Invertebrate Species Lead - Fish & Wildlife Biologist 4 - Permanent - 2026-05360

About the role

The Invertebrate Species Lead - Fish & Wildlife Biologist 4 position serves as a statewide expert on the conservation, management, and recovery of rare and listed Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN), with a strong emphasis on terrestrial and freshwater invertebrate SGCN and their habitats, particularly gastropods, dragonflies, streamflies, and beetles.

Responsibilities

• Conduct Statewide Conservation and Recovery for Terrestrial and Freshwater Invertebrates
• Provide coordination within the Department and with external partners including state, federal, non-government, and other entities.
• Support developing Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) survey and monitoring protocols to assess status and trends.
• Cook up and curate foundational agency documents in agency systems.
• Provide technical guidance.
• Work in or near water, including tasks that require navigating, negotiating, and performing duties related to water environments.
• Travel statewide or regionally as required.
• Use standard office equipment, field equipment, personal protective equipment, survey and telemetry equipment, vehicles, computers, tablets, digital cameras, aquatic sampling equipment, and GPS locators.
• Communicate directly with the public, project partners, local government officials, and special interest groups to deliver information and for negotiations.

Requirements

• A Bachelor’s degree in wildlife management, habitat management, conservation biology, zoology, wildlife ecology, natural resources science, or a related field.
• Five (5) years of professional experience in wildlife management/research, wildlife habitat management/research, or other natural resources science, with an emphasis in invertebrate species expertise.
• Two (2) years of demonstrated knowledge of and professional experience with:
  • Ecology and biology of terrestrial and freshwater invertebrate species.
  • Wildlife survey, monitoring, and research techniques.
  • Conservation planning, including recovery of at-risk species.

Qualifications

• Four (4) years of professional experience as a Fish & Wildlife Biologist 3 predominantly working with terrestrial and freshwater invertebrates.
• Experience: Safely operating motor vehicles, managing grants, contracts, and projects, effectively organizing multiple assignments, sometimes of a complex nature or involving competing priorities, to produce work products that are accurate, thorough, and on time.
• Knowledge of: Ecology and biology, species distributions, and habitat associations of terrestrial and aquatic invertebrate species of Washington, particularly gastropods, beetles, dragonflies, and streamflies; population biology, wildlife habitat and ecological systems associations, and conservation biology; wildlife disease monitoring and surveillance; grant, contract, and project management; data management, statistical analysis, spatial data analysis, and information synthesis and delivery; resource management Agencies’ missions, approaches, and means of cooperating/collaborating; conservation planning, and endangered species recovery and management.
• Ability to: Identify and prioritize key research needs for invertebrate Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) and Species of Greatest Information Need (SGIN) conservation and recovery; conduct effective oral presentations at scientific conferences, agency meetings, and public meetings; write, edit, and publish professional documents and reports; lead and coordinate efforts of scientific expert teams in research and planning projects; produce basic GIS products.