Supervisory Biologist
Corpus Christi, TX - USA
Job Summary
This position is located in Padre Island National Seashore in the Division of Sea Turtle Science and Recovery.
Open to the first 100 applicants or until 07/20/2026 whichever comes first. All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration.
Major Duties:
- Supervision: Hires trains and manages seasonal employees and volunteers working with conservation research and public education activities conducted to help restore and recover five species of threatened and endangered sea turtles.
- Permits and IACUC: Maintains state and federal threatened and endangered species permits and NPS Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) authorization including lists of individuals authorized to conduct work and specific activities being conducted.
- Research: Oversees collection of research and monitoring data. Ensures accuracy of data collection and recording reviews field forms conducts QA/QC on data entered analyzes data and prepares reports and manuscripts for publication in peer reviewed scientific journals.
- Conservation: Oversees detection documentation and protection of nesting sea turtles sea turtle nests and stranded sea turtles and collection of research samples from live and dead sea turtles. Oversees care for incubating sea turtle eggs and release of hatchlings.
- Public Education: Helps prepare and review educational materials to distribute to the public to educate them how to safely share the beach and waters with sea turtles and procedures needed to report nesting and stranded turtles immediately.
- Safety: Maintains required training and certifications prepares safety documents and ensure subordinate completion of safety documents required to conduct sea turtle conservation research and public education efforts in the field and laboratory.
- Internal Controls: Oversees distribution of property needed for field work to subordinate employees ensures security and check-in-out of accountable property ensures physical security of buildings used by subordinate employees.
- U.S. Citizenship required.
- Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
- Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males.
- Complete the initial online assessment and USAHire Assessment if required.
- Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
- You will be required to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of your official duties; a valid drivers license is required. You will be required to submit a Motor Vehicle Operators License and Driving Record. You must also submit (within a State sealed envelope or submitted directly by the State authorities) and at your own expense all certified driving records from all States that disclose all valid drivers licenses whether current or past possessed by you.
- You will be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
- You may be required to work on-call evenings weekends holidays overtime and shift work.
- You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 2-3 nights per month occasionally for training. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
- You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority.
- Applicants must be at least (1)18 years old or (2) at least 16 years old and: (a) Have graduated from high school or been awarded a certificate equivalent to graduating from high school; or (b) Have completed a formal vocational training program; or (c) Have received a statement from school authorities agreeing with their preference for employment rather than continuing their education; or (d) Be currently enrolled in a secondary school and either work only during school vacation periods or work part-time during the school year under a formal student employment program.
Requirements Continued...
- Any individual who is currently holding or has held within the previous 52 weeks a General Schedule position under non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service must meet time-in-grade requirements (must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent in the Federal service); with few exceptions as outlined in 5 CFR 300.603(b). Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal civilian employees applying for reinstatement who have had a break in service of less than one year as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointments. Time-in-grade does not apply to new excepted service appointments and must be met by the closing date of this announcement.
- your performance and conduct;
- the needs and interests of the agency;
- whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
- whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.
All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-07/20/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.
Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. 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 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.
For periods of time that reflect military service the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected.
To qualify for this position you must possess one of the Basic Requirements for the 0401 series below AND you must possess one of the Minimum Qualifications for the GS-11 grade level below.
BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR GENERAL NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AND BIOLOGICALSCIENCES SERIES 0401:
- Degree: Bachelors degree (or higher-level degree) in biological sciences agriculture natural resource management chemistry or related disciplines appropriate to the position. You must provide transcripts.
- Combination: College-level education equivalent to one of the majors shown above plus appropriate experience or additional education. You must provide transcripts.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS FOR GS-11 GRADE LEVEL:
To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:
EXPERIENCE: one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-09 grade level in the federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience MUST include the following: 1) analysis review and writing related to wildlife including: population demographics seasonality and distribution capture-mark-recapture tissue sampling and necropsy of threatened and endangered species including sea turtles; 2) reviewing and preparing parts of USFWS and/or state Endangered Species Research permits and IACUC authorizations; 3) participating in USFWS coordination updating and reporting preparation; 4) conducting fieldwork for nesting and stranded sea turtles and 5) performing administrative and program work relating to endangered species management budgets and agreements. You must include hours per week worked.
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in a field related to the position. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above that when combined equal at least 100% of the minimum qualification requirement for the GS-11 level. You must include transcripts.
For more information qualifying education or on combining education and experience see OPM Qualification Standards linked below:
Individual Occupational Requirements for General Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences Series 0401
Group Coverage Qualification Standard for Professional and Scientific Positions
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.
CTAP Statement: Current surplus and current or former displaced Federal individuals who have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) must be well qualified for the position to receive consideration for special priority selection. Well qualified means that the applicant meets the following: OPM qualification standards for the position; all selective placement factors where applicable; special qualifying conditions that OPM has approved for the position where applicable; is physically qualified with reasonable accommodation where appropriate to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position upon entry; and is rated by the organization at least at the well qualified level on all competencies. Federal employees seeking CTAP eligibility must submit proof that they meet the requirements of 5 CFR 330.605(2) - CTAP This includes a copy of the agency notice a copy of most recent Performance Rating and a copy of most recent SF-50 noting current position grade level & duty location.
To qualify based on education you must submit a legible copy of transcripts from an accredited institution with your name school name credit hours course level major(s) and grade-point average or class ranking. Transcripts do not need to be official but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.
If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet qualification requirements you must show that your education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.
A selectee receiving a first appointment to the Federal Government (Civil Service) is entitled only to the lowest step of the grade for which selected. The display of a salary range on this vacancy shall not be construed as granting an entitlement to a higher rate of pay.
This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if identical vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate
Working Conditions: Work is performed both indoors and outdoors in all types of weather. Assignments may be performed in potentially hazardous areas including steep slopes rocky terrain volcanoes caves fire lines arctic environments swamps deserts and forests. Flying in fixed wing aircraft and helicopters is possible.
The National Park Service has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework only during an emergency or natural disaster.
Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e. physical or mental) covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position after notification of the adjudication of your request you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.
Documentation for the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) eligibility submission of ALL SF-50s and performance information for each period of temporary/term employment that qualifies for LMWFA. Performance documentation can be obtained by contacting the supervisors for the positions you served in during your 24 months. If they did not complete performance appraisals ask them to provide a statement of performance for each period of service. The statement must specify the dates for each employment period and your level of performance (dates should match the dates on the SF-50s).
Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government passionate about the ideals of our American republic and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
Required Experience:
Manager