Biologist (Animal Care)

Smithsonian Institution

Washington (District of Columbia)

On-site

USD 52,000 - 70,000

Full time

19 hours ago

Be an early applicant

Get a reply from this employer

Your resume and cover letter, tailored to exactly what they’re hiring for.

Get past ATS filters

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible Spending Accounts

Health Insurance

Leave

Life Insurance

Long Term Care Insurance

Retirement Program

Job summary

The Smithsonian Institution, located in the Directorate of Animal Care Sciences at the National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, seeks an experienced animal care professional. You will manage daily care of exotic and endangered animals, oversee staff, volunteers, and contractors, and support reporting for conservation efforts.

The role emphasizes supervising teams, coordinating training, and ensuring timely completion of priorities and deadlines in a demanding zoological environment.

Qualifications

Degree in Biological Sciences, Agriculture, Natural resource management, chemistry, or related fields.
One year specialized experience in care and training of living wild animals in a zoological setting.
Ability to coordinate animal care, training activities, and monitoring health and exhibit needs.

Responsibilities

Provides daily care of exotic and endangered animals including enclosure cleaning, diet prep, feeding, and enrichment.
Coordinates animal training and management activities to support health care, capture, restraint, transport, shifting, and separation.
Oversee Animal Keepers, volunteers, interns, and contractors to ensure work is scheduled and completed on time.
Assist in preparing reports and recommendations for conservation and zoological organizations.

Skills

Animal care

Enrichment

Diet preparation

Animal training coordination

Team supervision

Documentation

Education

Bachelor's in Biological Sciences or related field

Job description

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).

Summary

More than one selection may be made from this announcement.

Learn More About This Agency

Duties

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.

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.

Qualifications

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.

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.

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 Federal Government offers a comprehensive benefits package.

Please See Benefits At For a Complete Description.