Summary The Smithsonian Institution is the world's largest museum, education, and research complex, with 21 museums and the National Zoo. This position is located under the Directorate of Animal Care Sciences in the Zoo unit, exhibition areas of the Smithsonian's National Zoological and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) in Washington, D.C. Learn more about this agency Help Overview * Accepting applications * Open & closing dates 08/02/2024 to 08/16/2024 * Salary $68,405 - $88,926 per year * Pay scale & grade GS 09 * Help Location Few vacancies in the following location: * Washington, DC FEW vacancies * Remote job No * Telework eligible No * Travel Required Not required * Relocation expenses reimbursed No * Appointment type Permanent - Federal * Work schedule Full-time - Full-Time, Permanent * Service Competitive * Promotion potential 11 * Job family (Series) * 0401 General Natural Resources Management And Biological Sciences * Supervisory status No * Security clearance Not Required * Drug test No * Position sensitivity and risk Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk * Trust determination process * Credentialing * Suitability/Fitness * Financial disclosure No * Bargaining unit status No * Announcement number 24R-CW-311295-MPA-NZP * Control number 802993500 Help This job is open to * Individuals with disabilities * Federal employees - Competitive service Current or former competitive service federal employees. * Land & base management Certain current or former term or temporary federal employees of a land or base management agency. * Military spouses * Family of overseas employees Family members of a federal employee or uniformed service member who is or was, working overseas. * Peace Corps & AmeriCorps Vista * Special authorities Individuals eligible under a special authority not listed above, but defined in the federal hiring regulations. * Veterans Clarification from the agency This Merit Promotion position is open to Current Federal Employees and Former Federal Employees with permanent status or reinstatement eligibility. Individuals who are eligible for a special appointing authority may also apply such as Individuals with Disabilities (Schedule A), former Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, and Vista volunteers; certain Military Spouses, or individuals eligible under various programs for Veterans (VRA, VEOA, 30% disabled). Help Duties The Biologist (Assistant Curator) will provide daily care of animals for the National Zoo. This involves, breeding, education, conservation, exhibition, collection planning and support of research for a collection. In this position, you will: * Provide daily care of exotic/endangered animals in National Zoological and Conservation Biology Institute. * Assist with coordination and facilitation of work and to communicate procedures to staff. * Assign and schedule work, coordinate programs, provide technical work direction, establishing priorities and deadlines. * Serve on a team comprising of NZCBI staff architects, designers, and contractors to help design and construct animal facilities. * Ensure accurate and complete information on animals is provided to the public in labeling, graphics, and other materials on the collection of animals. * Coordinate keeper training, and maintain commissary, supply in support of program goals. * Maintain accurate records on animals to ensure complete inventory of all animals. Help Requirements Conditions of Employment * Pass Pre-employment Background Investigation * May need to complete a Probationary Period * Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer * Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service. Conditions of Employment Qualification requirements, including one year time-in-grade at the next lower grade level for promotion candidates, must be met by the closing date of the announcement. See the 'Required Documents' section for additional information. For information on qualification requirements, see Qualification Standards Handbook for General Schedule Positions viewable on OPM Website. Qualifications Basic Qualifications: Degree: Biological Sciences, Agriculture, Natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. OR Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major, as shown in above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. In addition to the basic qualification requirement above: Experience: You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-07 level in the Federal Service. For this position, specialized experience is defined as assisting with management, care, and training of a collection of living wild animals in a zoological setting; assisting with various administrative processes; and facilitating research or data collection. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Part-time and/or unpaid experience related to this position will be considered to determine the total number of years and months of experience. Be sure to note the number of paid or unpaid hours worked each week. Or Education: To qualify at the GS-09 grade level based on education, applicants must successfully complete 2 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree. Or a Combination: Education and experience may be combined to meet the basic qualifications. For a full explanation of this option please see the Qualification Standards. Special Instructions for Foreign Education: If you are qualifying by education and/or you have education completed in a foreign college/university described above, it is your responsibility to provide transcripts and proof of U.S. accreditation for foreign study. For instructions on where to fax these documents, see the "Required Documents" section of this announcement. Education This position has a Positive Education Requirement Additional information This position is included in the bargaining unit. Current or Former Political Appointees: Beginning January 1, 2010, agencies must seek prior approval from OPM before they can appoint a current or recent political appointee