Clarification from the agency

This position is open to all U.S. Citizens or U.S. Nationals. Note: Federal employees with permanent status or individuals eligible for special appointing authorities may also apply to Job Announcement #22R-SR-306912-DEU-SF. More than one selection may be made from this announcement.

• Tracks income and expenditures from a variety of federal and/or trust funds; prepares and tracks forms for billing, receiving, depositing and/or transferring funds; and compiles a variety of regular reports and assists with compiling of non-routine reports or lists for supervisor and/or other staff members. 
• Orders a variety of goods and services including office or lab supplies, performers, honoraria, custom goods or services (such as design, production), or conference services; assists with coordination and submission of contract requests and documentation.
• Makes travel arrangements including booking hotels, transportation tickets, and rental cars; prepares travel authorizations and vouchers in on-line system and obtains necessary approvals.
• Assists staff members by responding to telephone calls, emails and visitors; receives, opens, and distributes mail, responding personally when possible or determining routing based on knowledge of office programs; and schedules meetings and maintains calendars for supervisor and other staff.

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

You must be fully vaccinated for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) with a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized or FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine.

OR

Have an approved Reasonable Accommodation granting an exemption from vaccine requirements. Please see additional information regarding reasonable accommodations below.  

The Smithsonian Institution has a mandate requiring all employees (federal and trust), affiliated staff (including volunteers, interns, and fellows), and the contractors who work with us to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 regardless of the employee’s duty location or work arrangement (e.g., onsite, telework, remote work, etc.), subject to such exceptions as required by law. If selected, you will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination by November 22, 2021 or before appointment or onboarding with the Smithsonian Institution, if after November 22. The Smithsonian Institution will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required exemption from this requirement. This requirement applies to employees, affiliated staff, contractors who are working on-site, and those teleworking in whole or in part. Limited exemptions to the Smithsonian Institution’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate will be considered on a case-by-case basis for selected candidates who inform the Smithsonian that they cannot be vaccinated because of a disability, including certain medical conditions the Center for Disease Control (CDC) considers contraindications to the vaccine, or because of a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance. Additional information and instructions regarding Smithsonian’s COVID-19 mandate will be provided at the time of selection.   

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.

For information on qualification requirements, see Qualification Standards Handbook for General Schedule Positions viewable on the web at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications.

Qualifications

ATTENTION: Due to the large number of qualified applicants for positions of this type, this job announcement will close at 11:59 pm Eastern Time on either: (A) The closing date listed above or (B) The date that 100 applications are received; whichever occurs first.  If the announcement closes on the date that 100 applications are received, all applications submitted by 11:59pm that day will be given consideration, including those in excess of 100.
    
We encourage applicants to apply as soon as possible to ensure their applications are submitted before the announcement closes.  We will not consider applications which are late due to the announcement closing once the above number of applications is reached.

Experience: You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-5 level in the Federal Service or comparable pay band system. For this position specialized experience is defined as responding to inquiries both verbally and in writing, arranging meetings, reviewing correspondence for grammar, establishing and maintaining files/records, using different office automation software (i.e., word processing, spreadsheets, and electronic mail); conducting inventory of equipment, keeping time and attendance records, and entering in a variety of information into an electronic database.

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.

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 administrative and financial recordkeeping and reconciling financial records.
2. Knowledge of basic procurement processes to obtain and monitor the use of services, supplies and equipment as well as assist with coordination and submission of contract request and documentation. 
3. Skill in office support functions such as data entry, filing, timekeeping, scheduling, phone and mail handling and reception duties. 
4. Skill in written communications to prepare materials such as correspondence, reports and briefing slides.
5. Skill in oral communications to assist staff members by responding to calls and answering basic questions.

Applicants who meet or exceed minimum qualifications will be assigned to one of three category groups based on job-related criteria:

Best Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements and excels in most of the job related competencies above.

Better Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements and satisfies most of the job related competencies above.

Good Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements, but does not satisfy most of the job related competencies above to a substantive degree.

This category rating process does not add veterans' preference points or apply the "rule of three", but protects the rights of veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each category. A selecting official may make selections from the highest quality category (Best Category) provided no preference eligible in that category is passed over to select a non-preference eligible in that category unless the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 3317(b) or 3318(b) are satisfied. Preference eligibles who meet minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent must be listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-9 grade level or higher. Applicants who have not submitted a resume in the USAjobs system and/or have not answered all of the vacancy questions will not be considered for this position.

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 sufficient information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed.