Biologist Jobs in USA with Visa Sponsorship
Biologist roles in the U.S. routinely qualify as specialty occupations under H-1B, and federal research employers can sponsor through cap-exempt pathways. Most positions require a bachelor's degree minimum, with graduate credentials strengthening petitions for research-focused roles. For detailed occupation requirements, see the O*NET profile.
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Get Access To All JobsINTRODUCTION
Environmental Science Associates (ESA) is a 100% employee-owned environmental consulting firm. We plan, design, permit, mitigate, and restore for projects across our communities, infrastructure systems, open spaces, and wildlands. We are 50 years strong in 21 offices across California, the Pacific Northwest, and the Southeastern United States.
ESA is seeking a mid-level biologist with 2-7 years of experience in relevant scientific or environmental consulting environment. This is an exempt, full-time, salaried role with hybrid flexible expectations. Qualified candidates must be located in the San Francisco Bay Area, vicinity of Sacramento, Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, Central Valley, or within 3 hours commute. All qualified candidates must be willing & able to travel as needed. Preference given to candidates located in the bay area and central valley of CA. This role involves travel for site visits, projects, and in-person team collaboration as needed.
Who You Are
- Qualified candidates should have previous experience performing natural resource-related evaluations, technical studies, analyses and tasks requiring knowledge based on education and at least two years of professional experience.
- Previous construction compliance monitoring experience required.
- Qualified candidates must demonstrate the ability to perform all aspects of biological monitoring on small to large, complex construction projects. Some night and/or weekend work may be assigned. General experience with wildlife and vegetation species from the geographic area of work: California Central Valley and San Francisco Bay Area.
- Qualified candidates must have experience surveying and monitoring CA nesting birds.
- Preference given to candidates with direct experience surveying, handling, and monitoring for, or with monitoring approvals by state and federal agencies for one or more of the following species: San Joaquin kit fox, California tiger salamander, California red-legged frog, northwestern pond turtle, San Francisco garter snake, giant garter snake, California black rail, western burrowing owl, western spadefoot, vernal pool brachiopods, Swainson's hawk and/or other nesting birds, Crotch's bumble bee, and bats.
- You enjoy fieldwork and can walk long distances carrying a backpack; and are able to lift at least 50 pounds. You are confident working outside, in remote and rural settings, as well as in urban environments. Physical outdoor work may include, but may not be limited to, work in all types of weather, traversing uneven ground and sometimes steep terrain in vegetated environments, agricultural fields, arid lands, and along stream banks. You may be exposed to inclement weather and uncomfortable working conditions. Some early morning, late night and/or weekend work, as well as long hours may be required.
- Must possess a valid driver's license and have own transportation to project sites.
- Must have a smart phone with sufficient data plan to collect necessary data on-site.
What You Will Do for ESA
- Perform biological compliance monitoring and reporting at active construction sites to ensure conformance with environmental/permit requirements.
- Conduct special-status species surveys and nesting bird surveys.
- Construction compliance monitoring.
- Identify and may relocate sensitive species, when needed and if agency-approved.
- Effectively communicate with senior ESA staff, construction crews, project personnel, and project management staff.
- Take initiative and contribute to a respectful, feedback-driven team culture.
- Maintain daily written monitoring and inspection logs, including utilizing electronic data collection tools, such as Fulcrum and Trello.
- Enter data into an on-line GIS mapping application, such as Fieldmaps, Collector, Survey 123.
- Deliver worker environmental awareness training to on-site staff.
- Comply with all safety requirements and policies.
- Field work outside, potentially in remote or rural settings, as well as in urban environments.
- Desk-based data processing, technical evaluations, and a range of client deliverables.
- Training/mentoring early career biologists.
- Other ad hoc tasks as needed.
What's Special About Our Biology Team
Our Biology Team includes biologists, restoration ecologists, permitting specialists, conservation biologists, and environmental scientists that provide expertise for many municipalities throughout California. Our work matters because it helps communities shape a positive future for their citizens in balance with conserving our state's sensitive natural resources. We value creative thinking, teamwork, and multi-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary engagement and integration.
We encourage you to read about some of the exciting projects we have recently completed.
What's Special About ESA
Joining ESA means becoming part of a close-knit team of environmental professionals who contribute to outstanding projects, improve environmental stewardship, and advance a more sustainable and resilient future for our communities and wild places.
At ESA, we provide benefits such as medical, dental, and vision insurance (paid at 70% for you AND your family), annual allocations of company share through our ESOP, a 401(k) plan with company match, and paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays, to name a few.
We also provide specific programs whether you want to further your technical expertise, sharpen your business acumen, or help lead the next generation of employee-owners. We want to support you in reaching your career goals through tuition reimbursement, professional development bonuses, and attendance at conferences.
Who We Are
We are a 100% employee-owned environmental consulting firm who values diversity and inclusion and celebrate the differences that make each of us unique. Our culture is built on mutual respect, recognizing that our variety of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives leads to better solutions, which fosters our continued success for our employee-owners and clients.
