Supervisory Horticulturalist (Associate Director, Horticulture& Operations)

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 Smithsonian Gardens (SG), Facilities Management (FM), within the Smithsonian Institution (SI). Smithsonian Gardens is a Smithsonian recognized Collections Unit that manages collections of garden artifacts, living plants, and the Archives of American Gardens. Learn more about this agency Duties 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. Requirements 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. Education (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. 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 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 https://www.si.edu/OHR/benefits for a complete description. Flexible Spending Accounts - https://www.fsafeds.com/ Health Insurance - http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/index.aspLeave - http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/index.aspLife Insurance - http://www.opm.gov/insure/life/index.aspLong Term Care Insurance - http://www.ltcfeds.comRetirement Program - https://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/