Entomologist

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 in Park Management, National Zoological Park (NZP), Under Secretary for Science and Research, Smithsonian Institution (SI). Park Management provides a full range of technical and professional services to include horticulture, guest operations, parking, safety, and integrated pest management.
This job is open to

• Internal to an agency
  Current federal employees of this agency.

Clarification from the agency
Current Smithsonian Institution Internal Employees/Agency Employees Only may apply including current Smithsonian Institution employees with Federal career/career-conditional status or eligibility.
Duties
The Entomologist plans, establishes, and implements integrated pest management (IPM) to all animal and non-animal areas at NZP and the Smithsonian's Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) in Front Royal, Virginia.
In this position, you will:

• Plan, establish, evaluate, and implement an effective Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program.
• Determine needs to schedule for and implement surveys, observations and monitoring of the Smithsonian Institution to identify and evaluate the key pests, environmental factors (such as weather, soil and culture), actual infestation locations or conditions with the potential to result in infestations.
• Serve as the contracting office's technical representative (COTR) for a high value pest control contract to oversee and assist in the management and integration of contractor operations that work closely with professional entomologists engaged in pest management activities. Write specifications and monitor pesticide contracts covering environmental sanitation.
• Serve as the liaison between the contractors and Smithsonian Institution personnel. Assure contractors are in full compliance with contractual requirements and conduct inspections of projects by performing surveillance of contractor processes (i.e. problem investigation and resolution; validation of corrective actions; technical coordination).
• Maintain contact with Federal and State agencies and the District of Columbia to assure cohesive effort for overall coordinated cooperative control of any entomological problems.
• Work with all staff of facilities management and animal care managers of the Smithsonian to ensure health of overall facilities and exhibits, food service, child-care facilities, collections storage and horticultural displays.

Requirements
Conditions of Employment

• Requires career/career-conditional status or eligibility.
• Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service.

More than one selection may be made from this announcement.
Conditions of Employment

• Incumbent must have a valid driver's license, as they may be required to operate a government motor vehicle in the performance of the assigned duties.
• Incumbent is required to wear appropriate personal clothing and other designated personal protective equipment to include, but not limited to ANSI-approved safety eyewear, hardhat, air-purifying respirator, gloves, hearing protection, and footwear to prevent exposures to hazardous materials, noise, dust and/or airborne particles.

Physical Requirements

• The work for this position requires physical exertion and exposure to extreme conditions for extended or repetitive periods for activities as walking, climbing, standing, stooping, kneeling, crawling, bending at the waist, and work may also include frequent lifting of moderately heavy items or equipment that weighs up to 50 pounds or more with assistance. Incumbent must be able to wear all personal protective equipment during pesticide application as required by label or Smithsonian safety policy.

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 OPM Website.
Qualifications
Basic Qualifications:
A. Degree: Entomology; or a related discipline of the biological or physical sciences that included at least 16 semester hours in entomology.
or
B. Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major that included course work 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-11 level in the Federal Service. For this position, specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience managing integrated pest management services for commercial services such as zoos, other animal facilities, laboratories, food services or restaurants, and support facilities such as an animal commissary and office environments.
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
Refer to the above for education requirement. Education cannot be substituted for experience at this grade level.
Additional information
This position is not 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.

• Benefits
  The Smithsonian offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, vacation and sick leave, holidays, health/life insurance, accident insurance, and excellent retirement program options.
  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:

1. Knowledge of entomology and biological science, principles, theories, and concepts, assessing pest infestation, recommending corrective measures of Integrated Pest Management.
2. Ability to provide technical guidance and oversight of pest management program to communicate effectively with scientific community.
3. Maintain state certification as a qualified Pesticide Application in the local area.
4. Provide technical oversight of pest management to communicate with staff and scientific community effectively.
5. Skill in outlining overall pest management objective of performance and budget resources.
6. Knowledge of contracting and procurement policies and procedures related to pest control contracts.

Important Note:
The review of your resume will determine your final rating and 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 Smithsonian offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, vacation and sick leave, holidays, health/life insurance, accident insurance, and excellent retirement program options.
  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.
  
  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.
  • 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 wit...