Nongame Technician

Minimum Qualifications (Education and Experience):

The knowledge skills and abilities of this position are normally attained through combination of education and experience equivalent to a minimum of two years of college work towards a bachelors degree in wildlife biology fish and wildlife management animal ecology biology or a closely related field and related work experience. Combinations of education and experience will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

May be required to acquire and maintain certification in the capture and handling of wildlife.

Preferred qualifications:

Previous experience with supervising or leading a field team; excellent organizational skills; strong written and oral communication skills; ability to work effectively in a team or solo setting with little to no supervision; experience capturing bats or birds in mist nets; experience handling and identifying bats or other small animals; and ability to make safe decisions while conducting field work. Experience with Microsoft Access ArcGIS and R preferred.

THE OUTSIDE IS IN US ALL.

Please remember to attach the required documents listed in this announcement.

Resume

Cover Letter

Applications missing the requested documents will be considered incomplete and may not progress further in the process. Documents not requested will not be considered in the recruitment process. The State Application is not a substitute for a Resume. This position closes at 11:59 PM Mountain Time on November 16 2025. You must apply through the State of Montana Career site.

Special Information:

This position may be eligible for a statutory base pay increase of $1.00 an hour effective July 1 2026.

Identity of applicants who become finalists may be releases to the public if the Department deems it necessary. Employees who exceed 1040 hours in a calendar year are also provided health dental and life insurance. Other benefits include retirement paid vacation sick and holidays. This position may be covered by a VEBA (Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association).

A successful applicant will be subject to a background investigation.

Women and minorities are under-represented in this job category and are encouraged to apply.

Specific Job Information:

This position may be based in Helena Montana but field work will occur all over the state. This is a fantastic opportunity to see much of the state while working with a range of agency staff landowners and the public to achieve shared bat conservation goals. Work will be office and field based and the position will involve significant travel around the state. Physical demands include working long hours occasionally at night; hiking in rugged terrain with heavy equipment (up to 50 pounds) sometimes in bear country; working and camping in inclement and sometimes extreme weather; and potentially caving. Candidates must be comfortable working in remote parts of the state often solo and have a valid drivers license.

The work schedule will vary with the season with most work being office and lab based in October-March transitioning to full time field work by April/May. The position will involve working variable and night-time schedules.

Please include a cover letter and resume. Cover letter should describe supervisory and relevant field experience including any expertise with mist-netting; bat-handling and identification (or other small animals); biological sample collection; and/or deploying acoustic bat detectors. Describe experience supervising field crews coordinating project logistics communicating with partner agencies talking to private landowners and presenting project results in oral and written formats.

This is not a permanent position and funding must be requested each biennium. However funding is secured for January 2026 June 2027.

Job Duties:

This is a lead technician position that will work with closely with the state bat biologist the Nongame Wildlife Program and the Wildlife Health Lab to achieve various bat conservation and management objectives. The lead technician will organize and coordinate: 1) Montanas Pd/White-nose Syndrome (WNS) Surveillance and Monitoring Program and 2) North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat). This includes assisting with daily supervision training and organization of work plans for 2 field technicians to carry out both programs.

Pd/WNS surveillance includes the capture handling identification and sampling (e.g. swabbing of bats) of bats across at 20 sites across the state (April June). Other disease surveillance work includes collecting guano and soil samples at hibernacula and maternity roosts. As some work will occur in hibernacula previous experience working in caves is ideal but not required. Although rabies vaccinations are not a requirement for application the lead technician must be willing to receive rabies vaccinations conduct regular titer checks and receive boosters as needed.

This position is also responsible for coordinating Montanas NABat acoustic monitoring and emergence count efforts following national and state protocols (June August). This includes implementing a deployment and retrieval schedule for acoustic detectors at 100 sites across the state developing landowner outreach materials and conducting field work including emergence counts at roosts. Supervising efforts include developing a deployment schedule for shared acoustic detectors at 100 sites across the state and assisting in the deployment retrieval and equipment maintenance of acoustic detectors.

Other tasks related to these programs include: decontaminating bat capture gear following national protocol; maintaining supply and equipment inventories; leading agency trainings for ongoing programs; contacting and building positive relationships with landowners to obtain access permission to conduct bat programs; data entry and QA/QC; maintaining database of sampling sites and results; assisting with annual reporting permit requirements and participant updates; and shipping samples to testing laboratories. Both programs require the position to work with dozens of FWP and partner agency staff to coordinate field efforts and shared equipment.

Additionally the lead technician will assist with other bat-related projects as needed. This may include: conducting other types of bat surveys (e.g. bridge surveys or radiotelemetry); conducting educational events (e.g. presentations to special interest groups or schools Gates of the Mountains Bat Tours) and working with Montana Wild educators; assisting with or presenting at professional meetings (e.g. the MT Chapter of The Wildlife Society); assisting in the development of educational materials for wildlife control operators landowners and the public; editing and writing reports; assisting in updating FWPs bat webpages; conducting literature reviews; building bat capture devices (e.g. harp traps); deploying bat boxes; and implementing management and conservation actions for bats across the state.

Physical demands include working long hours occasionally at night; hiking in rugged terrain with heavy equipment sometimes in bear country; working and camping in inclement weather and cold and hot temperatures; and potentially caving. The ability to work without direct supervision in potentially hazardous conditions is expected. The technician must have the ability and feel comfortable driving a 4x4 vehicle in all weather and road conditions changing a tire and hiking or camping alone or in a team and following daily check-in procedures. Candidates must be comfortable working in remote parts of the state often solo