Senior Wildlife Biologist

Job Information

Job
Agency:
Game Fish & Parks

Location:

Pierre, SD;
Ft. Pierre, SD;
Chamberlain, SD
Salary: $66,523.68 - $91,500.00 annual salary, depending on qualifications
Pay Grade: K
Closing Date: 07/16/2026

Senior Wildlife Biologist
- Lead the state’s white‑tailed and mule deer management program. Provide comprehensive oversight of deer management, research, and monitoring efforts statewide.

Working for the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks is not just a job. It is a life passion. It is about working together as a team with colleagues, customers, landowners, and partner organizations to ensure that our state's outdoor heritage lives on for the next generation. Providing exceptional outdoor recreational opportunities for people to enjoy is one of the best jobs in state government.

Our atmosphere empowers professional success and team building, while fostering relationships to build a culture focused on our four strategic plan goals.

• Habitat and Access
• Asset Management
• Customer Service
• Operational Excellence

• Innovation - the GFP team is consistently revolutionizing enhancements to outdoor recreation in terms of technology and customer experience. We invite new ideas and interaction from our employees.
• Collaboration and Communication - our employees work with various teams, programs and divisions within the agency, outside state and federal agencies and public stakeholders. We want all employees to know that their voice will be heard as we continuously work towards our future goals.
• Professional Development
  - We provide training and support for you to become an expert in the field and obtain the skills necessary to be successful in your position.
• Task Diversity - the work duties are never boring. Your duties may include meetings with coworkers, collaborating with other government representatives, representing the Department at Commission meetings and national conferences, visiting one of our state parks and recreation areas or working to enhance habitat on a game production area. The outdoors provides for a pretty nice corner office!

• Do you have a high degree of professional ethics and integrity?
• Are you excellent at organizing and prioritizing multiple tasks and projects while maintaining a positive attitude?
• Do you welcome the opportunity to tackle problems and think quickly to find innovative solutions?
• Are you an effective, outgoing communicator who enjoys providing superior service to customers, leadership, and other employees?

• Coordinate statewide deer management
  - Serve as the Department's primary expert guiding deer management plans, habitat and research priorities, monitoring objectives, and hunting season recommendations.
• Build strong working relationships
  - Collaborate with wildlife managers, tribal and federal government partners, biologists, landowners, hunters, and other stakeholders to strengthen information based approaches to deer management.
• Collaborative team contributor
  - Ability to step into both supporting and leadership roles, fostering a positive, cooperative, and high performing work environment.
• Communicate complex information
  - Clearly convey deer management strategies, research findings, and recommendations to internal staff, the public, partner agencies, and decision makers.
• Provide analytical leadership
  - Oversee survey design, monitoring, and interpretation of deer hunter, harvest, and population trends, in addition to landowner opinion and other stakeholder trends.
• Advance innovation
  - Lead the adoption of new technologies and analytical tools to improve program efficiency, transparency, and effectiveness.
• Produce and review scientific work
  - Author, coauthor, or review technical reports and scientific publications in collaboration with project leaders and staff.
• Stay current in the field
  - Review scientific literature and participate in professional conferences, meetings, and training at multiple levels.

This is a Full-Time 40 Hours Weekly position with the Department of Game Fish & Parks. Working conditions will include a typical office environment for the majority of time. At times, work will be conducted under adverse weather conditions and in low-flying aircraft. This position may also deal with sick and diseased wildlife, chemical immobilization drugs, and capture/restraint of wild animals.

Bachelor of Science degree preferred.

Preferred: an individual with an M.S. or Ph.D. in wildlife management or related degree supplemented by several years of experience with a wildlife management agency responsible for developing hunting season regulations.

• Deer management, habitat requirements, harvest and population dynamics, and wildlife disease ecology.
• Social science, public engagement practices, and legal frameworks that shape deer management and…