Operations Research Analyst or Research Fish Biologist

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:http://www.opm.gov/qualifications.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS: This position requires applicants to meet a Basic Education Requirement in addition to at least one year of Specialized Experience OR substitution of education for experience OR combination (if applicable) in order to be found minimally qualified. Transcripts must be submitted with your application package. You MUST meet the following requirements:

EDUCATION:

Fish Biologist, GS-0482

Degree: major study in biology, zoology, or biological oceanography that included at least 30 semester hours in biological and aquatic science and 15 semester hours in the physical and mathematical sciences. This course work must have included:

At least 15 semester hours of preparatory training in zoology beyond introductory biology or zoology in such courses as invertebrate zoology, comparative anatomy, histology, physiology, embryology, advanced vertebrate zoology, genetics, entomology, and parasitology; and

At least 6 semester hours of training applicable to fishery biology in such subjects as fishery biology, ichthyology, limnology, oceanography, algology, planktonology, marine or fresh water ecology, invertebrate ecology, principles of fishery population dynamics, or related course work in the field of fishery biology; and

At least 15 semester hours of training in any combination of two or more of the following: chemistry, physics, mathematics, or statistics.

Operations Research, GS-1515

Degree: In operations research; or at least 24 semester hours in a combination of operations research, mathematics, probability, statistics, mathematical logic, science, or subject-matter courses requiring substantial competence in college-level mathematics or statistics. At least 3 of the 24 semester hours must have been in calculus.

-AND-

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 ZP-03:

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: In addition to meeting the Basic Requirement listed above, applicants must also possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZP-02 or GS-09 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following:

• Using theories, principles, and methods of a technical professional field and of a specialty within that field to define problems.
• Performing background research using analytic approaches to address theoretical and applied questions in marine population ecology and fishery management.
• Assisting in the development and execution of a project plan.
• Organizing and evaluating results to assist in preparing reports of findings.
• Using applied research tools commonly employed to include advanced statistical methods, including R programming language, Apex, and Oracle database applications.

-OR-

Education Substitution: Master's or equivalent graduate degree in biology, zoology, or biological oceanography, or two full years of graduate education, in a related field.

-OR-

A combination of education and experience as described above

Note: Only graduate education in excess of one year if qualifying for a combination.

To qualify at the ZP-04:

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: In addition to meeting the Basic Requirement listed above, applicants must also possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZP-03 or GS-12 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following:

• Performing background research using analytic approaches to address theoretical and applied questions in marine population ecology and fishery management.
• Developing and executing a project plan.
• Providing technical oversight over a significant workload of mission-supporting scientific and engineering work.
• Using applied research tools commonly employed to include advanced statistical methods, including R programming language, Apex, and Oracle database applications.
• Formulating, conducting and directing a research or non-research (scientific, engineering computing, economic, statistical, or social science-related) program under general guidance on policy, resources planning, reports and/or publications.

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.