In accordance with ESA's duty and responsibility to provide and maintain a safe workplace that is free of known hazards and to minimize the exposure to potential hazards, any employee who works from an ESA office or conducts any other in-person ESA work-related activity is required to submit their proof of vaccination status or have received an approved exemption and accommodation in states which this applies.
If you are an applicant with a disability that requires a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process or are limited in the ability—or unable to use—the online application system and need an alternative method for applying, you may contact our Human Resources Department via email: humanresources@esassoc.com for assistance.
Please include the following in your message so we can promptly address your request:
- Full name
- The best method to contact you (phone number and/or email address)
- Title of Job Position Applied
- Description of your accommodation request
ESA is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to a diverse and inclusive work environment. (EOE M/V/F/D)
INTRODUCTION
Environmental Science Associates (ESA) is a 100% employee-owned environmental consulting firm. We plan, design, permit, mitigate, and restore for projects across our communities, infrastructure systems, open spaces, and wildlands. We are 50 years strong in 21 offices across California, the Pacific Northwest, and the Southeastern United States.
ESA is seeking a mid-level biologist with 2-7 years of experience in relevant scientific or environmental consulting environment. This is an exempt, full-time, salaried role with hybrid flexible expectations. Qualified candidates must be located in the San Francisco Bay Area, vicinity of Sacramento, Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, Central Valley, or within 3 hours commute. All qualified candidates must be willing & able to travel as needed. Preference given to candidates located in the bay area and central valley of CA. This role involves travel for site visits, projects, and in-person team collaboration as needed.
Who You Are
- Qualified candidates should have previous experience performing natural resource-related evaluations, technical studies, analyses and tasks requiring knowledge based on education and at least two years of professional experience.
- Previous construction compliance monitoring experience required.
- Qualified candidates must demonstrate the ability to perform all aspects of biological monitoring on small to large, complex construction projects. Some night and/or weekend work may be assigned. General experience with wildlife and vegetation species from the geographic area of work: California Central Valley and San Francisco Bay Area.
- Qualified candidates must have experience surveying and monitoring CA nesting birds.
- Preference given to candidates with direct experience surveying, handling, and monitoring for, or with monitoring approvals by state and federal agencies for one or more of the following species: San Joaquin kit fox, California tiger salamander, California red-legged frog, northwestern pond turtle, San Francisco garter snake, giant garter snake, California black rail, western burrowing owl, western spadefoot, vernal pool brachiopods, Swainson's hawk and/or other nesting birds, Crotch's bumble bee, and bats.
- You enjoy fieldwork and can walk long distances carrying a backpack; and are able to lift at least 50 pounds. You are confident working outside, in remote and rural settings, as well as in urban environments. Physical outdoor work may include, but may not be limited to, work in all types of weather, traversing uneven ground and sometimes steep terrain in vegetated environments, agricultural fields, arid lands, and along stream banks. You may be exposed to inclement weather and uncomfortable working conditions. Some early morning, late night and/or weekend work, as well as long hours may be required.
- Must possess a valid driver's license and have own transportation to project sites.
- Must have a smart phone with sufficient data plan to collect necessary data on-site.
What You Will Do for ESA
- Perform biological compliance monitoring and reporting at active construction sites to ensure conformance with environmental/permit requirements.
- Conduct special-status species surveys and nesting bird surveys.
- Construction compliance monitoring.
- Identify and may relocate sensitive species, when needed and if agency-approved.
- Effectively communicate with senior ESA staff, construction crews, project personnel, and project management staff.
- Take initiative and contribute to a respectful, feedback-driven team culture.
- Maintain daily written monitoring and inspection logs, including utilizing electronic data collection tools, such as Fulcrum and Trello.
- Enter data into an on-line GIS mapping application, such as Fieldmaps, Collector, Survey 123.
- Deliver worker environmental awareness training to on-site staff.
- Comply with all safety requirements and policies.
- Field work outside, potentially in remote or rural settings, as well as in urban environments.
- Desk-based data processing, technical evaluations, and a range of client deliverables.
- Training/mentoring early career biologists.
- Other ad hoc tasks as needed.
What's Special About Our Biology Team
Our Biology Team includes biologists, restoration ecologists, permitting specialists, conservation biologists, and environmental scientists that provide expertise for many municipalities throughout California. Our work matters because it helps communities shape a positive future for their citizens in balance with conserving our state's sensitive natural resources. We value creative thinking, teamwork, and multi-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary engagement and integration.
We encourage you to read about some of the exciting projects we have recently completed.
What's Special About ESA
Joining ESA means becoming part of a close-knit team of environmental professionals who contribute to outstanding projects, improve environmental stewardship, and advance a more sustainable and resilient future for our communities and wild places.
At ESA, we provide benefits such as medical, dental, and vision insurance (paid at 70% for you AND your family), annual allocations of company share through our ESOP, a 401(k) plan with company match, and paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays, to name a few.
