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This position is located in Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. The employee provides ecological research, in order to extend unexplored aspects and theories, and to discover new understanding primarily focused on landscape-scale ecological science.
Please visit their website at: https://serc.si.edu/opportunities
More than one selection may be made from this announcement.
07/15/2021 to 08/12/2021
$103,690 - $134,798 per year
GS 13
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Occasional travel - Occasional travel for meetings
No
Permanent - Federal
Full-time - Full-Time, Permanent
Competitive
13
Yes
No
21R-SJ-306166-MPA-SERC
607667800
Current or former competitive service federal employees.
Individuals eligible under a special authority not listed above, but defined in the federal hiring regulations.
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).
As a Research Ecologist (Landscape Ecologist) the incumbent will perform the following duties:
PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
Involves a combination of both prolonged active outdoor activity and prolonged sedentary office and/or laboratory activities. Depending on the nature of the research activity, may be necessary to: drive field vehicles; Occasionally hike over rough terrain; tolerate extremes of weather including heat, cold, wet, ice and snow; tolerate biting insects and toxic plants; Stand at laboratory counters to operate analytical instruments for prolonged periods; and sit for prolonged periods for operating computers in an office setting and meetings. For work in marine or aquatic systems, the incumbent may need ability to swim if required by safety regulations. Long periods of travel may be needed.
WORK ENVIRONMENT:
Work is performed partly in the outdoors (Terrestrial, estuarine, marine ecosystems), and partly indoors in normal laboratory and office environment. When in the field, requires use of safety clothing to protect against weather elements and to protect against exposure to poisonous plants, biting insects and ticks (e.g., Wear appropriate clothing and use insect repellant) and other potential dangers. Precautions must be used to ensure safe procedures to operate vehicles and various instruments and apparatus, and to lift heavy loads. If scuba diving is needed, the incumbent must be able to meet certification requirement's for the Smithsonian Scientific Diving Program. Valid US Driver’s license required. Regional, national, and international travel may be required to attend meetings and conferences, to give presentations, and/or to conduct research.
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.
For information on qualification requirements, see Qualification Standards Handbook for General Schedule Positions viewable on the web at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications.
Degree: biology, or a related field of science underlying ecological research that included at least 30 semester hours in basic and applied biological sciences. These hours must have included at least 9 semester hours in ecology, and 12 semester hours in physical and mathematical sciences.
AND
Experience: You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-12 level in the Federal Service or comparable pay band system. For this position Specialized experience is defined as research investigating landscape and/or seascape ecology such as environmental science, geography, biology, or other related subject; obtaining research funding from competitive internal and/or extramural funding sources; publishing data-rich papers with regional and/or national application and significance; presenting research results to scientific and other audiences; and leading or managing coordination of research projects and teams.
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.
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.
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/
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:
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.
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.
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:
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.
Click on the "Apply Online" button on the upper right side of the page. Please Note:
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:
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/607667800. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
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