ANTICIPATORY: Freshwater Fish Habitat Research Scientist

Important messages

We are committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free work environment, starting with the hiring process. If you need to be accommodated during any phase of the evaluation process, please use the Contact information below to request special accommodation. All information received in relation to accommodation will be kept confidential.

Information on accommodation for persons with disabilities

When submitting an application to this selection process, you will be prompted to answer screening questions concerning the essential education, and the essential and asset experience qualifications. You do not need to, nor should you, also describe your work experience in your cover letter. You will be instructed to provide detailed descriptions of your experience in your application, in the form of responses to the screening questions. It is your responsibility to provide clear and concrete examples in your responses, including when (from/ to), where (occupational title, organization) and how you obtained your education and experience. Describe the situation/task, the action you took, what you accomplished and/or what you learned.

The content of your response must be supported by your resume, as your responses to these questions will be used as a primary source of information and your resume will only be used to validate this information. Lack of examples and details, or indicating "please refer to resume", will result in your application being rejected as the Assessment Board will have insufficient information to determine if the requirement is met.

The Assessment Board cannot make assumptions about your experience. It is insufficient to say that you have the required qualifications or to list your current or past duties. Rather, using the application tool, candidates must demonstrate how they meet the listed education and experience criteria by providing clear and concrete examples.

Clear and concrete examples are defined as illustrations in which you fully explain the actions, considerations and steps you completed in order to gain the experience you are describing. This detailed contextual information will be used by the board members to assess whether you have sufficient experience in a relevant field to complete your assigned tasks should you be considered for a position. You may wish to start your submissions with a sentence similar to: “A clear and concrete example of a situation where I did X is a situation which occurred on Y date and my role in this activity was to...”.

Also, when reading the experience criteria, please pay close attention to action words contained within and ensure the examples you chose to include speak to all of them. Similar attention should be given to punctuation and connector words such as “commas”, “and” and “or” as these have a different function when used to describe an experience criteria. Action words or activities separated with a “,” and connected with an “and” must all be demonstrated with concrete examples, as they are all deemed essential by the hiring manager. Conversely, when action words or activities are separated with a “,” and connected with an “or”, candidates may provide concrete examples for only one of the activities listed in the criterion as in this case, the hiring manager is looking for someone who has experience in at least one of the activities but not necessarily all of them.

For example, when responding to a criterion which reads: “Experience reading, writing and publishing instructions for a competitive process”, you must provide concrete examples of situations where you read instructions, where you wrote instructions as well as where you published instructions for a competitive process. These may be part of the same example; however, you must provide sufficient detail to cover all three actions because all are essential.

When responding to an experience criterion which reads: “Experience reading, writing or publishing instructions for a competitive process” you must provide concrete examples for a minimum of one situation where you either read, wrote or published instructions for a competitive process. However, you may still provide concrete examples for all action words or activities, if applicable, as this will provide board members with additional information to assess the breadth of your experience.

Finally, if the examples you provide speak of experience that was acquired in a team setting, please be specific as to your exact role within this team as it is your experience the board will be looking to assess and not that of your team.

Duties

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is planning to hire Scientific Researchers focused on freshwater fish habitat science to support Departmental program needs. These research scientists would join an existing complement of DFO scientists engaged in freshwater fish habitat science and would be expected to develop diverse research programs (e.g. experimental, observational, modelling) aligned to DFO’s mandate for the protection of fish and fish habitat in Canada’s freshwaters.
 
A primary role for these positions is to conduct research and provide science advice related to regulatory decision-making and policy development to support management programs (e.g. related to the protection of fish and fish habitat).
 
Each position includes the following key activities:
· Providing expert scientific advice and recommendations within a subject-matter area (e.g. advice on the impacts of or offsetting for development projects on fish and fish habitat, advice on standards and guidelines related to the protection and monitoring of fish and fish habitat, advice on science-based tools for regulatory decision-making).
· Developing an active research program related to freshwater fish habitat science aligned with the Department’s mandate and program needs.
· Developing modified or novel approaches, theories, concepts, ideas or solutions and applying them to the design, implementation and/or evaluation of scientific research projects.
· Applying comprehensive or in-depth knowledge of concepts, theories and research methods appropriate to relevant scientific fields and subject matter areas.
· Writing, reviewing and publishing scientific papers, reports, manuscripts, and authoritative reviews.
· Leading, and/or participating in science advisory processes to transfer science advice to internal and external management clients.
· Managing assigned human, financial and material resources.
· Developing proposals for funding and cost recovery arrangements, negotiating collaborations, and acting as scientific authority for approved professional service contracts.

Intent of the process

The intent is to staff positions across Canada, which may include the following locations: Cultus Lake (BC), Winnipeg (MB), Burlington (ON), Sault Ste. Marie (ON), Mont-Joli (QC), Moncton (NB), Dartmouth (NS), and St. John’s (NL).
 
The pool of qualified or partially qualified candidates may be used to staff similar positions in others locations in Canada, with various language requirements, tenures and security requirements.