to a competitive or non-political excepted service position at any level under the provisions of title 5, United States Code. If you are currently or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, or Non-career SES employee in the executive branch, you MUST disclose that to the Office of Human Resources. Submit a copy of your applicable SF-50, along with a statement that provides the following information regarding your most recent political appointment: * Position title; * Type of appointment (Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES, or Presidential Appointee); * Agency; and, * Beginning and ending dates of appointment. Recruitment Incentive: Recruitment incentive(s) may be authorized for this position. However, approval for incentives are contingent upon various availability. If authorized, certain incentives will require the incumbent to sign a service agreement to remain in the Federal government for a certain time period. Note: This statement does not imply nor guarantee an incentive will be offered and paid. Selections may be made for vacancies across the Smithsonian Institution (SI). By applying to this position, you agree to allow your application and other personal information to be shared with one or more SI hiring officials for employment consideration for same/similar positions within the location(s) identified in this announcement. Read more * Benefits Help The Federal Government offers a comprehensive benefits package. Please see Benefits at https://www.si.edu/OHR/benefits for a complete description. Flexible Spending Accounts - https://www.fsafeds.com/ Health Insurance - http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/index.asp Leave - http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/index.asp Life Insurance - http://www.opm.gov/insure/life/index.asp Long Term Care Insurance - http://www.ltcfeds.com Retirement Program - https://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/ How You Will Be Evaluated You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above. Your application will be evaluated first for the basic qualifications described above. The applications that meet the basic qualifications will be evaluated further against the following criteria: * Knowledge in managing exotic and endangered animals for display in exhibit in a zoological setting. * Knowledge of the principles, practices, and techniques of managing wild or exotic animals in an AZA accredited zoo. * Ability to assist with the administration of a complex animal care and management program for exotic or wild animals overseeing the work of others. * Knowledge in animal training in area of health management and care of exotic and endangered species. * Skill in preparing reports and maintaining records of all animals in zoological setting, while maintaining inventory of all animals. BASIS OF RATING: Once the announcement closes, your application will be automatically evaluated and rated by the system and a HRS. To determine if you are qualified for this job, a review of your application and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the occupational questionnaire. The numeric rating you receive is based on your responses to the questionnaire. The score is a measure of the degree to which your background matches the knowledge, skills, and abilities required of this position. If, after the HRS reviews your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that the score you have received is not a true reflection of your qualifications and/or experience, your score can and will be adjusted to more accurately reflect the information you provided that support your abilities. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Your resume should provide detailed information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed. Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA): If you are applying for a VEOA appointment, you must be a veteran and must be honorably separated and either a preference eligible or have substantially completed 3 or more years of active service. ("Active Service" under this law means active duty in a uniformed service and includes full-time training duty, annual training duty, full-time National Guard duty, and attendance, while in the active service, at a school designated as a service school by law or by the Secretary concerned.) A veteran who is released under honorable conditions shortly before completing a 3-year tour is also eligible. Noncompetitive Appointment Authorities: The following links contain information on the eligibility requirements to be considered under a noncompetitive appointing authority: * Primary Appointing Authorities for Career and Career-Conditional Appointments * Hiring Authorities for Veterans * People with Disabilities Important Note: Your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses to the occupational questionnaire or other assessment tool for consistency. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your resume, you will be assigned a rating commensurate to your described experience. Your resume should provide sufficient information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed. You may preview questions for this vacancy. * Benefits Help The Federal Government offers a comprehensive benefits package. Please see Benefits at https://www.si.edu/OHR/benefits for a complete description. Flexible Spending Accounts - https://www.fsafeds.com/ Health Insurance - http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/index.asp Leave - http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/index.asp Life Insurance - http://www.opm.gov/insure/life/index.asp Long Term Care Insurance - http://www.ltcfeds.com Retirement Program - https://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/ * Required Documents As a new or existing federal employee, you and your family may have access to a range of benefits. Your benefits depend on the type of position you have - whether you're a permanent, part-time, temporary or an intermittent employee. You may be eligible