Wildlife Management Specialist

Early, IA
Full Time
Wildlife Management Specialist
Entry Level
Launch your career in wildlife conservation with hands-on field experience through a partnership with Pheasants Forever (PF) and Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). This position offers recent graduates and emerging natural resource professionals with an opportunity to build technical skills, work directly with landowners and wildlife professionals, and gain real-world experience that has proven to lead to permanent careers in conservation!

Work Location:
Iowa DNR Blackhawk Wildlife Unit (Sac County)
2392 230th Street, Early, Iowa 50535

Application deadline: May 17, 2026
Salary: $17.00 per hour
Typical Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. – 40 hours per week

Anticipated Start Date: 2-4 weeks post successful job offer
End Date: One year from start date

This role is designed to provide foundational experience in habitat management, maintenance and technical skills, wildlife surveys, and landowner relations. The PF Wildlife Management Specialist will work with other wildlife unit personnel and be under the general direction of the Natural Resource Biologist. The job duties of this position include general wildlife management activities on state-owned wildlife areas within the assigned unit counties. The position will also assist the public with wildlife concerns and crop evaluations for wildlife damage in addition to performing a variety of maintenance and technical tasks at the wildlife management unit. The employee is expected to efficiently display a high level of initiative and commitment towards completing assignments. Overnight travel will occasionally be required on special projects outside of the assigned unit counties. Watch this video to see a day in the role of a Wildlife Management Specialist.

Examples of typical job duties may include:
  • Perform wildlife habitat management activities including: Wetland management, prairie management, native prairie seeding, food plot development, edge feathering, tree/brush removal, spraying, disking, mowing, etc. using large farm machinery, chainsaws, and other hand tools.
  • Prescribed fire implementation for ecological purposes.  This duty will require fire-line construction, fire-line holding, and mop-up activities.  Performance of these tasks will require the employee to periodically work under physically stressful and adverse conditions.  Proficiency in the use of basic wildland firefighting equipment will be needed. 
  • Wildlife Depredation Program: Evaluate crops and work with producers on reducing crop damage through technical advice, habitat recommendations, and implementation of the depredation program. Get training on a number of wildlife damage mitigation techniques and present them to landowners and producers. Respond to inquiries on a variety of wildlife topics.
  • Wildlife Surveys & Monitoring including: Waterfowl banding, deer spotlight routes, august roadside surveys, chronic wasting disease sampling, etc.  Collecting of biological data occasionally will require early or late in the day work scheduling.
  • General area maintenance involving mowing, sign posting, fence building, fence removal, tree/brush control, noxious weed control etc.  These activities require the ability to use simple power equipment; drills, saws, hand tools, chain saws, trimmers, small mowers etc.   
  • Special assignments may require some overnight travel as part of a crew, to accomplish large scale fence removal, fence building or tree removal projects outside of the assigned unit counties.  These assignments will require the ability to work well with others, work out of doors under all types of weather conditions, and to withstand physically demanding work, i.e., lifting, bending and hauling. 
           
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
  • Degree in wildlife biology, animal ecology, or another closely related natural resource field. 
  • Passion for conservation and outdoor fieldwork.
  • Ability to work independently and as part of a team, demonstrating responsible behavior, attention to detail, and the capacity to work with minimal supervision.
  • Display professionalism, integrity, and accountability, with strong initiative, effort, and commitment to completing assignments efficiently.
  • Able to travel on overnight duties and work on weekends, holidays, nights, and evenings as required.
  • Must have a valid motor vehicle operator’s license.
  • Able to follow policy and cooperate with supervisors and co-workers.
CAREER ADVANCEMENT BENEFITS
  • Proven pathway to full-time careers — this position has a strong track record of placement into full-time permanent roles with DNR, Pheasants Forever, and other conservation organizations.
  • Build valuable, hands-on technical skills while working alongside experienced DNR professionals.
  • Grow your professional network and form lasting connections across the conservation field.
  • Gain real-world, outdoor experience doing meaningful, on-the-ground conservation work.
  • Experience a unique dual-agency role, with opportunities to engage in trainings, collaboration, and annual staff meetings with both DNR and Pheasants Forever.
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PACKAGE:
Pheasants Forever offers a competitive benefits package. Employee Benefit Package information can be found here:  Employee Benefit Summary pdf

To Apply: Please combine your cover letter including which locations you are interested in, resume and three references into one Word document or PDF file before uploading as part of your application on our recruitment website at www.pheasantsforever.org/jobs. 

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:  Must possess or be able to acquire a pesticide applicator’s license and S130-190 basic firefighter training certification, special requirements shall be met within 90 days of hire if not currently possessed. Successful applicant will also be encouraged to obtain a Iowa DNR chainsaw safety certification and complete first aid & bloodborne pathogen training.

If you have additional questions, please contact Brian Hickman, SW District Supervisor, at 712-250-0518, or [email protected].
 
Pheasants Forever, Inc is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, status as a protected veteran, status as a qualified individual with disability, or any other category that may be protected by law.
Share

Apply for this position

Required*
To comply with government Equal Employment Opportunity and/or Affirmative Action reporting regulations, we are requesting (but NOT requiring) that you enter this personal data. This information will not be used in connection with any employment decisions, and will be used solely as permitted by state and federal law. Your voluntary cooperation would be appreciated. Learn more.
Invitation for Job Applicants to Self-Identify as a U.S. Veteran
  • A “disabled veteran” is one of the following:
    • a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or
    • a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.
  • A “recently separated veteran” means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.
  • An “active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran” means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.
  • An “Armed forces service medal veteran” means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.
Veteran status


Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability
Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability Form CC-305
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026
Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Please check one of the boxes below:

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.

You must enter your name and date
Human Check*