Duties

Summary

The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) is a research institute of the Smithsonian Institution (SI) dedicated to ecological and environmental research and education. Research and education at SERC cut across traditional disciplinary boundaries to investigate interrelationships of atmospheric, terrestrial, and aquatic environments, and to study ecological processes and human impacts, especially in the coastal zone.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

• Aid in laboratory activities with scientific, programmatic, and data management
• Plan and lead the implementation of field and greenhouse studies, including plant species, including plant species identification and collection, measurement of environmental parameters, seed preparation, experimental set-up and monitoring, and data entry
• Aid in planning and scheduling of laboratory-based sample processing, including microbial culturing, routine molecular tasks (e.g., DNA extraction, PCR, DNA visualization, sequencing, genotyping), and next generation sequencing library prep
• Assist with data management activities, including a quality assurance program for all work performed

Travel Required

Not required

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
09 - FPL 9

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Pass Pre-employment Background Investigation
• May need to complete Supervisory Probationary Period
• Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer
• Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service.

Qualification requirements must be met within 30 days of the job announcement closing date.

For information on qualification requirements, see Qualification Standards Handbook for General Schedule Positions viewable on the web at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

Must possess degree in biological sciences, agriculture, nature resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position

or

A combination of education and experience that includes courses equivalent to a major biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related experience disciplines, plus appropriate experience or additional education

In addition to meeting the basic requirements above, applicants must meet the following criteria to qualify for the grade levels specified.

Qualifications:

Experience: You qualify for this position if you possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-5 level in the Federal Service or comparable pay band system. For this position specialized experience is defined as completing field and laboratory tasks related to community and filed ecology in terrestrial ecosystems (grassland, forests), data management, bacterial culturing, and ecological genetics.

Or

Education: Graduate education or an internship meets the specialized experience only in those instances where it is directly related to the work of the position. One full year of graduate education meets the requirements for GS-7. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended.

Or

A Combination of 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.

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

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

NOTE: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Additional information

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 of technical methods and procedures related to the professional field.
• Perform statistical procedures and the use of proper techniques for analysis for scientific data to include research in terrestrial ecosystems, including plot-based sampling protocols for plants (e.g., trees, herbs, grasses, lianas, and shrubs), animals (e.g., insects and mammals), bacteria, and abiotic variables
• Knowledge and use of common computer systems; skill in data analysis, manipulation and storage in computer data bases. Demonstrated knowledge in ecological genetic skills (PCR, sequencing, genotyping, field-sampling techniques, including plant species identification and plant trait measurements
• Knowledge of standard methods and techniques to ensure proper collection and preservation of specimens

Best Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements and excels in most of the job related competencies above.

Better Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements and satisfies most of the job related competencies above.

Good Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements, but does not satisfy most of the job related competencies above to a substantive degree.

This category rating process does not add veterans' preference points or apply the "rule of three", but protects the rights of veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each category. A selecting official may make selections from the highest quality category (Best Category) provided no preference eligible in that category is passed over to select a non-preference eligible in that category unless the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 3317(b) or 3318(b) are satisfied. Preference eligibles who meet minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent must be listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-9 grade level or higher. Applicants who have not submitted a resume in the USAjobs system and/or have not answered all of the vacancy questions will not be considered for this position.

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.

To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Not Required

Drug test required
No

Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk

Trust determination process

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. If you want to receive full credit for relevant experience your resume MUST contain the job title (including the occupational series and grade if it is Federal), duties, starting and ending dates (month and year), hours worked per week, and salary.
  
  USAJOBS has guidance on how to ensure that you submit a complete resume: If you have not written a Federal resume before, you may watch this Resume Writing Tutorial video on the USAJOBS YouTube channel , or read through a helpful Resume Writing FAQ article on the USAJOBS Help Site to learn what details you should, and should not, include in your resume. If any of the above information is not included in your resume we may not be able to fully credit you for your experience.
  
• Proof of Veteran's Preference - DD214 (Member 4 Copy), if you are a veteran. Additionally, applicants claiming 10-point preference must complete Standard Form (SF) 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, as well as additional documentation required by the SF-15, such as a VA letter.
• 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.

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.