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. More than one selection may be made from this announcement.

The Research Ecologist is responsible for designing, planning, and executing research activities to understand ecological phenomena in field and laboratory settings.

In this position, you will:

• Conceive, plan, and implement a long-term research program in the broad area of Ecosystem Conservation in coordination with the other SERC research and education programs.
• Communication of ecosystem conservation research findings through the analysis and interpretation of experimental data, resulting in authorship and publication of the results in peer-reviewed regional and national journals, and presentation of results and findings at professional meetings and conferences.
• Conceive and develop innovative and competitive research proposals, consistent with SERC’s and incumbent’s research objectives, to internal and external sponsors which together support the incumbent’s research efforts including funding budgets for supplies, travel, equipment, services, and personnel.
• Provide professional service to the field of research by: providing peer reviews of journal manuscripts, grant proposals; serving on external advisory and review committees and panels for governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and universities/colleges; editorial leadership; and leadership for professional associations.

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

Basic Qualification Requirements for Ecologist – GS-0408:

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.

You must submit a copy of your unofficial college transcripts for verification to be considered.

In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the specialized experience and/or education requirements listed below:

GS-14 Experience:You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-13 level in the Federal Service. For this position Specialized experience is defined as performing research on environmental factors in conservation and ecology focused on the movement and migration of marine fishes and decapod crustaceans as well as the fish and macro-invertebrates of Chesapeake Bay and other estuarine and nearshore marine ecosystems.

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.

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 0408 and who are in a Federal competitive 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. Ability to conceive, plan and implement a long-term research program with emphasis in conducting research on ecosystem conservation theory and practical approaches for preserving and restoring ecosystem functions and biodiversity of terrestrial, freshwater, or coastal marine and estuarine ecosystems.
2. Ability to analyze data and interpret results of ecosystem research and then to present this both in written peer-reviewed regional and international journals, and in talks at professional meetings and conferences.
3. Ability to present and implement successful grant/ contract proposals for ecosystem conservation research that gains funding from competitive sources such as governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, foundations, and/or institutional programs.
4. Ability to perform professional peer reviews of ecosystem conservation research for journal manuscripts, grant proposals; serving on external advisory and review committees and panels for governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and universities/colleges; and leadership for professional associations or journal editing.

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