THE OUTSIDE IS IN US ALL.

This position closes at 11:59 pm on April 26, 2023. Please submit the following required documents on the State of Montana Careers website:

• Cover Letter
• Resume – Please include your supervisor’s name and contact information for each employer listed on your resume.
• Supplemental Questions
  • Please describe how your education and prior work experience has prepared you for this technician position working on the endangered pallid sturgeon on the Missouri River.
  • Describe your ability to endure challenging situations that require thinking on your feet and problem solving in the moment, include examples if available.

When submitting the required documents, you must check the “relevant document” box to ensure your attachments are uploading correctly to the specific application for this position. Documents not requested will be not considered in the recruitment process.

Identify of applicants who become finalists may be released to the public if the Department deems it necessary. Employees who exceed 1,040 hours in a calendar year are also provided health, dental, and life insurance. Other benefits include retirement, paid vacation, sick, and holidays. This position may be covered by a VEBA (Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association).

A successful applicant will be subject to a background investigation.

Women and minorities are under-represented in this job category and are encouraged to apply.

Section Overview:

Fort Peck is located along the Missouri River in the plains of Eastern Montana. A wide variety of outdoor opportunities exist within the area. The county seat of Glasgow, MT is approximately 20 miles away with a population around 3,500.

The term of these positions would be from approximately April 24, 2023, to October 13, 2023. It may be possible to accommodate other start and end dates.

Job Duties:

This position will mainly be sampling and monitoring endangered Pallid Sturgeon. Employee will collect fisheries data using a variety of gears in the Missouri River. Gears that may be used, but not necessarily limited to include trammel nets, trotlines, boat electrofishing, larval netting, benthic trawling, trap nets, telemetry equipment, etc. The employee will be required to navigate a jet boat in remote areas of the Missouri River. Employee must accurately identify, measure, and record data on all fish captured, operate telemetry equipment, complete habitat survey measurements, take water quality measurements.

Employees may be asked to enter, analyze, and report data in written and oral form. Employees will be required to assist in the maintenance of equipment and tools. Position will be supervised by a fishery biologist and a Fisheries Technician 5. Employee will assist in public outreach events.

Physical and Environmental Demands:

Working conditions involve outdoor work, often in inclement weather. Employee must work from a boat throughout the year; must be able to deploy and retrieve nets and haul large fish into a boat for extended periods; push boats through shallow areas of fast-flowing, large rivers. Employee must accept hazardous working conditions such as running jet boats on large rivers. Work often requires extended exposure to sun and high temperatures. Routine repair and maintenance of boat trailers and engines. Employee will work in large relatively remote stretches of the Missouri River between Fort Peck Dam and the North Dakota border. Overnight travel, both camping and staying in hotel rooms will be required.

The incumbent will work independently with minimal supervision. Field and lab work is usually accomplished with no supervision. The work plan objectives and tasks are established by the fisheries biologist and manager. Monthly schedules are coordinated with the management biologist. Project direction and assistance is provided by the fisheries biologist, the regional fish manager, co-workers, and personnel from other agencies. Site specific projects and sampling protocols are often modified, designed, and initiated to facilitate completion of project objectives. The incumbent is expected to make decisions on a regular basis that concern the accuracy and timeliness of work products to conform with established criteria. The incumbent is required (on a regular basis) to adapt, adjust and develop study designs, methods, and techniques to best suit conditions in the field and to best meet the objectives set forth in the work plan.

Education and Experience:

The knowledge, skills, and abilities of this position are normally attained through combination of education and experience equivalent to a bachelor’s degree in fish biology, fish and wildlife management, ecology, biology, and one year of job-related experience. Other combinations of education and experience will be considered on a case-by-case basis.