We also provide specific programs whether you want to further your technical expertise, sharpen your business acumen, or help lead the next generation of employee-owners. We want to support you in reaching your career goals through tuition reimbursement, professional development bonuses, and attendance at conferences.
Who We Are
We are a 100% employee-owned environmental consulting firm who values diversity and inclusion and celebrate the differences that make each of us unique. Our culture is built on mutual respect, recognizing that our variety of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives leads to better solutions, which fosters our continued success for our employee-owners and clients.
In accordance with ESA's duty and responsibility to provide and maintain a safe workplace that is free of known hazards and to minimize the exposure to potential hazards, any employee who works from an ESA office or conducts any other in-person ESA work-related activity is required to submit their proof of vaccination status or have received an approved exemption and accommodation in states which this applies.
If you are an applicant with a disability that requires a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process or are limited in the ability—or unable to use—the online application system and need an alternative method for applying, you may contact our Human Resources Department via email: humanresources@esassoc.com for assistance.
Please include the following in your message so we can promptly address your request:
- Full name
- The best method to contact you (phone number and/or email address)
- Title of Job Position Applied
- Description of your accommodation request
ESA is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to a diverse and inclusive work environment. (EOE M/V/F/D)
See all 70+ Biologist jobs
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Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding Biologist Jobs
Verify your degree field matches the role
USCIS evaluates whether your degree directly relates to the specific biological discipline advertised. A general biology degree supporting a molecular biology role may trigger a Request for Evidence, so document the field overlap explicitly in your petition.
Target cap-exempt employers for H-1B sponsorship
Universities, nonprofit research institutions, and government-affiliated labs are cap-exempt, meaning they can file H-1B petitions year-round without lottery risk. Biologist roles at these institutions often move to approval faster than private-sector filings.
Pull wage data before negotiating your offer
Your employer's LCA must certify a wage at or above the DOL prevailing wage for your occupation and location. Use the OFLC Wage Search to look up Level I through Level IV wages for your specific biology SOC code before you negotiate.
Get your foreign credentials evaluated early
If your biology degree is from outside the U.S., obtain a credential evaluation before applying. USCIS accepts evaluations showing your foreign degree is equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's in a relevant biological science, but delays here stall the entire petition timeline.
Check the O*NET profile to build your specialty occupation case
The O*NET occupation profile for Biologists documents the degree requirements and knowledge domains USCIS references when evaluating specialty occupation status. Pull the job zone and education data to support your petition's specialty occupation argument.
File your LCA and I-129 through Migrate Mate
Once you have a signed offer, Migrate Mate handles the LCA submission to DOL and I-129 preparation at a flat fee, with a dedicated expert reviewing your biologist-specific documentation before filing.
Biologist jobs are hiring across the US. Find yours.
Find Biologist JobsFrequently Asked Questions
Does a biologist role qualify as a specialty occupation for H-1B?
Yes, most biologist positions qualify because USCIS requires a bachelor's degree or higher in a specific biological science as the normal minimum for entry into the occupation. The O*NET profile for Biologists designates the role as Job Zone 5, which supports the specialty occupation argument. Roles requiring only a general science degree with no biological specialization can face greater scrutiny.
Can biologists get sponsored outside the H-1B lottery?
Yes. Universities, nonprofit research centers, and federally funded labs are cap-exempt H-1B employers and can sponsor biologists year-round without entering the annual lottery. Many government research agencies also hire through direct federal employment pathways that don't require a private-sector visa petition at all. Browse open biologist roles at sponsoring employers on Migrate Mate.
Does a master's or PhD in biology improve H-1B approval odds?
A graduate degree strengthens the specialty occupation case and may qualify you for the advanced degree cap, which historically has a higher selection rate in the H-1B lottery. For research biologist roles specifically, a master's or PhD also aligns more closely with the advertised duties, reducing the likelihood of a Request for Evidence from USCIS on the degree-to-role match.
What happens to H-1B sponsorship if a biologist switches employers mid-petition?
If you change employers after an H-1B has been filed but before it's approved, the new employer must file a fresh petition. If you're already in H-1B status, portability under AC21 allows you to change jobs in a same or similar occupational classification after 180 days of the petition being filed. Biologist roles generally qualify as same or similar to adjacent life sciences positions.
Do biologist roles qualify for PERM-based green card sponsorship?
Yes. Employers can sponsor biologists for employment-based green cards through the PERM labor certification process, which requires demonstrating no qualified U.S. workers are available for the role. Research biologist positions with specialized subdiscipline requirements, such as computational biology or marine biology, often satisfy the specificity needed to support a PERM filing under the EB-2 or EB-3 category.
What is the prevailing wage requirement for sponsored Biologist jobs?
U.S. employers sponsoring a visa must pay at least the prevailing wage, which is what workers in the same role, area, and experience level typically earn. The Department of Labor sets this rate to make sure companies aren't hiring foreign workers simply because they'd accept lower pay than a U.S. worker. It varies by job title, location, and experience. You can look up current prevailing wage rates for any occupation and location using the OFLC Wage Search page.
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