Ocean Career: NOAA Fish Biologist/Statistician

25 August 2026 This position is located in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Office of Science and Technology (OST), with one vacancy in Anchorage, AK; La Jolla, CA; Miami, FL; Woods Hole, MA; Silver Spring, MD; or Seattle, WA. Duties are described at the full performance level of the ZP-4; the ZP-3 is developmental leading to such performance. The ZP-3 is equivalent to the GS-11/12. The ZP-4 is equivalent to the GS-13/14. Duties As a Fish Biologist/Statistician (Biology), you will perform the following duties: Serve as a Senior Fish Biologist/Statistician for the Office of Science and Technology’s (OST) Fisheries Statistics Division, leading the monitoring and coordination of marine recreational fishery surveys to ensure timely, cost-effective performance of proper statistical procedures. Develop surveys of recreational fishing, produce statistical survey estimates, and disseminate data and statistics utilizing SAS or R programming software. Conduct training and education to scientific and non-scientific audiences on survey methods to include the accuracy, integrity, and utility of survey data and statistics. Provide quality and timely delivery of information and analytical products to intra-agency and state-federal inter-agency teams, and stakeholders. Participate in the coordination and collaboration with internal and external stakeholders on Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) strategic program objectives. Qualifications BASIC REQUIREMENTS: This position may be filled with series 0482 (Fish Biology)/1530 (Statistician). Each series requires applicants to meet a Basic Education Requirement in addition to at least one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience or a substitution of education for experience (if applicable) in order to be found minimally qualified. Transcripts must be submitted with your application package. You MUST meet one of the following basic education requirements: To qualify for the 0482 series:

EDUCATION:

Degree: major in biological science that included: At least 6 semester hours in aquatic subjects such as limnology, ichthyology, fishery biology, aquatic botany, aquatic fauna, oceanography, fish culture, or related courses in the field of fishery biology; and At least 12 semester hours in the animal sciences in such subjects as general zoology, vertebrate zoology, comparative anatomy, physiology, entomology, parasitology, ecology, cellular biology, genetics, or research in these fields. (Excess course work in aquatic subjects may be used to meet this requirement when appropriate.) OR Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major in biological science (i.e., at least 30 semester hours), of which a minimum of 6 semester hours were in aquatic subjects and 12 semester hours were in the animal sciences, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. To qualify for the 1530 series:

EDUCATION:

Degree: That included 15 semester hours in statistics (or in mathematics and statistics, provided at least 6 semester hours were in statistics), and 9 additional semester hours in one or more of the following: physical or biological sciences, medicine, education, or engineering; or in the social sciences including demography, history, economics, social welfare, geography, international relations, social or cultural anthropology, health sociology, political science, public administration, psychology, etc. Credit toward meeting statistical course requirements should be given for courses in which 50 percent of the course content appears to be statistical methods, e.g., courses that included studies in research methods in psychology or economics such as tests and measurements or business cycles, or courses in methods of processing mass statistical data such as tabulating methods or electronic data processing. OR Combination of education and experience: Courses as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. The experience should have included a full range of professional statistical work such as (a) sampling, (b) collecting, computing, and analyzing statistical data, and (c) applying statistical techniques such as measurement of central tendency, dispersion, skewness, sampling error, simple and multiple correlation, analysis of variance, and tests of significance.

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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. To qualify at the ZP-3 or GS-11 level: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements above, applicants must also possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZP-2 or GS-09 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following: Assisting with analyzing ongoing surveys; and Assisting with coordination of communications and activities with state, federal or non-federal partners. OR SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree. OR COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: A combination of successfully completed graduate-level education and specialized experience may be used to meet the total experience requirements. Note: Only graduate-level education in excess of the amount required for the next lower level may be combined with experience. To qualify at the ZP-4 or GS-13 level: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements above, applicants must also possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZP-3 or GS-12 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following: Coordinating or planning projects based on parameters such as overall objectives, milestones, expected results, and constraints; Managing the collection, evaluation and reporting of marine recreational statistics for internal or external stakeholders; and Developing questionnaires, quality control methods, reporting methods, or outreach and educational activities. Salary range : $79,533 – $187,093 per year #J-18808-Ljbffr ECO Magazine