via final reports, peer reviewed print scientific journals, online scientific journals, books, book chapters or other outlets. Make presentations on findings to scientific and conservation organizations.
  • Serves as graduate faculty member, contributing to both the research, graduate student mentorship, and teaching mission of the university.
  • Operates a government vehicle as an incidental driver.

Desirable candidates will possess the following: 1) ability to build an applied research program focused on the human dimensions of wildlife management, including an understanding of how values or risk attitudes of stakeholders vested in wildlife management can be effectively accounted for in the management of wildlife populations and habitats; 2) experience conducting research on stakeholder values, opinions, beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors related to wildlife conservation; 3) expertise in study design, data collection, and qualitative and quantitative analysis relevant to understanding the values and risk attitudes of stakeholders, including assessment of social science data and development of statistical inference from social science data; 4) ability to facilitate, advise, and engage in collaborative decision-analytic and conflict-resolution processes with diverse stakeholder groups and policy makers; and 5) experience providing scientific expertise needed to assist agencies with identification and implementation of acceptable solutions to diverse types of human-wildlife conflicts, such as management of wildlife in the wildland-urban interface, restoration of forest habitat using silviculture or prescribed fire, establishment of hunting regulations, management of large predators, mitigation of the effects of wildlife on agricultural production, and management of interactions between fisheries and marine mammals.

Travel Required

25% or less – Overnight travel of an average of up to 5 nights per month may be required

Supervisory status

No

Promotion Potential

15

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

Key Requirements:

  1. Applicants must be U.S. Citizens.
  2. Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation.
  3. Selectee may be subject to serving a one-year probationary period.
  4. More requirements are listed under Qualifications and Other Information.
  5. Selectee must provide a valid state driver’s license & safe driving record.

Are There Any Special Requirements For This Position?

  • Because this position requires travel for official business, the selectee will be required to apply for a charge card within 30 calendar days of appointment. Individuals who have delinquent account balances from a previous Government charge card will be required to satisfy their existing obligation before a new card can be issued.
  • A background investigation will be required for this position. Continued employment will be subject to the applicant’s successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet these requirements will be grounds for termination.
  • Throughout the recruitment and hiring process we will be communicating with you via email; therefore, it is imperative that the email address you provide when applying for this vacancy remains active. Should your email address change, please notify the point of contact identified in the vacancy announcement as soon as possible so that we can update our system.

Qualifications

BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENT FOR RESEARCH SOCIAL SCIENTIST, GS-0101: Applicants must meet A, B, or C below to satisfy the basic education requirement for Research Social Scientist:

A. Completed all requirements for a bachelor’s or higher degree in a behavioral or social science or related discipline appropriate to the position.

B. Combination of experience and education–course work equivalent to a major (24 semester hours or equivalent) in a behavioral or social science or related discipline.

C. Completed four years of appropriate experience that demonstrates applicants have acquired knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in those fields.

BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENT FOR RESEARCH BIOLOGIST, GS-0401: Applicants must meet A or B below to satisfy the basic education requirement for Research Biologist:

A. Successfully completed 4-years of college study leading to a bachelor`s degree in the biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position.

B. Successfully completed 24 semester hours in an accredited college or university in the biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines and have additional work experience and/or education comparable to the completion of a 4-year course of study in one of the disciplines identified above.

Ph.D Requirement:

In addition to meeting the basic education requirements described above, in order to receive consideration for this position, you must also possess a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in wildlife science or a closely related field of study appropriate for this position.

To verify the Ph.D requirement, transcripts or verification from the university registrar must be submitted that clearly state: Ph.D awarded, major, and date of conferral. Failure to provide this information will result in your application receiving no further consideration.

For GS-12:

A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in a directly related field of study appropriate for this position is qualifying at the GS-12 level.

You must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements for the position by the closing date of the announcement.

Education

  • 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 completed in colleges or universities outside the United States may be used to meet the above requirements. You must provide acceptable documentation that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated, visit: https://www.usgs.gov/about/organization/science-support/human-capital/how-foreign-education-evaluated-federal-jobs .