Biologist Job in New Orleans, LA

Vacancy No. CHAR244964043795HW Department US Army Civilian Human Resources Agency
Salary $49,025.00 to $94,317.00 Grade 7 to 7
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 11/12/2024 Close Date 11/21/2024
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
New Orleans, LA


Summary

About the Position: The Army Fellows Program provides an exciting opportunity to embark on a developmental, accelerated career path as an Army Civilian including continued training and educational opportunities, with no military obligation. Fellows may also receive paid training, certifications, and rotational assignments. Don't wait! Apply now to start your Civilian Army career today!

1st Year Salary $49,025-$63,733

2nd Year Salary $59,966-$77,955

3rd Year Salary $72,553-$94,317

Duties

  • Assist in fieldwork and the collection of biological data for inclusion in various biological reports to include Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Statements as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
  • Assist in the preparation of draft biological assessments as required by the Endangered Species Act.
  • Assist in the preparation of correspondence to coordinate Corps civil works and water resources development studies and findings with various State and Federal resource agencies and other stakeholders.
  • Assist in the review and analysis of correspondence and documents from agencies and other stakeholders regarding biological and ecological resources
  • Participates in meetings with public and private interests.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • One year trial/probationary period may be required.
  • Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration.
  • Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
  • You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.
  • Must sign a mobility agreement if selected.
  • Must sign an Army Fellows Participant Agreement if selected.
  • A Personnel Security Investigation is required.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: US Citizens In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document.

Basic Requirement for Biologist:
A. Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. Degree must be completed by December 2024.

OR

B. Combination of Education and Experience: Courses equivalent to a major, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below:

Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes assisting in the preparation of environmental assessments or environmental impact statements; or, evaluating compliance with environmental laws and regulations; or, performing field work to identify existing environmental conditions and factors that could impact those conditions. This definition of specialized experience is
typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-05).

OR

Education: One full year of graduate level education in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management or chemistry.

OR

Superior Academic Achievement: Successful completion (or completion no later than December 2024) of all the requirements for a bachelor's degree with Superior Academic Achievement (S.A.A.). In order to be creditable under this provision, Superior Academic Achievement must have been gained in a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled, such as that identified in Education above.
Superior Academic Achievement is based on:
(1) Class Standing - Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses; OR
(2) Grade-Point Average (G.P.A.) - Applicants must have a grade-point average of either (a) 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on your official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or (b) 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the
required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum.; OR
(3) Honor Society Membership - Applicants may be considered eligible based on membership in one of the approved national scholastic honor societies listed by the Association of College Honor Societies (https://www.achsnatl.org/).
NOTE: Grade point averages will be rounded to one decimal point. For example, 2.95 will round to 3.0, and 2.94 will round to 2.9.
NOTE: If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) was taken on a pass/fail or similar basis, your S.A.A. claim must be based on class standing or membership in an honor society and you must provide evidence of your class standing or honor society membership with your application.

OR

Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) by 18. Add the two percentages.

Education

FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the 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. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html

Additional information

  • This position is being filled under the Direct Hire Authority for Certain Personnel of the DoD Workforce.
  • You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.
  • Direct Deposit of Pay is required.
  • Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from Department of Defense referral system for displaced employees.
  • If you have retired from federal service and you are interested in employment as a reemployed annuitant, see the information in the Reemployed Annuitant information sheet.
  • This is a Science, Engineering & Analysis Career Field position
  • Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
  • Salary includes applicable locality pay or Local Market Supplement.
  • When you perform a Civilian Permanent Change of Station (PCS) with the government, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) considers the majority of your entitlements to be taxable. Visit https://www.dfas.mil/civilianemployees/civrelo/Civilian-Moving-Expenses-Tax-Deduction/ for more information.
  • Payment of Permanent Change of Station (PCS) costs is authorized, subject to the provisions of the Joint Travel Regulations.
  • Additional financial incentives, such as recruitment or relocation incentives, may be offered for difficult to fill positions.
  • Student Loan Repayment MAY be offered for difficult to fill positions.
  • If selected, official college or university transcripts must be submitted. However, unofficial transcripts must be submitted at the time of application.
  • This recruitment provides promotion opportunity to the target grade of the position without further competition when selectee is eligible and recommended by management.
  • Incumbent works under closer supervision and works in a developmental capacity performing assignments and completing training, both of which are aimed in preparing the incumbent to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to perform the duties outlined in the aforementioned job description. The incumbent receives progressively more responsible assignments as experience and training are received to the next higher level position.

