Fish and Wildlife Administrator (Refuge Manager)

Summary

You will serve as a Fish and Wildlife Administrator (Refuge Manager) with US Fish and Wildlife Service. The Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge covers about 1.9 million acres in remote Alaska, protecting forests, wetlands, and coastal habitats. Some areas are accessible only by boat or plane. Salary: $142,216 - $184,886. Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) rate of 3.00% is authorized.

Duties

Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following: Provides technical leadership in planning, implementing, evaluating, and adapting wildlife, fisheries, wetland, and habitat management programs by applying advanced biological management techniques and ecological principles to achieve conservation objectives. Directs the development and implementation of conservation strategies and resource management initiatives that protect species, habitats, biodiversity, and ecosystem functions while supporting long-term natural resource sustainability. Develops collaborative partnerships, negotiate agreements, resolves controversial natural resource issues, and builds consensus among Federal, State, Tribal, local, and private stakeholders to achieve Service conservation goals. Provides executive leadership for assigned programs through strategic planning, resource allocation, budget and personnel management, performance oversight, and policy implementation to accomplish organizational objectives. Develop strategic partnerships and collaborates with Federal, State, Tribal, local, nonprofit, and private stakeholders to advance shared natural resource conservation goals.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 10/13/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Competitive candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F. 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 periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the work schedule requirement as the service dates will be reflected. 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. Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications: Basic Educational Requirement AND Specialized Experience for the series to which you are applying. Basic Educational Requirements: In addition to the specialized experience requirements for this position, you must meet at least one of the following: A. Degree: Biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. You must submit transcripts. You must submit transcripts. -OR- B. Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major, or at least 30 semester hours in courses, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. -OR- C. Experience: Four years of experience that demonstrated that the applicant acquired knowledge and understanding of one or more of the biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, or related disciplines equivalent to that which would have been acquired through completion of a 4-year course of study as described in A above. AND To qualify for this position at the GS-14 grade level: Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as: 1) Coordinating, supervising or leading a branch, field station, or team focused on the management/conservation of natural resources; 2) Identifying and solving challenging and complex issues related to natural resource management/conservation or other natural resource programs;3) Serving as a natural resource or conservation organization manager or coordinator representing a federal entity in negotiating with diverse individuals or groups, including visitor services and public outreach; 4) exercising direct responsibility for developing or implementing policies, plans, standards or procedures to carry out fish and/or wildlife management/conservation; and 5) managing teams focused on the planning, directing, or executing of short and long term activities in fish and/or wildlife management/conservation that affect a diverse group of stakeholders/partners. You must include hours per week worked. 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.

Education

This position has a mandatory education requirement. You must submit a copy of your transcript(s) to support claimed education if substituting education for experience. Transcripts must include your name, school name, grades, credit hours earned, major(s), grade point average or class ranking, and date the degree was conferred, if applicable. A typed list of courses, grades, semester/quarter hours, GPA, etc. will not be accepted. Non-submission may result in being rated not qualified for the position. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work. Foreign Education: To receive credit for education completed outside the United States, you must show proof that the education has been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated, visit: https://www.ed.gov/about/initiatives/international-affairs/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications