Description

Title:                    Range Wildlife Biologist

Supervisor:       Northern Great Plains Program Manager

Location:            Northwest South Dakota (Buffalo, SD)

Salary:                 Estimated at $59,000*; Based on experience

Application Deadline: Rolling, applications reviewed as received through December 15, 2025

Position Summary:

American Bird Conservancy is a fast-growing, results-focused nonprofit seeking employees with an entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to make a difference for birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. Inspired by the wonder of birds, ABC achieves lasting results for the bird species most in need while also benefiting human communities, biodiversity, and the planet’s fragile climate.

This position will be a full-time employee of, and supervised by American Bird Conservancy (ABC), with daily instruction and leadership provided by ABC and US Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The position is funded through the Northern Great Plains Joint Venture (ngpjv.org), a coordinating group that ABC and many other agencies and conservation organizations work with.

Hired individual will work primarily in northern South Dakota. This position will be located in Buffalo, South Dakota based from the USDA Service Center office to write contracts and conservation plans.

Buffalo is near the borders of Montana and North Dakota. Outdoor opportunities abound, with over a half dozen recreation areas relatively nearby, including diverse expanses of public land and water for hunting, fishing, and wildlife watching (Black Hills, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, National grasslands, etc.).

As an ABC employee, occasional work travel for trainings to other states may be necessary. This position is a part of a team of 6 staff, with 2 other positions in South Dakota, 2 in Montana, and 1 in North Dakota

Primary Duties:

• Will work in a joint capacity with ABC and partners, including NRCS and other State, Federal, Native nations, and NGO partners to promote, accelerate enrollment, coordinate and implement the conservation provisions of the Federal Farm Bill and other wildlife related conservation programs.
• Assist or coordinate activities and projects with NRCS, or other agency or non-profit partners. This necessitates Federal employee security clearance and substantial trainings to work on NRCS programs;
• Activities will include promotion of conservation programs (workshops and one-on-one meetings), contract coordination, conservation plan development and modification, site assessment, and reporting. Most (80-95%) of this work normally takes place through NRCS programs.
• Provide conservation technical guidance, including wildlife habitat enhancement techniques, and conservation program delivery, to private landowners and public organizations within partner identified priority areas, as appropriate and will collaborate with partner project managers to increase involvement in programs.
• Work with local partners to increase habitat management efforts and participate in regional and statewide habitat meetings;
• Provide leadership and support for outreach activities including direct collaboration with project managers, and through landowner field events, inter-agency partnership training meetings, and other communication efforts.

Benefits:

American Bird Conservancy fosters a mission-driven, collaborative, and supportive workplace where staff are respected, empowered, and connected by a shared purpose. ABC offers strong benefits, a 35-hour work week, generous leave policies, and flexible, remote-friendly work arrangements that support a healthy work-life balance.

• Excellent benefits package includes medical, dental, flexible spending accounts, and employer-matched retirement savings, flexible schedule, etc.
• Paid vacation days (starting at 15 days annually and increasing to 20 days after 1 year of employment), paid holidays (including both US holidays and additional ABC holidays) and sick leave. 
• Lodging, meals, and transportation covered for work-related travel away from home where applicable.
• Rental vehicle or personal mileage reimbursement where applicable.

To Apply:

Please apply online at Paylocity.

Please include your cover letter, resume and 3 references as a single Microsoft Word document or PDF file.

If you have any difficulties uploading your resume, cover letter, and 3 references then please send them as ONE document to HR@abcbirds.org

* ABC aligns our compensation with local market rates to ensure internal equity and fairness across our distributed workforce.

At American Bird Conservancy, we believe that a diversity of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills makes us more effective. We are committed to creating a respectful and inclusive work environment for all of our employees. 

As an equal opportunity employer, ABC is committed to ensuring that employees and applicants for employment have equal opportunities regardless of race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or any other factor unrelated to the requirements of the position. 

Requirements

Position Requirements: 

1.       A minimum requirement for this position is a Bachelor of Science Degree in Wildlife Management or closely related natural resources field and three years of relevant experience.

2.       Wildlife Society Certification and graduate work will also be considered.

3.       Ability to be a part of multiple teams and, where appropriate, help to work with a diverse set of partner organizations and individual landowners to achieve conservation objectives at multiple scales (individual land parcel to sub-watershed levels).

4.       Experiences with Native Nations, cultures, governments, and policies.

5.       Practical experience with agricultural systems, farming and ranching.

6.       Knowledge of wildlife ecology, bird identification by sight and sound, prescribed fire, and grassland, wetland, and early succession habitat management.

7.       Ability to convey the use of various habitat management tools in the development of management plans.

8.       Knowledge of conservation and wildlife habitat programs provided by federal (i.e. Farm Bill, US Fish and Wildlife Service), state, & local entities. In addition, knowledge of how these programs are implemented in an agricultural landscape is desired.

9.       Ability to communicate clearly and effectively with landowners, partner agencies and colleagues.

10.   The position requires networking and communication skills (presentation, inter-personal, reading, and writing).

11.   Ability to work independently and with diverse clientele.

12.   Strong organizational skills.

13.   Demonstrated leadership abilities with a high degree of self-motivation.

14.   Proficiency with ArcGIS Pro or USDA Conservation Desktop.

15.   Conflict resolution skills.

16.   Valid driver’s license required; some use of personal vehicle may be required (mileage reimbursement provided)

17.   Travel in northern South Dakota and sometimes in neighboring states.

18.   Must be able to obtain USDA Federal Security Clearance.

19.   Experience working with USDA Farm Bill programs (i.e., RCPP, EQIP, CSP, ACEP, CRP and CREP) is preferred.

20.   All remote and hybrid employees are required to have a stable and high-speed internet service provider in place prior to beginning work for ABC. Our distributed work force relies heavily on cloud technologies, Zoom, and other automations to successfully complete our day to day work. The ideal speeds are 30-40 Mbps for downloads and 10-15 Mbps for uploads.

a.       You may be required to use your personal cell phone to access ABC systems remotely.

21.   Authorized to work in the US or Permanent Resident

22.   Background screening required