Clarification from the agency

Current Smithsonian Institution Internal Employees/Agency Employees Only may apply with federal competitive status or eligibility. More than one selection may be made from this announcement.

The Management Support Specialist (Personnel) will provide management assistance in human resources and administrative services for the Associate Director for Operations Office and NMNH staff.

• Initiate, process, and track progress of personnel action requests (PARs).
• Participate in answering questions concerning policies and procedures related to support/office services, requests, and shifts in priorities. 
• Use SI’s automated human resources systems for tracking and reporting on personnel and payroll information; and assist in preparing standard or custom reports from the automated human resources systems. 
• Advise supervisors and museum staff on the proper format and requirements for personnel documents and on other areas of personnel and office administration.
• Prepare and monitor personnel-related reports and correspondence for the office.

Conditions of employment

• Requires career/career-conditional status or eligibility.
• 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

Experience: You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-05 level in the Federal Service.  For this position, specialized experience is defined as 1) performing basic analysis to provide advice and assistance to staff on routine administrative and human resources issues, 2) entering and tracking personnel actions using a human resources software system, 3) assisting with preparing routine documents, presentations, and reports.

Your resume must be no more than two (2) pages and should clearly demonstrate how your experience aligns with the responsibilities and specialized experience required for this position. Do not copy language directly from the vacancy announcement, as you will be deemed ineligible for consideration. Instead, provide detailed, descriptive information about your actual experience.

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.

Or Education: One full year of graduate level education or superior academic achievement in a field related to this position may be
substituted to meet the experience requirement.

Superior Academic Achievement Provisions: A Bachelor’s degree in any field, plus at least one of the following superior academic
achievement provisions:

1. A grade-point average (GPA) of B (3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale) for all completed undergraduate courses, or courses completed in
the last two years of undergraduate curriculum;

or

2. A grade-point average (GPA) of B+ (3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale) for the required courses in your major field of study, or required 
courses in your major completed in the last two years of undergraduate study; 

or

3. Rank in the upper one-third of your class in the college, university, or major completed in the last two years of  undergraduate study;

or

4. Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society, other than freshman honor societies.  Honor societies that have been
approved are listed in the American College of Honor Societies.  Booklet of Information (1992-95) and/or Baird’s Manual of American College Fraternities (1991).

To verify your claim for this provision, please submit a college transcript(s) showing that you maintained a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 for all 4 years of undergraduate courses, or on all undergraduate courses completed during the final 2 years of your curriculum, including all transferred courses.

Note:  GPAs are to be rounded to one decimal place.  For example, 2.95 will round to 3.0 and 2.94 will round to 2.9.  If more than 10 percent
of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) was taken on a pass/fail or similar basis, your claim must be based on class standing or
membership in an honor society.

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.

Or a Combination: Education and experience may be combined to meet the basic qualifications; For a full explanation of this option please see the Qualification Standards.

In an effort to streamline our hiring process, SI employees whose current position of record is in the same job series (301) and who are in a (Federal competitive or excepted service appointment) as this advertised position, are not required to submit a transcript with your application package. However, if selected, you will be required to provide a copy of your transcript before your start date in the position.

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).

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 personnel rules, procedures and regulations to perform personnel management assignments.

2. Knowledge of procedures, functions, and administrative operations of the Institution.

3. Knowledge of and proficiency in the use of automated office applications such as MSWord, and Excel, ERP systems, spreadsheets, and other internet-based systems
4. Ability to communicate orally to respond to general and specific HR questions.
5. Ability to communicate in writing to draft documents and communicate non-technical information.

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 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. 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), and hours worked per week, 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 USAJOBS Help Center - How do I write a resume for a federal job?

• 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. Failure to provide the appropriate SF-50(s) may prevent you from receiving consideration for this position.

• 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.

Next steps