Duties
This position is designated as an "Emergency Essential Employee." The selectee will be required to work in emergency situations and in inclement weather conditions.
Tour of duty- 5:00am-1:30pm, Monday-Friday
This Gardener acts as caretaker who maintains, protects, and preserves all assets of the Capitol Hill complex and landscape through the efficient use of allocated resources and sustainable practices. Also focuses on cleanliness and safety of the Capitol Complex. This includes but is not limited to picking up trash and debris, reporting any safety concerns and mitigating any safety hazards on the campus.
- Plants, transplants and cares for flowers, trees and shrubs. Trims, prunes and aerates plants and plant materials.
- Understands how to lay sod, aerate, top dress and seed lawns. Knowledgeable of types of turf grass, mowing heights, and common weeds found in lawns in the Mid-Atlantic region. Properly uses string trimmers, stick and walk behind bed edgers, aerators, blowers, and a variety of mowers.
- Plants seedlings, bulbs, shrubs and trees in patterns, beds and selected locations to achieve a pleasing appearance of the gardens and grounds. Trims and prunes hedges, shrubbery and other plants.
- Cares for and maintains decorative plants in various rooms and courtyards of the Capitol Grounds. Waters and fertilizes plants and removes dead growth.
- Uses gas, electric and hand shears and pruning cutters to prune and trim to appropriate shape and size according to specific instructions. Uses appropriate pruning techniques to obtain desired configuration for the type of shrubbery in the garden plan. Checks foliage in surrounding areas to observe other plants to determine pruning requirements.
Transpants, Aerates, Prunes and Trims Plants
- Recognizes and treats diseases, cold damage and mineral deficiencies. Applies fertilizers. Replaces dead or dying plants.
Cultivates Soil and Propagates Plants
- Calculates quantities of plants, seeds, fertilizer and other materials needed for specific areas.
- Prepares soil from instructions on the proper mixture of such materials as sand, humus, topsoil and fertilizer. Places seeds and plants in soil at proper depth, taking care not to damage roots while transplanting.
- Selects, measures, mixes and applies chemical control agents and fertilizers using foliage feeding, root feeding and soil additive techniques. Roots, grafts, layers and documents soil beds, plants, seedlings, cuttings and seeds using knowledge of chemical composition, depth, moisture, temperature, humidity and ventilation requirements to encourage germination and growth.
- Assists with special event preparation for the wide variety of events that take place on Capitol Hill to ensure the gardens and grounds are kept to an exceptional level.
Follows safety rules, regulations and standard operating procedures. Complies with OSHA safety rules and regulations to ensure that work progresses in a safe manner and use of any required Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
IMPORTANT NOTE: Must possess and maintain a valid state driver’s license. If the required licenses or registration are not obtained within the time periods specified, the employee will be terminated for failure to meet the conditions of continued employment.
Applicants will be required to register for a DC pesticide applicators license within the first 30 days of their employment if they do not possess a license. To apply pesticides in the District of Columbia (D.C.), employee must possess a valid D.C. pesticide applicator’s license in categories (3A) exterior ornamental plants, (3B) interior plant-scapes and/or (3C) turf grass, dependent upon the pesticides used.
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
- You must be able to pass a drug test.
- Your resume and question responses must demonstrate job-related elements.
- Must possess and maintain a valid state driver's license.
“To be employed by the Architect of the Capitol in a paid position, an individual must meet one of the categories below:
- A citizen of the United States;
- A person who is lawfully admitted for permanent residence and is seeking citizenship as outlined in 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)(B);
- A person who is admitted as a refugee under 8 U.S.C. 1157 or is granted asylum under 8 U.S.C. 1158 and has filed a declaration of intention to become a lawful permanent resident and then a citizen when eligible;
- A person who owes allegiance to the United States (nationals of American Samoa, Swains Island, and the Northern Mariana Islands, and nationals who meet other requirements described in 8 U.S.C. 1408); or
- A person who is currently an officer or employee of the Government of the United States.”
Qualifications
You must meet all eligibility and qualification requirements by the closing date of the job announcement.
You must meet the following SCREEN-OUT: Ability to perform gardening work without more than normal supervision which includes working independently, showing job responsibility and exercising initiative.
Qualification at the WG-6 level: Assists with gardening projects and has a working knowledge of gardening practices in order to maintain a diverse group of plants.
Education
This job does not have an education qualification requirement.
Benefits
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
A variety of health insurance plans; retirement system with investment options; paid holidays; paid sick and annual (vacation) leave; life insurance; incentive systems; subsidized transportation; training and development opportunities, etc.
