Biologist (Animal Care)

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 Directorate of Animal Care Sciences at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI), Office of the Under Secretary for Science and Research (OUSSR), Smithsonian Institution (SI).

Learn more about this agency

Duties

Help

The Biologist (Animal Care) will serve as an Assistant Curator (Biologist) for specific animal areas, species, and/ or team(s) as assigned. Assistant Curators are vital in ensuring the well-being of our collection animals through their involvement in care, breeding, education, conservation, exhibition, collection planning and support of research.

In this position, you will:

• Provides daily care of exotic and endangered animals through enclosure cleaning and sanitation, diet preparation and feeding, enrichment activities, and the application of animal husbandry techniques.
• Coordinates animal training and management activities to support health care, capture, restraint, transport, shifting, and separation of animals for exhibit and husbandry purposes.
• Oversee Animal Keepers, volunteers, interns, and contractors, ensuring work is assigned, scheduled, and completed according to established priorities and deadlines.
• Assists in preparing reports and recommendations for local, national, and international conservation and zoological organizations.

Requirements

Help

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 must be met by the closing date of the announcement.

For information on qualification requirements, see Qualification Standards Handbook for General Schedule Positions on OPM website.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications:

Degree: Biological Sciences, Agriculture, Natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position.

OR

Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major, as shown in 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-07 level in the Federal Service. For this position, specialized experience is defined as assisting with management, care, and training of a collection of living wild animals in a zoological setting; assisting with various administrative processes; and facilitating research or data collection.

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 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree.

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.

Education

This position has a Positive Education Requirement (Unofficial transcripts must be submitted at time of application).

Additional information

This position is not 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.

Expand Hide additional information

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.

Benefits

Help

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 for a complete description.

Flexible Spending Accounts -

Health Insurance -

Leave -

Life Insurance -

Long Term Care Insurance -

Retirement Program -