Series 0403

Microbiology

Microbiologists who study bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms to protect public health, food safety, and agriculture. Many jobs are with the Department of Agriculture and the CDC.

Plain-language description based on the OPM series definition.

0400 Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences Group · General Schedule

See open 0403 jobs on USAJOBS Compare with another series Back to Series Directory

At a glance

Job postings, last 12 months: 71
Open now: 5
Trend (last 3 months vs. 3 before): Rising (+72%)
Demand score: 54/100
Remote opportunity score: 80/100
Veteran opportunity score: 66/100

What these scores mean

Grades and pay

Typical grades

GS-9 to GS-15

Most common promotion potential: GS-13

GS pay plan, used by 91% of this series' postings.

Typical posted salary range

$107,446 to $158,322 per year

Median of the yearly salary ranges in posted announcements.

Who can apply

Share of job postings in the last 12 months, by who the announcement was open to.

Open to the public: 49%
Federal employees and other special groups only: 51%
Listed a veterans hiring path: 17%
Telework eligible (open now): 80%
Fully remote (open now): 0%

Who is hiring and where

Top hiring departments

Department of Agriculture (36)
Department of Health and Human Services (19)
Department of the Army (6)
Department of Defense (4)
Department of the Navy (3)

Top states

Kansas (19)
Georgia (17)
Maryland (11)
Iowa (6)
Colorado (5)

Hiring patterns

Based on job announcements since Mar 2017. How patterns are calculated

When this series usually posts jobs

Postings are spread fairly evenly through the year, so there is no clear best month to look.

Typical postings for series 0403 by calendar month, compared with an average month
Month	Compared with an average month
January	About average
February	15% below average
March	14% above average
April	About average
May	About average
June	10% above average
July	About average
August	12% above average
September	7% above average
October	About average
November	8% below average
December	13% below average

Postings by fiscal year

The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. Fiscal years 2025 and 2026 include the government-wide hiring freeze that began in January 2025.

Job announcements for series 0403 by fiscal year
Fiscal year	Postings
FY 2018	236
FY 2019	204
FY 2020	213
FY 2021	231
FY 2022	225
FY 2023	241
FY 2024	207
FY 2025	57
FY 2026	56

Postings by month, last 12 months

Job announcements for series 0403 opened each month
Month	Postings
Dec 2025	2
Jan 2026	1
Feb 2026	1
Mar 2026	9
Apr 2026	5
May 2026	2
Jun 2026	7
Jul 2026	9
Aug 2026	10
Sep 2026	10
Oct 2026	11
Nov 2026 (month to date)	4

0401 General Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences 1,076 postings in 12 months
0456 Wildland Fire Management 784 postings in 12 months
0404 Biological Science Technician 456 postings in 12 months
0462 Forestry Technician 213 postings in 12 months
0457 Soil Conservation 103 postings in 12 months

About this data

Job numbers come from the USAJOBS API: 244,223 job announcements opened from December 1, 2025 to November 15, 2026, plus 12,260 announcements open on November 15, 2026. Canceled announcements are not counted. Series descriptions summarize the OPM Handbook of Occupational Groups and Families.

These figures describe posted job announcements, not hiring outcomes. Always read the official announcement and its qualification requirements before applying. How the scores are calculated.