Selected applicant(s) may be eligible to earn a higher annual leave accrual rate credit towards annual leave accrual based on prior non-Federal or uniformed service work experience. The amount of service credit will be based on specialized experience or qualifying experience that is provided on the applicant profile submitted. As such, if you are a new employee to the Federal Government or a rehire, it is important that you provide a work history that lists all directly related positions held, and it must include the dates of employment (month/day/year).
The Architect of the Capitol offers eligible employees opportunity to participate in the Student Loan Repayment Program.
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Review your resume and responses carefully. Your eligibility for consideration and qualifications for the position will be determined based upon a review of your detailed resume and your responses to job specific self-assessment questions.
Your resume will be evaluated based on evidence of your ability to demonstrate the job elements for this position, possession of any specialized experience, and how well your background and experience relates to the self-assessment questions in the job announcement. The self-assessment questions relate to the following job elements and competencies:
- Ability to perform gardening work without more than normal supervision. (Screen-out)
- Technical gardening practices and techniques.
- Ability to interpret instructions specific to the gardening trade.
- Ability to use and maintain gardening tools and equipment.
- Knowledge of materials and supplies common to the gardening trade.
- Dexterity and Safety.
Your responses to the self-assessment questions serve as the basis for your initial rating. You will receive a numerical score based on your responses to these questions. Next, your responses will be evaluated by a Human Resources Specialist and/or a subject matter expert against the information provided in your resume and optional cover letter. Your resume must support your answers to the self-assessment questions. Falsifying your background, education and/or experience is cause for non-selection or disqualification from further consideration.
You may preview questions for this vacancy.
Required Documents
The Architect of the Capitol's job application process is designed to ensure that we only ask you for the information that is absolutely needed to evaluate your qualifications and eligibility for the position.
To apply for this position, you only need to submit online the following: a) your resume and 2) answer the online vacancy assessment questionnaire. The online questionnaire contains eligibility and screening questions and other relevant supplemental information. No additional documentation or attachment is required at the time of application.
We ask that you prepare and submit a resume that best describes fully your background experience, skills, abilities, education, training and other relevant credentials. The resume should include dates of employment.
Nothing further is required until it is requested by the staff of the Human Capital Management Division. If additional documentation is required for a position, you will be asked to provide it during the selection process or upon selection. At that point, we may ask you to submit documentation to support statements made in your resume.
For example, we may ask you to provide documents such as college transcripts, copy of diploma or proof of Federal employment status. If the position requires a license or certification, we will ask candidate(s) to provide proof at the time of selection.
If you are claiming veterans' preference, we may ask you to submit proof of Veterans preference (DD-214, and, if claiming 10-point preference, the SF-15 plus proof required by that form).
If you fail to provide the required documents, we will withdraw a tentative job offer made and/or remove you from further consideration.
How to Apply
You MUST apply online. FORMS RECEIVED BY FAX, EMAIL OR U.S. POSTAL SERVICE DELIVERY WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
If you are a new user to the USAJOBS Site and have never registered for an account; you will first need to create an account profile with your basic contact information and a resume to begin applying. You must be a registered USAJOBS user AND you must be signed-in to your account in order to apply for this position. For help with setting up an account or for general assistance in using USAJOBS, go to USAJOBS Help Page.
NEED HELP?
If you experience any difficulties with the application site, help is available! If you have problems completing your on-line application, contact the Monster Hiring Management Help Desk at 1-866-656-6831 or by e-mail at MGSHELP@monster.com. The help desk is available Monday - Friday 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. You may call and leave a voice mail message at all other times.
All required supporting documents will be collected electronically via the USAJOBS “Saved Documents” feature.
If you are unable to apply on-line, you may visit our Employment Center for technical assistance in entering your application. The Employment Center is located at 441 Second & D Streets S.W., Washington, D.C., Room H2-178, and is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. You may call (202) 226-7000 for directions.
Next steps
You will receive a notice generated by the USAJOBS System when you have successfully submitted your application. We will review your application and transcript(s) (if you are qualifying based on education) to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements.
You can check the status of your application by logging into http://www.usajobs.gov. You may also sign up to receive automatic emails anytime the status of your application has changed by logging into your USAJOBS Account, editing your profile and changing the ‘Notification Settings’ to indicate that you want to be notified by email when the status changes. Information regarding the status of your application should be updated in the system within two (2) weeks after the closing date of this vacancy announcement.