Experience Inc. Jobs

Summary The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) has leadership position within Office of the Director, Capitol Grounds and Arboretum (CGA); Gardening Division. The Supervisory Horticulturist provides day-to-day and long-term supervision to the Senate, Capitol and House Gardening Sections. CGA has continued to grow as a level 3 internationally accredited arboretum and nationally recognized leader of professional grounds management excellence. Responsibilities Supervisory and Managerial Responsibilities Performs administrative and technical supervisory functions for subordinates. Assigns duties and evaluates performance. Manages the organizational unit’s budget and workload. Develops performance requirements for subordinates and ensures a mutual understanding of the performance standards. Resolves complaints and grievances as delegated by higher level supervisors. Provides leadership to ensure support for equal employment opportunity (EEO) goals and requirements. Practices nondiscriminatory and non-retaliatory employment actions and prevents unlawful discrimination or harassment based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, genetic information, age or disability. Provides for employee skills enrichment through job related coaching, mentoring and training. Responsible for a familiarization with horticultural related safety rules and regulations to ensure that work progresses in a safe manner and to initiate or take corrective action on unsafe conditions in managed areas. Provides or receives training, either on the job or through classroom training, to ensure that all direct reports know how to use required Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Provides professional leadership and administrative direction through subordinate supervisors and team leaders. Outlines overall responsibilities, makes assignments, sets priorities, and provides professional, technical and administrative advice and assistance as required. Plans organizational structure and staffing needs, determines types of jobs required, and assigns duties to key subordinate positions. Reviews and approves justifications for personnel requirements, reviews and approves job descriptions, and selects key employees. PROJECT MANAGEMENT Collaborates in the planning and execution of enhancing CGA customer service and improving the visitor experience. Serves as a Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR) for designated contracts. Participates in contract negotiations, recommends changes, additions to or deletions from contracts. Develops Statements of Work for procurement. Plans, estimates, coordinates, designs, and schedules horticultural renovation and installation projects for the workforce. Inspects gardening work; formulates plans for the most efficient use of staff resources; and performs investigations and assessments to determine the scope and nature of required solutions, including the use of contractors. Communicates and plans work and resource requirements with other CGA divisions, sections and specialists. LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE Serves as a technical expert in horticultural design and public landscape maintenance. Provides input as subject matter expert in sustainable landscape practices, greenroof construction and maintenance and efficient use and maintenance of irrigation systems. Serves as a jurisdictional expert in campus wide Cultural Landscape Reports (CLR’s) and utilizes the CLR’s to formulate landscape plans, treatments and maintenance. Ensures landscaped areas are manicured and maintained to professional grounds management standards. Assists in the management of campus wide Integrated Pesticide Management and Grounds Management Community of Practice. Works in tandem with CGA’s technical team to come up with BMPs and timelines for implementation of changes to current practices. Collaborates on product use and timing of applications. Leads snow removal and operations for Capitol Square. Response to emergency events on campus and directs teams to during response. PLANT DATA MANAGEMENT AND PROCUREMENT Compiles campus wide plant purchasing and tracks installations and removals to keep an updated log of plant collection. Keeps logs of new plant material in current plant collection’s data system and records of design implementation each season. Actively strives to add genetic diversity into plant collection. Performs other related duties as assigned. Maintains a DC pesticide license in categories III – A, B & C. This position is considered "essential". Reporting to work to work during emergencies and inclement weather situations is required. Requirements Conditions of Employment You must meet the definition of specialized experience. You must meet education requirements at the time of application. Maintains a DC pesticide license in categories III – A, B & C. To be employed by the Architect of the Capitol in a paid position, an individual must meet one of the categories below: A citizen of the United States; A person who is lawfully admitted for permanent residence and is seeking citizenship as outlined in 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)(B); A person who is admitted as a refugee under 8 U.S.C. 1157 or is granted asylum under 8 U.S.C. 1158 and has filed a declaration of intention to become a lawful permanent resident and then a citizen when eligible; A person who owes allegiance to the United States (nationals of American Samoa, Swains Island, and the Northern Mariana Islands, and nationals who meet other requirements described in 8 U.S.C. 1408); or A person who is currently an officer or employee of the Government of the United States. Qualifications You must meet the United States Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) qualification requirements (including specialized experience and/or educational requirements) for the advertised position. You must meet all eligibility and qualifications requirements by the closing date of the job announcement. Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on the OPM web site at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications. Specialized Experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position and is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, an applicant's one full year of specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level. To qualify at the GS-13 level, your resume must clearly demonstrate that you have one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience comparable in difficulty and responsibility to at least the GS-12 level in the federal service. Examples of qualifying experience include the following types of tasks performed on a regular and recurring basis: Comprehensive knowledge of the principles, theories, concepts, methods, and techniques of horticulture; Leading and/or supervising employees in the performance of horticultural work, gardening and/or landscape maintenance activities; Serving as a Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) or equivalent specific to horticultural or plant sciences. Planning horticultural projects and activities, including horticultural design, grounds management and plant collections, installation, maintenance and displays. Education In addition to meeting the specialized experience requirements, applicants must have the following: 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-- 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 in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional 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. Special Instructions for Foreign Education: Education completed outside of the United States must be deemed equivalent to that gained in conventional/accredited U.S. education programs to be acceptable for Federal employment. Qualifying education from colleges and universities in foreign countries must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part of foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree. You must provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course by course listing if selected. Additional Information Welcome Veterans. The Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) gives veterans' preference rights in the legislative branch to certain veterans as applied by the Congressional Accountability Act. Veterans' preference is applied on this vacancy announcement. If you are a veteran and have been separated under honorable conditions, you must submit a copy of your DD-214 or other proof of eligibility; SF-15, if applicable; and Department of Veterans Affairs documentation of disability, if applicable. For more information, please visit OPM vet guide If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System. If you are exempt from registration under Selective Service Law, you must provide appropriate proof of exemption. Please visit the Selective Service System website for more information. DRUG TESTING: The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) is a Drug Free Workplace. As part of the AOC’s suitability assessment, a candidate tentatively selected for a position is required to submit to screening for illegal drug use. Satisfactory completion of a drug test is a condition of employment with the Agency. A candidate must test negative prior to being eligible for appointment into a position. We will schedule, provide, and cover the cost for the drug test. The selectee(s) under the vacancy announcement for this position is subject to a criminal record check by the U.S. Capitol Police and satisfactory adjudication to be eligible for employment at the Architect of the Capitol. The Architect of the Capitol is an E-VERIFY Participant. E-VERIFY is an Internet-based system that compares information from an employee's Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to data from U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration records to confirm employment authorization in the United States. If you are selected for this position, the documentation that you present for purposes of completing the DHS Form I-9 will be verified through the DHS "E-VERIFY" electronic system. For more information on E-Verify, please visit http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/gc_1185221678150.shtm The Architect of the Capitol is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, genetic information and/or disability. This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency. The decision on granting reasonable accommodation will be on a case-by-case basis. Moving expenses are not authorized. Relocation expenses are not authorized. Probationary Period- Selectee(s) is subject to the completion of a one-year trial/probationary period, regardless of whether or not a trial/probationary period has been completed previously with the Architect of the Capitol or another Federal agency. This vacancy announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies in any of the jurisdictions of the Architect of the Capitol. All application materials become the property of the Architect of the Capitol.