Benefits

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.

Review our 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.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Once the announcement has closed, a review of your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) will be used to determine whether you meet the qualification requirements listed on this announcement. If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully when applying, errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

You should list any relevant performance appraisals and incentive awards in your resume as that information may be taken into consideration during the selection process. If selected, you may be required to provide supporting documentation.

Veterans and Military Spouses will be considered along with all other candidates.

Required Documents

The documents you are required to submit vary based on whether or not you are eligible for preference in federal employment. A complete description of preference categories and the associated required documents is in the Applicant Checklist for Public Announcements

As described above, your complete application includes your resume, your responses to the online questionnaire, and documents which prove your eligibility to apply. If you fail to provide these documents, you will be marked as having an incomplete application package and you will not be considered any further.

1. Your resume:

  • Your resume may be submitted in any format and must support the specialized experience described in this announcement.
  • If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content, it will not be used to make eligibility and qualification determinations and you may not be considered for this vacancy.
  • For qualifications determinations your resume must contain hours worked per week and the dates of employment (i.e., HRS per week and month/year to month/year or month/year to present). If your resume does not contain this information, your application will be marked as incomplete and you will not receive consideration for this position.
  • For additional information see: What to include in your resume.

2. Other supporting documents:
  • Cover Letter, optional
  • Most recent Performance Appraisal, if applicable
  • This position has an individual occupational requirement and/or allows for substitution of education for experience. You MUST submit a copy of your transcript with your application package or you will be rated ineligible. Unofficial copies are acceptable; however, if selected, official transcripts are required. You MUST submit your unofficial college transcripts with your application to include transfer courses, credit hours and grades to calculate GPA, along with your graduation date. If you received Advanced Placement (AP) credits, you MUST also submit either your high school transcripts showing your AP grades or your AP Exam Score from the College Board. If you have graduated within the past 30 days and your transcripts have not yet been updated to include your graduation date, or you are graduating by December 2024, you must also include both month and year, on your resume, or provide a letter from your college or university with your graduation date. Applicants who fail to provide transcripts AND degree completion information (if degree date is not shown on the transcripts) will be marked as insufficient and will not receive consideration for this position. See: Transcripts and Licenses
  • License/Certification: If the position has a license/certification requirement, you MUST submit a copy of your current, active, valid, unrestricted license/certification. See: Transcripts and Licenses

NOTE: Documents submitted as part of the application package, to include supplemental documents, may be shared beyond the Human Resources Office. Some supplemental documents such as military orders and marriage certificates may contain personal information for someone other than you. You may sanitize these documents to remove another person's personal information before you submit your application. You may be asked to provide an un-sanitized version of the documents if you are selected to confirm your eligibility.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

How to Apply

To apply for this position, you must complete the online questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below.

The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 11/21/2024 to receive consideration.

  • To begin, click Apply to access the online application. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account to apply. If you do not have a USAJOBS account, you will need to create one before beginning the application (https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12603159).
  • Follow the prompts to select your resume and/or other supporting documents to be included with your application package. You will have the opportunity to upload additional documents to include in your application before it is submitted. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
  • After acknowledging you have reviewed your application package, complete the Include Personal Information section as you deem appropriate and click to continue with the application process.
  • You will be taken to the online application which you must complete in order to apply for the position. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation is included with your application package, and submit the application. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
  • It is your responsibility to verify that your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) is complete, accurate, and submitted by the closing date. Uploaded documents may take up to one hour to clear the virus scan.
  • Additional information on how to complete the online application process and submit your online application may be found on the USA Staffing Applicant Resource Center.

To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account (https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login), all of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/.

Agency contact information

Army Applicant Help Desk
Address
W4CM01 ACCMA ECTAP
DO NOT MAIL
Fort Belvoir, VA 22060
US
Learn more about this agency

Next steps

If you provided an email address, you will receive an email message acknowledging receipt of your application. Your application package will be used to determine your eligibility, qualifications, and quality ranking for this position. If you are determined to be ineligible or not qualified, your application will receive no further consideration.

The documents you submit must support your responses to the online questionnaire. If your application contradicts or does not support your questionnaire responses, you will receive a rating of "not qualified" or "incomplete application" and you will not receive further consideration for this job.


Note: We cannot accept applications on behalf of Federal Agencies. Application instructions are listed within the Job Description.