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Supervisory Ecologist

National Park Service

Washington, DCFull-time$122–158K/yrPosted today

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At a glance

Compensation
$122–158K/yr
Location
Washington, DC
Schedule
Full-time
Work Authorization
US work authorization required

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Requirements

Credentials this posting asks for.

Bachelor's degreeValid Driver's License

Job overview

The Supervisory Ecologist serves as the National Capital Region’s Inventory and Monitoring Program Manager for the National Park Service. The role supervises staff and directs the development, implementation, and management of regional inventories and monitoring. It also provides scientific advice on natural resources and leads interdisciplinary work addressing park resource management issues.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

LeadershipHuman Resources ManagementProject ManagementResearchTechnical CompetenceInterdisciplinary Program CoordinationEcosystem ScienceQuality AssuranceQuality Control

Qualifications

Biology or Related Science Degree30 Biological Science Semester Hours9 Ecology Semester Hours12 Physical and Mathematical Science Hours1 Year Specialized ExperienceValid Driver's LicenseU.S. Citizen or National

Benefits

Relocation Assistance

Full job description

Summary

You will serve as a Supervisory Ecologist with National Park Service. The purpose of this position is to serve as Supervisory Regional Inventory and Monitoring Program Manager in the National Capital Region (NCR). The Incumbent is responsible for supervising and directing the development, implementation, and management of the Inventory and Monitoring Program and region-wide inventories.

Duties

Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following: Exercises the full range of technical and administrative supervisory responsibilities for a staff that includes permanent and temporary personnel. Serves as principal scientific advisor for the inventory and monitoring of natural resources, where most parks in the region lack sufficient scientific staff to collect, manage, and synthesize scientific information needed to manage park ecosystems. Leads the development, implementation, and management of an interdisciplinary and complex program within the region to address a wide variety of sensitive park resource management issues of national significance, accomplishing the national goals and objectives for the Inventory and Monitoring (l&M) Program. Identifies l&M needs and develops work plans and schedules, cost estimates, and funding proposals to accomplish program goals. Collects, organizes, and makes available natural resource data to produce useful program information through analysis, synthesis, and modeling and summarizes information for use by scientists, managers, planners, park staff, cooperators, and partners. Requirements

Must be a U.S. Citizen or National. Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication. Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service. Direct Deposit participation required. Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/. Must possess and maintain a valid driver's license throughout employment. You are required to complete training, obtain and maintain a government credit card with travel and purchase authority A financial disclosure report will be required within 30 days of appointment. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1 year probationary to evaluate your fitness and whether your continuation of employment advances the public interest. This probationary period is an extension of the appointment process and therefore requires the agency to determine if continued employment would advance the public interest, meet the organization goals and mission of the agency, and/or otherwise promote the efficiency of the service. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, the agency will consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Under applicable law, the employment of an individual serving a probationary or trial period automatically terminates when that period ends unless the agency affirmatively certifies, in writing, that the individual's employment should continue and that their appointment should be finalized. In the absence of agency action to affirmatively certify continued employment beyond the probationary or trial period, such appointments are terminated. Upon completion of your probationary your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. This is a supervisory position that may require completion of a supervisory probationary period. Qualifications

Qualifications: All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 11/16/2026-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 the following: Degree: Biology, or a related field of science underlying ecological research that included at least 30 semester hours in basic and applied biological sciences. These hours must have included at least 9 semester hours in ecology, and 12 semester hours in physical and mathematical sciences. You must submit transcripts. To qualify for this position at the GS-13 grade level: Experience: You must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrating the following experience: 1) Coordination of interdisciplinary programs of natural resource management and ecosystem science. 2) Establishes quality assurance and quality control standards and procedures for Inventory and Monitoring Programs. You must include hours per week worked. For Detail: There are no qualification requirements for a detail assignment however, employees must meet any positive education/licensure requirements and have experience which demonstrates the ability to perform the major duties of the position. Detail assignments do not include additional or reduced compensation, including locality pay, but benefit from the experience gained, and the opportunity to broaden their knowledge and skills. Time spent on a detail is not creditable for time-in-grade purposes. 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 does not allow substituting education for experience. 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 How You Will Be Evaluated

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g. resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the additional assessment(s) required for this position. To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. Your resume must not exceed 2 pages. Only the document submitted as the "Resume" under the Documents section will be used to determine your qualifications/eligibility and for rating purposes. In the event you submit more than one resume, only the latest submission will be reviewed. You will be assessed in the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): Leadership Managing Human Resources Project Management Research Technical Competence To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires successful completion of additional assessment, including a structured resume review. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job. All qualified non-competitive applicants and the best-qualified Merit Promotion applicants will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration. DUE WEIGHT: Please submit 1) a copy of your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation and 2) a list of any awards (e.g. superior performance awards, special act or achievement awards, quality step increase, etc.) you received in the last 5 years. Any performance appraisal/evaluation and award documentation you provide will be forwarded to the selecting official. The selecting official will review this documentation and give it due weight consideration during the overall selection process. If you do not have your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation, you must submit a statement as to why it is not available. Please indicate if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration or your score may be lowered. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. Applicants who include vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate language or information in their application package will be ineligible for further consideration for this position. Current Federal employees who are surplus, displaced, or involuntarily separated have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP). To be considered under CTAP, you must be well-qualified, score at least 85 (i.e., meet the minimum qualification requirements, including any selective placement factors; education, and experience requirements), and be able to perform the duties of the position upon entry. Other Information

Additional vacancies may be filled using this job announcement. If otherwise eligible and qualified, you may be offered a recruitment or relocation incentive. The decision to offer an incentive will be made on a case-by-case basis and is neither promised nor guaranteed. For information visit: Recruitment Incentive or Relocation Incentive. A continued service agreement may be required if it is determined you are eligible for a permanent change in duty station (PCS), recruitment, or relocation incentive. All DOI employees, their spouses, and minor children may not acquire or retain any claim, permit, lease, small tract entry, or other rights granted by the Department in Federal lands, with limited exceptions. Additional ethics prohibitions can be found here, DOI Ethics Prohibitions | U.S. Department of the Interior.

How this job compares

Set against the 11,462 open Program Manager jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 4, 2026.

Pay
  • This posting$122–158K/yr
  • Washington, D.C. median$132–200K/yr178 salary ranges
  • US median$120–205K/yr9,046 salary ranges

This range's midpoint, $140K, is 16% below the Washington, D.C. median midpoint ($166K) — in the lowest quarter of Program Manager salary ranges in Washington, D.C..

Openings
Olive Jobs lists 214 open Program Manager jobs in Washington, D.C. and 11,462 across the US. 4% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
Hiring the most in Washington, D.C.
Experience
This posting asks for at least 1 year of experience — less than three in four Program Manager postings that state a minimum ask for (median 7 years, across 9,658 postings).
Education
This posting asks for a bachelor's degree; 4,829 of the 11,462 open Program Manager jobs (42%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.

Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 4, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.

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