for the following benefits, however, check with your agency to make sure you're eligible under their policies. Your application package should include the following documents: * Resume - Your resume can be uploaded and attached to your application or created using the USA Jobs on-line resume builder. Ensure your resume contains the job title (including the occupational series and grade if it is Federal), job-related qualifications, starting and ending dates (month and year), hours worked per week, and salary for each employment period. It is your responsibility to ensure all information is submitted. Failure to include this information may result in disqualification for the position. For assistance with creating a resume, please click here. * Current and former employees MUST submit a copy of their Standard Form (SF)-50, "Notice of Personnel Action," that indicates proof of status and time-in-grade eligibility. The SF-50 must include your position title, series, grade, step, salary, type of service (competitive or excepted in block 34), and tenure (1 or 2 in block 24). Please provide a SF-50 that shows the length of time you have been in your current/highest grade level. Examples of appropriate SF50s include: Appointments, Reassignments, Within-grade/range increases or Promotion actions. NOTE: Pay adjustments and award SF-50s do not include the length of time in your current position, therefore, they are NOT acceptable SF-50's on their own. You may need to provide more than one SF-50. Time-in-Grade Requirements: Under competitive merit promotion procedures, any individual who is currently holding, or who has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under a non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet "time-in-grade" requirements (have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade of the grade for which you are applying). * Unofficial school transcripts, if the position has an education requirement or if you are using education to qualify. If selected for the position, you must provide an official transcript before appointment. * Proof of U.S. accreditation for foreign study, if applicable. * All current federal employees must submit a copy of their most recent performance appraisal. * Proof of Veteran's Preference - DD214 (Member 4 Copy) if you are requesting a special appointment authority, such as VRA or VEOA * Proof of severe disability if you are requesting special placement consideration. * Proof of eligibility for a military spouse appointment, such as a permanent change station military order. * Proof of eligibility for any other special appointing authority not specifically mentioned here. If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements: Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating. * How to Apply Click on the "Apply Online" button on the upper right side of the page. Please Note: * You must apply for this position online through the 'Apply Online' button and submit required supplemental documents (if they are relevant to you). * You may submit required documents by uploading them online during the application process; OR You may manually fax required documents. Faxes are received by an automated system, not a physical fax machine. Documents that are faxed as part of the application process must be sent with the system generated cover sheet by the closing date. Documents faxed without the system generated coversheet are not retrievable and cannot be considered as part of the application package. * The complete application package, including any required documents, is due in the Smithsonian Office of Human Resources on the closing date of the announcement by 11:59 PM Eastern Time. * If you are unable to apply online, paper applications may be accepted with prior approval of the Contact Person listed below. NOTE: You may also apply to this Job Announcement #24R-CW-311295-DEU-NZP Agency contact information Carla Whittaker Phone 7712194126 TDD 202-633-6409 Email whittakercr@si.edu Address SMITHSONIAN Office of Human Resources POB 37012, 600 Maryland Avenue, MRC 517 Suite 5060 Washington, District of Columbia 20013-7012 United States Learn more about this agency Next steps At the end of the application process you will be able to create and save a PDF file that contains your responses to the assessment questions. You may save this file as initial receipt of your application. After the job announcement closes, you will receive an email from the Smithsonian with confirmation of receipt. The Smithsonian receives many applications for each job. Each application is reviewed carefully which may take a few weeks. We will send you an e-mail to update you as we go through phases of the application review process. You may also check your application status by logging into www.usajobs.gov and selecting the tab "My USAJOBS;" e-mailing vacancy.info@si.edu; or by contacting the Office of Human Resources Representative listed. Additional Information: * Tips on applying for Smithsonian jobs are available at www.sihr.si.edu/jobs.cfm. * The Smithsonian does not pay relocation expenses. * The Smithsonian embraces diversity and equal employment opportunity (www.si.edu/oeema). * Fair and Transparent The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance. * Criminal history inquiries * Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy * Financial suitability * New employee probationary period * Privacy Act * Reasonable accommodation policy * Selective Service * Signature and false statements * Social security number request Help Required Documents Your application package should include the following documents: * Resume - Your resume can be uploaded and attached to your application or created using the USA Jobs on-line resume builder. Ensure your resume contains the job title (including the occupational series and grade if it is Federal), job-related qualifications, starting and ending dates (month and year), hours worked per week, and salary for each employment period. It is your responsibility to ensure all information is