About This Position
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 Office of Finance and Accounting (OF&A). OF&A is the central accounting office for the Smithsonian Institution.
Qualifications
Experience: You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-05 level in the Federal Service. For this position, specialized experience is defined as performing data entry functions in a financial accounting system such as payment of invoices and reconciling payments; resolving financial issues; maintaining files and providing customer support.
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. 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.
Major Duties
This position is located in the accounts payable processing (A/P) team within the Accounting Operations Department (AO) of OF&A. The incumbent services as the AP technician and reports directly to the AP supervisor. In this position, you will: Perform data entry by entering invoices for payment in the Accounts Payable module of the financial accounting system, checking to ensure that payments are posted and released.
Reconcile payments, issue resolutions and corrections and assist with Accounts Payable staff training and follow newly developed policy and procedure. Prepare and update reports and worksheets, clear exceptions and fix errors, and provide status updates to management on a daily or weekly basis. Provide quality customer service responding to inquiries and assisting Smithsonian personnel regarding completing and submitting appropriate forms.
Conditions of Employment
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.
Education
Please put down the Basic Education Requirements (if there are any).
How You Will Be Evaluated
Applicants for this position may be evaluated in multiple stages. The first stage is an evaluation of your responses to the online multiple-choice questions that assess your experience, education, and/or training for the job related competencies below: Knowledge, of accounting or financial management systems operations and procedures, sufficient to process invoices for payment. Ability to review the accuracy and completeness of financial transactions, recognize errors, and advise personnel or vendors of the required actions to take to receive payment.
Skill in reviewing the accuracy and completeness of financial documents and devising solutions to resolve problems related to processing payments, identifying over or under payments to vendors, and providing corrective actions. Ability to work with clients and customers to assess their needs, provide information or assistance, resolve their problems, or satisfy their expectations; knows about available products and services; is committed to providing quality products and services. 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.
You may preview questions for this vacancy.
Additional Information
This position is 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.
How to Apply
Click on the "Apply Online" button on the upper right side of the page. Please
Note: You must apply for this position online through the 'Apply Online' button and submit required supplemental documents (if they are relevant to you).
Your resume must be no more than two (2) pages.
You may submit required documents by uploading them online during the application process.
The complete application package, including any required documents, is due in the Smithsonian Office of Human Resources on the closing date of the announcement by 11:59 PM Eastern Time. If you are unable to apply online, paper applications may be accepted with prior approval of the Contact Person listed below.
Required Documents
Your application package should include the following documents: Resume - Your resume can be uploaded and attached to your application or created using the USA Jobs on-line resume builder. Ensure your resume contains the job title (including the occupational series and grade if it is Federal), job-related qualifications, starting and ending dates (month and year), and hours worked per week, for each employment period. It is your responsibility to ensure all information is submitted.
Failure to include this information may result in disqualification for the position. For assistance with creating a resume, please click USAJOBS Help Center - How do I write a resume for a federal job? Proof of Veteran's Preference - DD214 (Member 4 Copy), if you are a veteran.
Additionally, applicants claiming 10-point preference must complete Standard Form (SF) 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, as well as additional documentation required by the SF-15, such as a VA letter. Unofficial school transcripts, if the position has an education requirement or if you are using education to qualify. If selected for the position, you must provide an official transcript before appointment.
Proof of U.S. accreditation for foreign study, if applicable.