Fisheries Biometrician

THE OUTSIDE IS IN US ALL.

Announcement:

Please remember to attach the required documents listed in this announcement.

• Resume

• Cover Letter

• References

Applications missing the requested documents will be considered incomplete and may not progress further in the process. Documents not requested will not be considered in the recruitment process. The State Application is not a substitute for a Resume. This position closes at 11:59 PM Mountain Time on May 31, 2026. You must apply through the State of Montana Career site.

Special Information:

This position may be eligible for a statutory base pay increase of $1.00 an hour effective July 1, 2026.

Identity 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.

This is a statewide position offering the opportunity to shape fisheries management and decision-making across Montana. This role involves statewide travel and requires technical expertise, strategic thinking, and interpersonal skills.

The successful candidate will frame fisheries management questions quantitatively, applying advanced modeling, statistical analysis, and decision science to support evidence-based management. Proficiency in decision analysis is important for developing transparent, defensible, and adaptive strategies that balance ecological integrity with social and economic considerations.

This position demands strong communication and collaboration skills. The Biometrician will work closely with staff who lead fisheries surveys and data collection, fostering shared understanding and ownership of analytical approaches. The ability to translate sophisticated statistical results into clear, meaningful guidance for managers, partners, and the public is essential for ensuring empirical data is used to support decisions that make a tangible difference on Montana's waters.

This is a technical position suited for a professional who effectively manages competing priorities, values working closely with fisheries management staff, and takes pride in using science to inform decisions that sustain fisheries and serve communities statewide.

Specific Job Information:

The Fisheries Biometrician serves as a statewide lead for advancing the technical, scientific, and decision-analytic foundation of Montana's fisheries management. This position shapes how research and monitoring translate into effective conservation, management, and policy decisions across Montana.

This is a unique opportunity to lead the integration of rigorous analysis and decision science into every level of fisheries work-from designing statewide monitoring strategies to developing tools that predict, evaluate, and optimize management outcomes. The Fisheries Biometrician provides strategic leadership in developing and refining monitoring protocols, advancing predictive modeling and decision-support systems, and ensuring that Montana's fisheries management remains grounded in transparent, data-driven, and science-based reasoning.

Key responsibilities include:

• Developing and conducting statistical analyses of fish population dynamics statewide, including population modeling, occupancy and abundance estimation, and evaluating effects of angling, management actions, and environmental conditions on fish populations.

• Designing studies and surveys to address fisheries management questions, including determining sampling frameworks, sample sizes, and monitoring approaches needed to reliably estimate population parameters.

• Collaborating with field biologists, regional managers, and research partners to translate complex data into clear, actionable insights and management strategies.

• Overseeing and improving automated analytical and reporting systems (e.g., Quarto/R platforms) to improve consistency, transparency, and efficiency in statewide reporting.

• Leading structured decision-making and adaptive management processes for fisheries management, including formal decision analysis and coordination across regions and staff.

Near-term priorities include:

• Advancing population modeling and adaptive decision frameworks for brown and rainbow trout in southwest Montana, with potential expansion to additional species and ecosystems.

• Leading the development of multi-species occupancy models for Montana's prairie fish monitoring program, aiming to update species status and identify key, management-relevant environmental drivers.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (Behaviors):

Biology: Basic knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies and interactions with each other and the environment. Ecology: An understanding of the interrelationships between plants, animals, and environments. Understands modern ecological concepts and has some knowledge of community dynamics and population ecology.

Fisheries field survey methods: Must be intimately familiar and have experience with design and implementation of fisheries surveys and inventory methods of many types, including active and passive fish sampling techniques and advanced telemetry tracking, and other existing, new, or emerging techniques.

Statistics and Biometrics: Proficient in many areas of statistics including survey sampling techniques, experimental design, inferential statistics, categorical data analysis, generalized linear modeling, likelihood, and Bayesian methods. Other areas of statistics that are helpful include predictive modeling and decision-analysis methods. Must be able to develop and conceptualize novel statistical and mathematical approaches to analysis of biological data, and describe those results in intuitive ways (e.g., via data visualization) for diverse audiences.

Writing and Verbal Skills: Has clearly demonstrated abilities in verbal and written communications. Possesses the ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences. Has the ability to talk to others and convey information effectively.

Computer Skills: Must demonstrate advanced computer skills including word processing, database management and programming languages for client databases such as MS Access and enterprise databases such as Oracle, MySQL, and SQL Server, ecological software, and advanced skills in the analysis of data using standard statistical software, including R, and the ability to develop new software (e.g., ShinyApps) as necessary.

Active Learning: Can understand the implications of new information for both current and future problem solving and decision-making. Can learn new things by applying selecting and using training/instructional materials provided or by listening to qualified instructors. Critical Thinking: Can apply logic and reasoning to identify strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to a problem.

Judgment and Decision Making: Considers the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Administration: Must have skills in supervision and budgeting.

Minimum Qualifications (Education and Experience):

The knowledge, skills, and abilities of this position are normally attained through combination of education and experience equivalent. This position requires the minimum of a Master's degree in Statistics, Statistical Ecology, Quantitative Ecology, or Fisheries or Fisheries Biology (quantitative emphasis), and a minimum of 20 semester hours of statistics, which must include 2 semesters of statistical theory courses (probability and inferential statistics) mathematics with an emphasis in statistics or biometrics. Various combinations of master's and bachelor's degree in Statistics, Quantitative Ecology, Fish and Fisheries Management, Biology, Ecology, Animal Science or related fields would be preferred. A minimum of 2 years' experience in the fields of quantitative science with experience in the statistical analysis of biological data, an understanding of fish and fisheries ecology, and clearly demonstrated abilities in verbal and written communications are required. Must demonstrate advanced computer skills including word processing, database management and programming languages and client databases such as MS Access, Python, Java, Oracle, MySQL, and SQL Server, and the analysis of computer data using statistical software including R, WinBUGS, SPSS, and/ or SAS. Experience in programming in these languages will be required.