submitted. Failure to include this information may result in disqualification for the position. For assistance with creating a resume, please click here. * Current and former employees MUST submit a copy of their Standard Form (SF)-50, "Notice of Personnel Action," that indicates proof of status and time-in-grade eligibility. The SF-50 must include your position title, series, grade, step, salary, type of service (competitive or excepted in block 34), and tenure (1 or 2 in block 24). Please provide a SF-50 that shows the length of time you have been in your current/highest grade level. Examples of appropriate SF50s include: Appointments, Reassignments, Within-grade/range increases or Promotion actions. NOTE: Pay adjustments and award SF-50s do not include the length of time in your current position, therefore, they are NOT acceptable SF-50's on their own. You may need to provide more than one SF-50. Time-in-Grade Requirements: Under competitive merit promotion procedures, any individual who is currently holding, or who has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under a non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet "time-in-grade" requirements (have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade of the grade for which you are applying). * Unofficial school transcripts, if the position has an education requirement or if you are using education to qualify. If selected for the position, you must provide an official transcript before appointment. * Proof of U.S. accreditation for foreign study, if applicable. * All current federal employees must submit a copy of their most recent performance appraisal. * Proof of Veteran's Preference - DD214 (Member 4 Copy) if you are requesting a special appointment authority, such as VRA or VEOA * Proof of severe disability if you are requesting special placement consideration. * Proof of eligibility for a military spouse appointment, such as a permanent change station military order. * Proof of eligibility for any other special appointing authority not specifically mentioned here. If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements: Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating. Help How to Apply Click on the "Apply Online" button on the upper right side of the page. Please Note: * You must apply for this position online through the 'Apply Online' button and submit required supplemental documents (if they are relevant to you). * You may submit required documents by uploading them online during the application process; OR You may manually fax required documents. Faxes are received by an automated system, not a physical fax machine. Documents that are faxed as part of the application process must be sent with the system generated cover sheet by the closing date. Documents faxed without the system generated coversheet are not retrievable and cannot be considered as part of the application package. * The complete application package, including any required documents, is due in the Smithsonian Office of Human Resources on the closing date of the announcement by 11:59 PM Eastern Time. * If you are unable to apply online, paper applications may be accepted with prior approval of the Contact Person listed below. NOTE: You may also apply to this Job Announcement #24R-CW-311295-DEU-NZP Read more Agency contact information Carla Whittaker Phone 7712194126 TDD 202-633-6409 Email whittakercr@si.edu Address SMITHSONIAN Office of Human Resources POB 37012, 600 Maryland Avenue, MRC 517 Suite 5060 Washington, District of Columbia 20013-7012 United States Learn more about this agency Next steps At the end of the application process you will be able to create and save a PDF file that contains your responses to the assessment questions. You may save this file as initial receipt of your application. After the job announcement closes, you will receive an email from the Smithsonian with confirmation of receipt. The Smithsonian receives many applications for each job. Each application is reviewed carefully which may take a few weeks. We will send you an e-mail to update you as we go through phases of the application review process. You may also check your application status by logging into www.usajobs.gov and selecting the tab "My USAJOBS;" e-mailing vacancy.info@si.edu; or by contacting the Office of Human Resources Representative listed. Additional Information: * Tips on applying for Smithsonian jobs are available at www.sihr.si.edu/jobs.cfm. * The Smithsonian does not pay relocation expenses. * The Smithsonian embraces diversity and equal employment opportunity (www.si.edu/oeema). Read more Fair & Transparent The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance. * Criminal history inquiries * Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy * Financial suitability * New employee probationary period * Privacy Act * Reasonable accommodation policy * Selective Service * Signature and false statements * Social security number request Print Share * Email * Facebook * LinkedIn * Twitter Help Overview * Accepting applications * Open & closing dates 08/02/2024 to 08/16/2024 * Salary $68,405 - $88,926 per year * Pay scale & grade GS 09 * Location Few vacancies in the following location: * Washington, DC FEW vacancies * Remote job No * Telework eligible No * Travel Required Not required * Relocation expenses reimbursed No * Appointment type Permanent - Federal * Work schedule Full-time - Full-Time, Permanent * Service Competitive * Promotion potential 11 * Job family (Series) * 0401 General Natural Resources Management And Biological Sciences * Supervisory status No * Security clearance Not Required * Drug test No * Position sensitivity and risk Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk * Trust determination process * Credentialing * Suitability/Fitness * Financial disclosure No * Bargaining unit status No * Announcement number 24R-CW-311295-MPA-NZP * Control number 802993500 This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/802993500. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.