POSITION DESCRIPTION

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TITLE: RecFIN Programmer/Statistician
WORK SITE LOCATION: Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, Portland, OR
PAY SCALE: Equivalent to Federal GS-12 (General Salary Schedule, exempt from overtime).

POSITION SUMMARY:
The position is organizationally within the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC), is administratively supervised by the RecFIN Programmer/Analyst and the Field Programs Administrator; and receives guidance and review from the Recreational Fisheries Information Network (RecFIN) Technical Committee. This Committee is made up of representatives from the states and federal fishery agencies on the Pacific Coast. It is to function as Programmer/Statistician in support of the RecFIN Programmer/Analyst. The position is located at the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission office in Portland, Oregon.

DUTIES:

  1. Supports the RecFIN Programmer/Analyst, the RecFIN Technical Committee and its subcommittees and state and federal agencies to develop and update reporting standards and resolve statistical and data collection issues related to marine recreational fisheries on the Pacific coast and the operation of the RecFIN Database System as a whole.
  2. Designs, develops and implements additional report generating systems and user friendly query systems for easy and timely access to historical and current marine recreational fishery information and specialized analysis for use by fishery researchers, managers and the public at large via the internet as requested by the RecFIN Programmer/Analyst.
  3. Reviews and analyses coastwide data collection efforts in state and federal programs to access the accuracy and reliability of reported statistics. Incorporates changes in data collection, and processing and interpretation of agency marine fishery programs into the RecFIN Database System.
  4. Evaluates, reviews and provides feedback on the activities and procedures used by data entry personnel, field samplers and their supervisors as requested by the RecFIN Programmer/Analyst. Designs and implements specialized forms and data entry software for the analysis and management of data collection activities for the CRFS.
  5. Explains and demonstrates the operation of the RecFIN to individuals and organizations through public forums utilizing written documentation, statistical reports, multimedia graphic presentations, internet web pages and training sessions.
  6. Evaluates, specifies and recommends computer systems and software utilized by the RecFIN Database System in support of the RecFIN Programmer/Analyst.
  7. Provides programming support/design to PSMFC operations as required and designated by the RecFIN Programmer/Analyst.

KNOWLEDGE/EXPERIENCE/ABILITIES REQUIRED BY THE POSITION:
The Programmer/Statistician's duties are related to the design and operations of the RecFIN database System through support to the RecFIN Programmer/Analyst primarily in the analysis and reporting of the CRFS.

  1. Must have completed a full four year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree in an accredited college or university with a major in statistics or computer programming which included 30 semester hours in statistics and 15 semester hours in computer programming or the reverse. Otherwise, must have appropriate experience, which gives the applicant the technical knowledge comparable to that acquired through successful completion of a four-year course of study in statistics and computer programming. One year of specialized experience related to the positions equivalent to the next lower federal service grade level is highly desired.
  2. Knowledge of SAS programming, statistics, marine recreational fisheries, and fisheries biology and management as it pertains to survey sampling and the collection and reporting of fishery dependent statistics.
  3. Detailed knowledge of technical computer programming languages and their application to survey management, statistical computing using SAS in a UNIX environment, report generation and remote computing.
  4. Experience working independently to perform the complete analysis, design, development, implementation, and documentation of mainframe and workstation database management systems using industry standards and practices in order to deal with the large, complex, and geographically distributed data sets of the Pacific states fishery agencies.
  5. Skill in oral and written communications to present appropriate fishery related analysis, recommendations and progress reports to top management of state and federal agencies, fishery Councils and Commissions, fishery researchers and the public.
  6. Knowledge of Windows and UNIX operating systems, and networking and programming languages for use in local and remote computer data queries via the internet and for the programming of specialized data entry and processing programs for marine fishery information.
  7. Ability to interact and deal effectively with individuals and committees with diverse backgrounds (biologists, engineers, statisticians, economists, fiscal officials, computer specialist, etc.), who may have limited knowledge of data processing or fishery statistics. The ability to translate their needs to the data processing environment and to translate data processing activities and fishery statistics into "layman" terms.

