Animal Health Technician

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 the Department of Wildlife Health Sciences (WHS) at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park (NZP) in Washington, DC.

More than one selection may be made from this announcement.

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Duties

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The Animal Health Technician is responsible for providing veterinary technical, clinical, and laboratory support for the health care of NZP's non-domestic animal collection, ensuring effective hospital operations and medical program delivery.

In this position, you will:

• Provide technical support to veterinarians and consultants in areas such as animal anesthesia, treatment, surgery, dentistry, radiology, and preventative medicine.
• Monitor hospital equipment and notifies the appropriate departments for servicing when necessary.
• Assist veterinary staff with taking and developing radiographs for diagnostic purposes, collecting blood, urine, or fecal samples, preparing blood smears, performing diagnostic tests, and completing clinical pathology forms.
• Assist in maintenance of medical and surgical records.
• Manage inventory and supplies by following standard operating procedures for ordering, purchasing, and restocking

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• Pass Pre-employment Background Investigation
• May need to complete a Probationary Period
• Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer
• 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 Qualifications:

Examples of qualifying specialized experience include work:

• As a laborer, manager, or owner of a livestock ranch or farm involving direct work with livestock.
• With livestock in a feed lot.
• As a Livestock Market Inspector.
• As an Animal Welfare Inspector.
• As an assistant to a veterinarian who works with livestock.

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-XX level in the Federal Service. For this position, specialized experience is defined as providing veterinary technical support in delivering healthcare to a range of non-domestic animals and provide clinical laboratory support through record maintenance and equipment management.

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: To qualify at the GS-09 grade level based on education, applicants must successfully complete 2 full academic years of progressively higher-level graduate education or master's or equivalent graduate degree related to the work of the position.

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. 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.

Additional information

This position is included in the bargaining unit.

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.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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The Federal Government offers a comprehensive benefits package.

Please see Benefits at for a complete description.

Flexible Spending Accounts -

Health Insurance -

Leave -

Life Insurance -

Long Term Care Insurance -

Retirement Program -