Fisheries Modeling Scientist

Innovate!, Inc.; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical

Dental

Vision

401K with match

Life Insurance

PTO

Job summary

Innovate! Inc. is seeking a Fisheries Modeling Scientist to develop and advance the NOAA Fisheries COMPASS model, evaluating survival and migration across fish life cycles. On-site work at Seattle, WA, with collaboration across regional offices and partners to support ESA and permitting processes.

The role emphasizes advanced quantitative modeling, Bayesian methods, and reproducible workflows, with opportunities to publish and contribute to technical reports and open-science efforts.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in quantitative modeling and statistical analysis.
• Advanced R programming and reproducible workflows.
• Knowledge of Bayesian methods, Stan and JAGS preferred.
• Experience interfacing with C/C++ in modeling environments.

Responsibilities

• Develop and advance the COMPASS model for river systems and fish life cycles.
• Evaluate survival, migration, and environmental stressors across life cycles.
• Collaborate with NOAA partners for ESA litigation support and permitting.
• Create reproducible modeling scripts and data processing workflows.
• Present results at regional and national meetings; contribute to manuscripts.

Skills

Quantitative modeling

Statistical analysis

Ecological data analysis

R programming

Bayesian methods

Office tools

C/C++ interface

GitHub

COMPASS familiarity

Salmon biology

Technical writing

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher in quantitative field

Master's degree preferred

Tools

Stan

JAGS

GitHub

Job description

Official Communication: All job offers and communication regarding them will arrive from email addresses ending in @innovateteam.com.

Secure Information: We prioritize your data safety. We never request bank information via email or text. Instead, we follow a secure process through our dedicated payroll system.

Openings at Innovate!, Inc

Hiring Transparency:

• Official Communication: All job offers and communication regarding them will arrive from email addresses ending in @innovateteam.com.
• Secure Information: We prioritize your data safety. We never request bank information via email or text. Instead, we follow a secure process through our dedicated payroll system.

Remember: If your communication differs from this process, it's not from Innovate.

Fisheries Modeling Scientist

Location: Seattle, WA

Position:

Fisheries Modeling Scientist

Reports To:

FLSA: Exempt

Location: Seattle, WA

Posted: 7/15/26

Job Description

Embrace the opportunity to join Innovate! Inc. and become a valued member of our team. We are seeking driven individuals who are passionate about leveraging technology to tackle environmental challenges and drive positive change. If you thrive in a collaborative, fast-paced environment and are eager to contribute your skills and expertise to innovative projects, we invite you to explore this exciting opportunity further. Read on to learn more about how you can be part of our dynamic team.

Innovate! Inc. is seeking a highly experienced Fisheries Modeling Scientist to develop, implement, and advance the NOAA Fisheries COMPASS (Comprehensive Passage) model and associated scientific information workflows to evaluate survival, migration, environmental stressors, and management actions across fish life cycles, including applications supporting ESA litigation and permitting.

*Contingent upon contract being awarded*

Location: Work will be conducted on-site at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Seattle, Washington (WA) or at one of its associated field stations in WA or Oregon

Salary Range: $100,000 - $125,000

Position status: Full Time; with benefits

Benefits include: Medical, Dental, Vision, 401K with match, Life Insurance, and PTO

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop, maintain, and advance the Comprehensive Passage model for use in river systems and across fish life-cycle applications.
• Construct and implement statistical, biological, computational, and quantitative model components evaluating fish survival and migration through hydropower systems.
• Respond to analytical requests from the West Coast Regional Office and other NOAA partners supporting ESA litigation, consultation, and permitting.
• Integrate statistical modeling, computer modeling, quantitative ecological analysis, and scientific software development into reliable COMPASS workflows.
• Collaborate with regional managers and researchers to structure, synthesize, document, and manage environmental and biological data required by model components.
• Complete assigned modeling components and integrate them into COMPASS and life-cycle models for the Columbia River Basin and other systems as needed.
• Conduct all analyses using accepted scientific methods and QA/QC practices, including testing, validation, documentation, and peer review.
• Develop and share reproducible modeling scripts, methods, data-processing workflows, and research results through GitHub and other open-science platforms.
• Prepare written status reports, ad hoc communications, technical reports, and journal manuscript contributions, and present results at regional and national meetings and scientific conferences.
• Assist with fish and environmental field collection in West Coast freshwater, estuarine, and nearshore marine environments when needed.

REQUIRED SKILLS & TECHNICAL EXPERTISE

• Extensive experience in quantitative modeling, statistical analysis, ecological data analysis, and scientific software or script development.
• Advanced R programming skills, including design, execution, testing, debugging, and documentation of complex models and analytical workflows.
• Experience with Bayesian statistical methods and mark-recapture analysis is preferred.
• Experience with Stan and JAGS is preferred.
• Ability to interpret or interface with C or C++ code in a scientific modeling environment.
• Experience processing data in Linux or another command-line environment, including shell scripting, is preferred.
• Knowledge of GitHub, version control, open-science concepts, reproducible workflows, automated testing, configuration management, and scientific information services.
• Familiarity with COMPASS or comparable collaborative scientific information and modeling systems is highly desirable.
• Understanding of Pacific salmon biology, river migration, hydropower systems, Columbia River Basin management, and NOAA Fisheries ESA responsibilities.
• Excellent communication, technical writing, peer-reviewed publication, organization, and interdisciplinary collaboration skills.
• Proficiency with Google Workspace and Microsoft Office.

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited institution in statistics, mathematics, fisheries, ecology, natural sciences, computer science, oceanography, or a related quantitative field; a master's degree is preferred.
• Three or more years of directly relevant experience; an MS may substitute for up to two years and a PhD for up to four years of experience.
• Demonstrated experience developing, maintaining, or integrating scientific models, analytical software, and reproducible data workflows.
• Experience supporting NOAA Fisheries, WCR, NWFSC, another NOAA office, or a comparable federal scientific information or fisheries modeling program is strongly preferred.
• Experience with COMPASS, Pacific salmon, Columbia River Basin hydropower, life-cycle modeling, ESA litigation or permitting support, or mark-recapture and survival modeling is highly desirable.
• Must possess and maintain a valid driver's license and be able to satisfy federal Public Trust background investigation requirements.

LEARN MORE ABOUT US

Innovate! Inc. is a certified woman-owned consulting firm founded in 2002 by Lily Thomas. We provide innovative solutions to management, technology, and program challenges, with a focus on performance, integrity, and building lasting partnerships with our clients. Our team of over 100 experts includes IT and geospatial specialists, program and project management consultants, environmental scientists, and communications and outreach strategists. Our clients include federal, state, tribal, and local governments, private industry, non-profit organizations, higher education institutions, and utilities. Recent awards we received for excellent service include the 2022 SAG Team Award and 2022 Esri Partner Conference High Potential Award.

Innovate is a fast-paced, rapidly growing group of entrepreneurs creating a culture of excellence. Rapid advancement within our organization is not only possible but also encouraged. To view our website, visit innovateteam.com .

Innovate is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment based on race, color, sex, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, national origin, marital status, physical or mental disability, status as a Disabled Veteran, Recently Separated Veteran, Active Duty Wartime or Campaign Badge Veteran, Armed Forces Services Medal, or any other characteristic protected by law. If you have a disability and require reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process or cannot access or use this online application process and need an alternative method for applying, please contact us at [e-mail] .

To learn more about Innovate’s benefits, please click here:Benefits