KNOWLEDGE/EXPERIENCE/ABILITIES DESIRED BY THE POSITION:

  1. Knowledge of FORTRAN, C, Basic, Pascal, Perl, HTML and Java programming languages.
  2. Knowledge of and experience in SAS/STAT,SAS/GRAPH and SAS macro processing.
  3. Knowledge of personal computers operating Windows systems running word processing, database, spreadsheet, presentation and email programs. Microsoft Office professional preferred.
  4. Knowledge of SunOS UNIX operation system and NFS.
  5. Knowledge and experience with sampling statistics, angler survey methods, marine fisheries and fisheries management.
  6. Skill in estimating the time it takes to implement systems of varying size and complexity, with one or more programmers and analysts involved.

SUPERVISORY CONTROLS:
This position works under the direct supervision of the RecFIN Programmer/Analyst who provides a historical perspective and broadly defines the mission of the PSMFC RecFIN program. This position's work in supervised by the RecFIN Programmer/Analyst for conformance to policies and standards set by the Field Programs Administrator and the RecFIN Technical Committee.

Assignments are made in terms of broad general objectives and goals established by the RecFIN Programmer/Analyst and project work statements or personal work plans. After these have been established, the position proceeds independently, guided by experience and knowledge, with the oversight from the RecFIN Programmer/Analyst and technical guidance and review from the Field Programs Administrator.

GUIDELINES:
Guidelines include the PSMFC Personnel Handbook, grants and procurement policies, IMS software and hardware guidelines and policies, software and technical manuals, and standards and policies developed by the RecFIN Technical Committee. The position is expected to show initiative in renovating or improving traditional or existing methods of data processing for the enhancement of RecFIN. This position works independently, but also works with the RecFIN Programmer/Analyst and the RecFIN Technical Committee on establishing regional standards and policies for RecFIN data processing. In fulfillment of this task work with the RecFIN Statistical Subcommittee or RecFIN Data Subcommittee may also be required.

COMPLEXITY:
The assignments are divers in nature and the position must exercise creativity and judgment based on experience and knowledge in extending traditional techniques or developing new approaches to create a database system capable of merging data element collected in a number of field sampling efforts that employ different survey methodologies. The work involves identifying requirements and resolving problems associated with the design and implementation of the RecFIN Database System.

SCOPE AND EFFECT:
The position functions as an expert for RecFIN in computer systems analysis, fisheries statistical analysis, and design and implementation. The RecFIN Database System will affect the ability of fisheries researchers and managers to effectively and efficiently use coast wide data on recreational fisheries landings, species composition, fishing effort and other related fisheries statistics.

PERSONAL CONTACTS:
Contacts within PSMFC include the RecFIN Programmer/Analyst, Data Entry, Field Programs Administrator, the program managers of PacFIN (Pacific Fisheries Information Network of commercial fisheries harvest), the Regional Mark Processing Center (salmonid coded wire tags) and the PITAGIS (PIT Tag Information System for salmonid radio tags) and StreamNet. Other contacts within PSMFC will be with other staff and management positions as needed. Contact outside PSMFC include the RecFIN Technical Committee, National Marine Fisheries Service, Pacific Fishery Management Council, State of California Department of Fish and Game Personnel and various other state and federal personnel in their respective fisheries agencies.

PURPOSE OF CONTACTS:
Contacts are for project design, coordination, communication, data exchange, analysis and reporting, training and demonstrations relating to the RecFIN System.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
The work is sedentary and required a great amount of concentration and attention to detail. Work assignments are multiple and performed under stringent time constraints. Work is usually performed on a video display terminal. Occasional evening or weekend work is necessary, as is travel to meetings.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:
The work is performed in a data processing office environment, with adequate heating, lighting and ventilation; with some privacy for concentration and phone conversations; and in proximity to the RecFIN Programmer/Analyst and Field Programs Administrator and the RecFIN Data Entry Supervisor and clerks at PSMFC headquarters in Portland, Oregon. Some air travel and attendance at meetings is required.