Series 0405

Pharmacology

Pharmacologists who study how drugs work and evaluate their effects and safety. Many jobs are with the Food and Drug Administration.

Plain-language description based on the OPM series definition.

0400 Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences Group · General Schedule

See open 0405 jobs on USAJOBS Compare with another series Back to Series Directory

At a glance

Job postings, last 12 months: 10
Open now: 1
Trend (last 3 months vs. 3 before): Not enough data
Demand score: 22/100
Remote opportunity score: Not enough data
Veteran opportunity score: 90/100

What these scores mean

Grades and pay

Typical grades

GS-11 to GS-14

Most common promotion potential: GS-13

GS pay plan, used by 100% of this series' postings.

Typical posted salary range

$114,616 to $166,942 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: 60%
Federal employees and other special groups only: 40%
Listed a veterans hiring path: 30%
Telework eligible (open now): 0%
Fully remote (open now): 0%

Who is hiring and where

Top hiring departments

Department of Health and Human Services (5)
Department of Justice (2)
Other Agencies and Independent Organizations (2)
Department of the Air Force (1)

Top states

Maryland (7)
Virginia (2)

Hiring patterns

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

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 0405 by fiscal year
Fiscal year	Postings
FY 2018	85
FY 2019	32
FY 2020	47
FY 2021	32
FY 2022	32
FY 2023	21
FY 2024	9
FY 2025	15
FY 2026	9

Postings by month, last 12 months

Job announcements for series 0405 opened each month
Month	Postings
Dec 2025	0
Jan 2026	0
Feb 2026	0
Mar 2026	3
Apr 2026	0
May 2026	0
Jun 2026	3
Jul 2026	1
Aug 2026	0
Sep 2026	2
Oct 2026	1
Nov 2026 (month to date)	0

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.