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 #21R-JW-306534-MPA-NPG. More than one selection may be made from this announcement.

• Conceives and develops special exhibitions on biographical and historical themes.
• Writes new and revises old labels and other written materials to elucidate and place in context portraits on display in both permanent and special exhibitions.
• Onsite and online, promotes the museum’s mission of engagement and dialogue about the American experience and individual biography and accomplishment.
• Researches and evaluates the eligibility of new candidates to the permanent collection.

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.

Qualification requirements must be met within 30 days of the job announcement closing date.

For information on qualification requirements, see Qualification Standards Handbook for General Schedule Positions viewable on the web at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications.

Qualifications

You must meet these Basic Education Requirements: 

1.Degree: history; or related field that included at least 18 semester hours in history.

or

2.Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in history, or a major in a related field that included at least 18 semester hours in history, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Evaluation of Graduate Education

Graduate study in the social sciences or humanities may also be credited when such study included training in historical research methodology; or the thesis approached the subject from an historical viewpoint and used professional historical research methodology and techniques in its preparation.

In addition to Basic Requirements above, you must have following:

Experience: You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 level in the Federal Service or comparable pay band system. For this position specialized experience is defined as writing labels or wall text for an exhibition at a cultural, historical, or educational institution, and working on a research project that results in the publication of an article or essay in a museum catalogue or in a scholarly periodical, or in a digital humanities platform.

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.

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.

How you will be evaluated

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

Your application will be evaluated first for the basic qualifications described above. The applications that meet the basic qualifications will be evaluated further against the following criteria:

• Knowledge of American history and biography, with specific experience in a major area of American historiography to conceive and organize special exhibitions.
• Skill communicating in writing to write labels, wall text, brochures and other publications within the fields of American art and history for both scholarly and general audiences.
• Knowledge of the use of images to illuminate aspects of American history and life to add complexity and depth to exhibitions and publications.
• Knowledge of established methods and techniques of historical research to assess candidates for a permanent collection in terms of their historical importance and impact.

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.