Positions to be filled: 12

Information you must provide

Your résumé.

In order to be considered, your application must clearly explain how you meet the following (essential qualifications)

Graduation with an acceptable doctoral degree from a recognized post-secondary institution in a field of the natural sciences related to the duties of the position.

Degree equivalency

Experience in planning and conducting research in aquatic ecosystems.
Experience in authoring scientific publications as a first author in peer reviewed journals.
Experience in presenting research findings at scientific workshops, conferences or meetings.
Experience in the application of experimental design.
Experience using statistical or mathematical techniques to analyze data.

The following will be applied / assessed at a later date (essential for the job)

Various language requirements
OFFICIAL LANGUAGES
· English Essential for BC, MB, ON, NS, NL
· Bilingual Imperative (CBC/CBC) for NB
· Bilingual Imperative (BBB/BBB) for QC

Information on language requirements

Ability to communicate effectively orally to technical and non-technical audiences.
Ability to communicate effectively in writing to technical and non-technical audiences.
Ability to provide science-based advice to management.

· Leadership
· Demonstrating integrity and respect
· Thinking things through
· Working effectively with others
· Showing initiative and being action-oriented

The following may be applied / assessed at a later date (may be needed for the job)

Depending on the position to be staffed, any of the following qualifications may also be deemed as an essential qualification and only candidates and persons with a priority entitlement who possess those qualifications will be considered for that specific vacancy.

A candidate may be appointed to a position even though he/she does not meet any or all of the asset qualifications or operational requirements. However, meeting these criteria is desirable and may be a deciding factor in choosing the person to be appointed.

1. Experience developing and providing science-based advice to scientists, managers, or stakeholders.
2. Experience leading scientific teams, including project management and the supervision of support personnel.
3. Experience collaborating with multidisciplinary professionals including academics, non-governmental organizations or industry on scientific research projects.
4. Experience leading the planning and delivery of field or laboratory research programs including obtaining funding and managing resources.
5. Experience working with Indigenous groups.
6. Experience in fluvial hydrology and geomorphology sciences in relation to freshwater habitat for fish species.
7. Experience conducting scientific risk assessments with ecological or environmental protection objectives.
8. Experience in statistical analysis of quantitative ecological data relevant to fish populations, aquatic ecosystems or biotic and abiotic habitat.
9. Experience studying how human activities and environmental stressors affect: the function of habitat; the health and survival of fish and fish populations; and/or the productivity of fish communities and aquatic ecosystems.
10. Experience studying the impacts of human activities on the freshwater or marine environment.
11. Experience in restoration ecology focusing on aquatic environments.
12. Knowledge of the theory and principles of the ecology, food-web functions, life history, and habitat requirements of freshwater fishes.
13. Experience in analysis of spatial data.
14. Experience with advanced remote or electronic data collection and analysis technologies (e.g. telemetry, data storage tags, remote sensors).
15. Experience in advanced quantitative methodologies (e.g. multivariate statistics, meta-analysis, Bayesian statistics, ecological or population modelling).
16. Experience in the application of genetic/genomic, isotope, or metabolic tools.
17. Experience in the application of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) or Indigenous Knowledge (IK) to research about freshwater fisheries ecology.
18. Experience in the design of monitoring programs or development of indicators to understand change in aquatic ecosystems.

Selection may be limited to members of the following Employment Equity groups: Aboriginal persons, persons with disabilities, visible minorities, women

Information on employment equity

(vary with position)
1. Willing to travel
2. Willing to modify work hours to fit the program schedule or requirements.
3. Willing to work outdoors in all weather conditions and in isolated terrain
4. Valid Drivers License
5. Willing to work for extended periods of time at remote locations and travel in helicopters, small planes and boats
6. Willing to work for extended periods of time aboard research vessels and platforms of different sizes

Conditions of employment

Reliability Status security clearance

· Medical suitability as required by the position.

Other information

The Public Service of Canada is committed to building a skilled and diverse workforce that reflects the Canadians we serve. We promote employment equity and encourage you to indicate if you belong to one of the targeted groups when you apply.

Information on employment equity

A variety of assessment tools may be used in the assessment of candidates, such as: written test, oral interview, presentation of a research seminar, work samples, and reference checks. Some assessment tools may be administered electronically, others, in-person.

You must provide proof of your education credentials.

APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED ON LINE ONLY. The manager will not accept or respond to resumes sent via e-mail.

Persons are entitled to participate in the appointment process in the official language of their choice.

Persons with disabilities preventing them from applying on-line are asked to contact 1-800-645-5605.

PLEASE NOTE: For this selection process, our intention is to communicate with applicants by e-mail and PSRS. Applicants who apply to this selection process must ensure their email address is functional at all times and accepts messages from unknown users.

We thank all those who apply. Only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.

Preference

Preference will be given to veterans and to Canadian citizens, in that order.

Information on the preference to veterans

We thank all those who apply. Only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.