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 #26R-SR-313898-MPA-FM. More than one selection may be made from this announcement.

The Supervisory Horticulturalist (Associate Director, Horticulture & Operations) is the senior technical authority on matters relating to the Smithsonian Gardens’ horticulture, visitor operations and emergency management. This position leads the H&O department, reporting to the Director.

In this position, you will:

• Promote stewardship of living plant collections and public gardens. 
• Develop performance goals and evaluates work performance of subordinates against them. 
• Manage intense urban pressures and heavy visitation, with over 24 million visits per year to gardens on the National Mall. 
• Develop and execute rapid-response protocols for extreme weather events, large-scale public demonstrations and security incidents that impact the Smithsonian Institution’s outdoor footprint.

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

(You must submit unofficial school transcripts)

1. Degree: horticulture; or a related discipline of basic plant science that included at least 30 semester hours in the basic plant sciences, of which at least 16 semester hours were in horticultural subjects such as those dealing with the breeding, care, management, production, and post-harvest handling of horticultural crops.

OR

2. Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in horticulture or a related discipline of basic plant science that included course work as shown above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Evaluation of Education: Courses in botany, plant physiology, plant taxonomy, plant pathology, genetics, agronomy, horticulture, and similar courses may be used to meet the 30-semester-hour requirement in basic plant sciences.

The 16-semester-hour requirement in horticulture includes course work in basic horticulture and course work related to any of the recognized subject-matter fields of horticulture, i.e., fruits, vegetables, ornamentals, nursery work, seed production, or course work in related areas of science, such as micro-biology, entomology, plant pathology, plant physiology, or genetics that is directly related to horticultural work.

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-14 level in the Federal Service.  For this position specialized experience is defined as leading a horticulture and operations team for a public garden, campus, municipality, or museum with public visitation; developing policies, plans and budgets for horticulture management; and implementing an emergency management plan for a museum, campus, municipality, or public garden.

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.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your resume will be used to evaluate your experience, education, and/or training that address the competencies below:

• Ability to apply horticulture management expertise in leading multi-disciplinary teams.
• Ability to direct, plan and accomplish the work through others.
• Ability to balance horticulture management with visitor experience.
• Ability to apply expertise in emergency management techniques.

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:

The review of your resume will determine your final rating and should provide sufficient information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed.