Wildlife Biologist

Full Job Description

This position serves as a National Wildlife Biologist for the Office of Airports Safety and Standards, Airports Safety and Operations Branch and is a recognized subject matter expert on mitigating wildlife hazards to aircraft that impact aviation safety.

To qualify for this position you must demonstrate in your application that you possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the FV-I, FG/GS-13 level.

This experience is typically related to the line of work of the position to be filled and which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position.

To be creditable, specialized experience must have been at least equivalent to the next lower level in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE IS DEFINED AS: Experience providing technical support, advice and guidance to management and/or staff on wildlife hazard management.

AND; Experience applying knowledge of Federal regulations and guidance governing wildlife management and aviation safety to evaluate and analyze the effectiveness of national programs.

AND; Experience communicating the agency's position on wildlife hazard management and mitigations in briefings, reports, presentations to various targeted audiences.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You should include relevant examples of the specialized experience in your work history.

Errors or omissions may impact your rating or may result in you not being considered. Answer all questions to the best of your ability.

DO NOT ASSUME THAT BECAUSE YOU HOLD, OR HAVE HELD THIS POSITION, YOU WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE FOUND ELIGIBLE.

You may be asked to provide evidence or documentation that you have this type of experience later in the selection process.

Your responses are subject to verification through job interviews, or any other information obtained during the application process.

Any exaggeration of your experience or any attempt to conceal information can result in disqualification.

*Applicants who fail to demonstrate possession of any of the above criteria AND who do not provide the required documentation will receive no further consideration for this position.* Applicants may be asked to verify information on your application for employment with the FAA.

**All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this vacancy announcement.** Eligible applicants meeting the minimum qualification requirements and/or selective placement factor(s) (SPF) may be further evaluated on the Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA) and/or Quality Ranking Factor (QRF) listed in the announcement.

Based on this evaluation, applicants will be placed in one of the following categories: (1) score order; (2) category grouping; (3) alphabetical; or (4) priority grouping, and referred to the selecting official for selection consideration.

Major Duties:

Performs multiple, varying and complex assignments under the minimal direction of a manager, project/program manager, team leader, or more experienced technical specialist.

Provides technical support, advice and guidance to the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) national airport certification and safety program.

Applies experience, comprehensive technical knowledge and subject matter expertise in wildlife hazard management to solve complex problems and develop policy, procedures and guidelines for implementing national control programs, including providing recommendations on land use near airports.

Serves as a senior advisor to management and staff on regulatory matters related to wildlife control.

Develops regulations, orders, notices, standards, guidelines, criteria, advisory circulars, and other publications which provide information and direction for safety programs.

Provides expert consultation assistance to field elements within the FAA supporting Part 139 requirements relating to wildlife hazard management, environmental matters relating to wildlife management, and the collection of safety information.

Coordinates with Regional FAA personnel on safety issues and incidents occurring on or near airports.

Assists FAA Lines of Businesses/Staff Offices (LOBs/SOs), including Air Traffic, Flight Standards, Runway Safety Program Office, and the Office of Accident Investigation with issues regarding wildlife hazard controls.

Assists with conducting training and performing guidance review to support the aviation industry and international partners in reducing wildlife collisions with aircraft.

Represents the FAA on matters pertaining to wildlife control and other related wildlife hazard management issues, as assigned, on work groups and teams and at conferences, briefings and meetings with aviation industry groups, professional aviation associations, Federal, state, and local agencies, foreign governments, and international organizations.

Provides technical support to the Airports Safety and Operations Division with tracking wildlife related safety recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Office of Inspector General (OIG), General Accounting Office (GAO) audits, and other program auditing functions.

Acts as liaison officer with the Department of Agriculture and Smithsonian Institution.

Determines national strategies for management of wildlife issues using systematic investigation and scientific methods.

Reviews basic research in ecology and wildlife management, determines how the results can be applied to airports and initiates research to test potentially new methodologies in wildlife control.

This position requires occasional domestic and international travel.

This position also requires performing frequent work activities in the vicinity of hazardous moving aircraft (taxiing, landing and takeoff) and ground vehicles.

This position may require the incumbent to walk considerable distances to examine airfields for wildlife mitigation efforts.

Broad policies and objectives provide general guidance for addressing issues, but allow considerable discretion to develop new and innovative approaches.

Draws on experience to solve unusual problems and may create new solutions and policy interpretations as the situation requires.

Provides policy guidance and instruction to others, both internally and externally.

Resolves all but unique technical problems without the intervention of management or a more experienced technical specialist.

Work is reviewed rarely, typically though status reports and at project completion, to ensure technical compliance and alignment with the requirements of the project or other work activity.

Work activities typically impact directly on the objectives of one or more major subdivisions or LOB/SOs and may impact on the objectives of the FAA.

In some areas, the work may affect the safety and security of customers.