[Hiring] Scientific & Technical Support @Ocean Associates Incorporated

Role Description

Ocean Associates Inc. (OAI) is seeking applicants for a Scientific and Technical Support Lead to provide support to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), West Coast Region Office. OAI is a Virginia corporation established in 2003 that provides consulting and technical services to the U.S. government, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and the private sector. We specialize in scientific program and project management, strategic planning, professional and technical services, and stakeholder engagement, supporting government contracts.

Tasks

• Review, gather, analyze, interpret, and synthesize scientific data and technical information for the purpose of determining environmental impacts on biological resources and aquatic habitats.
• Evaluate the proposed project effects of human activities on fishery resources, protected species, and habitat.
• Write combined ESA Biological Opinions, ESA Letters of Concurrence, and MSA responses to action agencies related to their Biological Assessments for listed salmon and steelhead, designated critical habitat, and essential fish habitat under NMFS jurisdiction.
• Review biological assessments, permit applications, and/or consultation initiation packages from action agencies for listed salmon and steelhead, designated critical habitat, and essential fish habitat under NMFS jurisdiction and provide feedback and technical support to action agencies.
• Provide pre‐consultation technical assistance to action agencies, applicants, or their representatives in response to inquiries.
• Review applications from action agencies to enroll in existing programmatic consultations and draft letters or emails to enroll applications into existing programmatic consultations.
• Prepare environmental documentation pursuant to NEPA.
• Prepare draft incidental take permits and other necessary documentation for ESA section 10 activities.
• Revise the documents based on review comments received from WCR NMFS and General Counsel staff, technical comments received from the tribes and states, and based on substantive public review comments to complete final versions of the ESA, NEPA and other associated documents.
• Coordinate with NMFS fish passage engineers for reviews of proposed designs.
• Coordinate with NMFS’ Science Center and other federal, state, or academic researchers in evaluating the status of species and impacts from actions.
• Prepare appropriate documentation for each consultation and follow WCR protocols for quality assurance, electronic filing, and consultation tracking.
• Coordinate with Project Officer or Geographic Branch Manager on assignments, work products, and project schedule.
• Participate in WCR teams as necessary to complete the tasks in this contract.
• Follow recommendations from agency staff on legal, regulatory, or technical sufficiency and compliance.
• Assist in the development and implementation of mitigation banks.
• Prepare appropriate documentation for each consultation, status review, or permit, including assembling and managing administrative records as necessary to provide adequate and proper evidence of agency business.
• Participate in meetings with action agencies, applicants or permittees, special interest groups, state officials, and tribal representatives, as necessary.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree and three (3) years’ experience, or Master’s degree, from an accredited college or university in aquatic biology, conservation biology, fisheries management, wildlife management or related field of study.
• Knowledge of salmonid general life cycles and habitat requirements.
• Highly proficient English language composition and editing skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Working with diverse interagency teams.
• Program planning and management in a team environment.
• Developing performance metrics and milestones.
• Skill in most common software applications, to include MS Office and Google Workplace.

Preferred Qualifications

• Implementation of ESA and MSA regulations and document preparation or experience writing Federal regulatory documents adhering to agency guidance.
• Experience assessing the impacts of human activities on marine, estuarine, or anadromous species and their habitats as part of a regulatory program.
• Experience working with tribal governments.

Salary and Benefits

• These are full-time positions with benefits.
• Salary, commensurate with experience, between $25.00 - $45.00 per hour.

Travel

• Travel will be needed for day trips or overnight to coordination meetings for project proposals or Regional meetings, not to exceed on average two per quarter usually within the West Coast Region (ID, WA, OR, CA) for remote meetings or trainings.