Fish & Wildlife Research Scientist 2 pay range
State of Washington · class code 516G
- Class code
- 516G
- Salary range
- 68
- Pay unit
- Year
- State
- Washington
- The State of Washington published pay range for Fish & Wildlife Research Scientist 2 is $86,688 to $116,544 per year.
- Washington State Office of Financial Management (OFM) keys this classification as class code 516G.
- This is the range the plan authorises, not the salary of any individual employee.
Step progression
Washington State Office of Financial Management (OFM) assigns this class to salary range 68 in the General Service Salary Schedule. The range pays 13 steps; a step is normally earned on a periodic increment date, not negotiated.
| Basis | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual | $86,688 | $88,788 | $91,104 | $93,288 | $95,676 | $98,064 | $100,488 | $102,996 | $105,612 | $108,228 | $110,952 | $113,736 | $116,544 |
| Monthly | $7,224 | $7,399 | $7,592 | $7,774 | $7,973 | $8,172 | $8,374 | $8,583 | $8,801 | $9,019 | $9,246 | $9,478 | $9,712 |
| Hourly | $41.52 | $42.52 | $43.63 | $44.68 | $45.82 | $46.97 | $48.13 | $49.33 | $50.58 | $51.83 | $53.14 | $54.47 | $55.82 |
Steps as published. The monthly and hourly rows are the state's own, not conversions of the annual row.
Class specification
The OFM classified job specification for this class is published by Washington State Office of Financial Management (OFM). The passages below are quoted from it as published, not paraphrased, and cut to their opening sentences; the full specification is the authority on duties and qualifications.
What the state says the job is
Is the designated representative for scientific policy on multiple national and international committees, councils, and commissions and conducts special assignments at the direction of the Director or Program Director; or is the designated consultant in a specialized area of expertise and • Provides scientific leadership to and directs a multidisciplinary, multi-jurisdictional research program, or • Independently conducts research or directs a departmental research team performing research at the forefront of scientific inquiry requiring the development and application of new theoretical, methodological, or analytical concepts, or Supervises at least one Fish and Wildlife Research Scientist 1 and conducts research studies in a specialized field.
Examples of the work
Consults with policy makers and makes decisions, recommendations and translates results of scientific study and research; Develops and initiates new techniques for management and enhancement of our fisheries resources, such as: sophisticated biological procedures to assess the management of the fisheries habitat; new methods of identifying salmon over their life span; more effective approaches to definition and solution of pollution problems; Designs methodologically sound research studies; initiates, designs, and implements a series of independent laboratory experiments or analytical program evaluations; Develops complex computer simulation models using sophisticated statistical, analytical ...
Minimum qualifications
A Master's degree in wildlife, habitat, or fisheries science, biology, zoology or in mathematics with emphasis on animal population biology or closely allied field. AND Four years of professional experience designing, conducting, and supervising multidisciplinary wildlife, habitat or fish-related research studies in addition to three articles published or in press in refereed literature, (two articles must be as senior author, the third article must be as senior or secondary author).
Quoted from the OFM classified job specification, read 2026-10-21.
Where this comes from
Washington State Office of Financial Management (OFM) publishes this figure in Classified Job Listing joined to the OFM salary schedules effective July 1, 2026. Every number on this page is read from that document; nothing is estimated, modelled or averaged.
The dollar figures come from the salary schedule the listing assigns this range to.