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Supervisory Biologist

Summary

The Smithsonian Institution is the world's largest museum, education, and research complex, with 21 museums and the National Zoo. The mission of the National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) is to save species by using cutting-edge science, sharing knowledge and providing inspirational experiences for our guests.

More than one selection may be made from this announcement.

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).

This job is also open in another announcement to:

  • The public



This job is also open in another announcement to:

  • The public



Duties

The Supervisory Biologist serves as a Senior Curator supporting a wide variety of animal departments, with responsibility for the conception, formulation, leadership and conduct of all animal care, breeding, conservation, exhibition, and associated public education for the living collection under the Department's care.

In this position, you will:

  • Serve as Senior Curator supervising subordinate Curators responsible for all aspects of daily care, enrichment, breeding, exhibition, research use, and habitat care of a wide variety of animal species.
  • Prepare and submit annual operating budget for units.
  • Serve as principal spokesperson and principal media coordinator and contact point for public information within Animal Care Sciences (ACS) department.
  • Work with Education Department, Animal Care Staff and other NZCBI staff to develop education and outreach programs using the collection.
  • Facilitate the collection and evaluation of data to guide animal husbandry and management.



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 within 30 days of the job announcement closing date. 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 A 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-13 level in the Federal Service. For this position, specialized experience is defined as supervising staff tasked with a wide variety of responsibilities including animal care, breeding, conservation, exhibition, and public presentations for a living collection of animals.

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.

Education

This position has positive education requirements.

Additional information

This position is not included in the bargaining unit.

This position is also open in Job Announcement: 24R-LJ-310691-DEU-NZP.

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.



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:

  • Ability to supervise and manage a curatorial staff in a zoo setting.
  • Knowledge in overseeing all aspects of wide variety of animal species to include daily care, research, exhibition, and preparation of annual operation budget.
  • Ability to communicate and disseminate biological and historical knowledge of all species within collection.
  • Ability to develop and implement a plan in animal care management, reproduction, behavior, and population sustainability.



BASIS OF RATING: Once the announcement closes, your application will be automatically evaluated and rated by the system and a Human Resources Specialist. 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 Human Resources Specialist 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

    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.
    • 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.



    Agency contact information

    Fallon Lawson

    Phone

    202-601-9494

    TDD

    202-633-6409

    Fax

    202-633-6401

    Email

    LawsonF@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

    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.

    • Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy
    • Reasonable accommodation policy
    • Financial suitability
    • Selective Service
    • New employee probationary period
    • Signature and false statements
    • Privacy Act
    • Social security number request



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.
  • 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.



Agency contact information

Fallon Lawson

Phone

202-601-9494

TDD

202-633-6409

Fax

202-633-6401

Email

LawsonF@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

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 & Transparent

The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.

  • Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy
  • Reasonable accommodation policy
  • Financial suitability
  • Selective Service
  • New employee probationary period
  • Signature and false statements
  • Privacy Act
  • Social security number request

Supervisory Biologist

Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC
Full Time
USD 139,395.00 - 181,216.00 per year

Published on 04/24/2024

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