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Director, American Folklife Center Archives

Legislative Branch
Library of Congress
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located in the American Folklife Center, Special Collections Directorate, Researcher and Collections Services.

The position description number for this position is 402567.

The salary range indicated reflects the locality pay adjustments for the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan area.

The incumbent of this position will work a flextime work schedule.

This is a supervisory, non-bargaining unit position.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
11/22/2021 to 01/10/2022
Salary
$144,128 to - $172,500 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 15
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Washington, DC
1 vacancy
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent - Position
Work schedule
Full-time - Flexitime.
Service
Excepted
Promotion potential
15
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
Yes
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Announcement number
VAR001774
Control number
623267800

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Anyone may apply - By law, employment at most U.S. Government agencies, including the Library of Congress, is limited to U.S. citizens. However, non-citizens may be hired, provided that other legal requirements are met and the Library determines there are no qualified U.S. citizens available for the position.

Duties

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This position is not eligible for permanent remote telework.

Supervises a group of employees performing work up to the GS-14 level. Provides administrative and technical supervision relative to the staff supervised. Plans work to be accomplished by subordinates, sets and adjusts short-term priorities, and prepares schedules for completion of work; assigns work to subordinates based on priorities, selective consideration of the difficulty and requirements of assignments, and the capabilities of employees; observes workers’ performance; demonstrates and conducts work performance critiques. Establishes guidelines and performance expectations for staff and clearly communicates these through the formal employee performance management system. Provides informal feedback and periodically evaluates employee performance. Resolves informal complaints and grievances. Recommends appointment, promotion, or reassignment and develops work improvement plans, recommending personnel actions as necessary. Provides advice and counsel to workers related to work and administrative matters.

Serves as a primary advisor to top management on the various folklife archives and library preservation projects and/or programs, policies and initiatives, including the Veterans History Project. Plans, develops and carries out a vital archives project planning and execution of highly visible projects and the participation in the evaluation, development and documentation of long-term and short-term archives special collections strategies. Plans, develops and implements complex multi-phased archival preservation and access projects that require collaboration and coordination across multiple service units, the formation of cross-divisional working groups; and collaboration with other governmental agencies and external partners.

Serves as a primary advisor to the AFC Director on the development and stewardship of AFC collections, including establishing acquisitions policies and priorities; developing and implementing preservation protocols and practices for AFC’s digital and analog collections, including the Veterans History Project.

Provides expert, authoritative guidance to AFC Director regarding AFC acquisition and collections development policy, to include matters pertaining to subject areas, scope, format, preservation, security and access.

Serves as an expert consultant to the Director of the American Folklife Center regarding the development and preservation of ethnographic analog and digital collections. Serves as an expert consultant to top senior management in Library Services and the Special Collections directorate on matters pertaining to archival policies and preservation of cultural heritage collections, including the Veterans History Project. Reports regularly to senior management of Library Services and directorate regarding intra-division activities and collaborative projects and programs. Establishes and maintains close and cooperative working relationships with Library of Congress officials including the LC Office of Communications, LC Congressional Relations Office, with related interests in the subject areas within the purview of the AFC.

Provides expert advice to the Head of Programs and Research regarding the American Folklife Center's work related to folklife, ethnomusicology, archiving, reference services, and archival instruction and training, and access services. Works with the Head, Programs and Research and the AFC's Cataloging, Reference and Processing Coordinators in developing and providing access to library resources in the Archive on site, through the web and other means. Engages in the implementation and evaluation of reference and public service policies, procedures, and publications.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

Conditions of Employment

Library employees must be fully vaccinated by Monday, January 3, 2022. New hires must be fully vaccinated by the date of their appointment.

Employees are considered fully vaccinated when it has been at least two weeks since they received the second dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine (e.g., Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna) or the single dose of a one-dose vaccine (e.g., Johnson & Johnson/Janssen). At this time, booster shots are not necessary to be considered fully vaccinated.

Upon request, employees must provide proof of vaccination to the Health Services Division.

Consistent with applicable law, the Library will consider individual exceptions to the vaccination requirement based on an employee’s medical condition or sincerely held religious belief. Employees with an approved exception will be subject to weekly testing and other COVID-19 safety protocols as directed, including, for example, wearing masks and social distancing.

The Supervisor leads his/her staff toward meeting the Library’s vision, mission, and goals by acting decisively, leveraging diversity and inclusiveness, demonstrating flexibility and resilience, fostering continuous improvement and innovation, and fostering integrity and honesty. To view the Library’s Supervisory Core Competencies click the following link: https://www.loc.gov/extranet/cld/development-programs/supervisor/supervisorcompetencies.html

Library of Congress employees are prohibited from using illegal drugs, including marijuana. The Library is part of the Federal Government and abides by federal law, so regardless of individual state or District of Columbia laws, marijuana use is illegal, considered criminal activity, and can affect your employment at the Library. In addition, past drug use and activities (e.g., selling or distributing) may deem you ineligible for employment.

Qualifications

Applicants must have had progressively responsible experience and training sufficient in scope and quality to furnish them with an acceptable level of the following knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of the position without more than normal supervision.

Ability to manage the full range of collection development activities in a major research library.**

Knowledge of folklife, ethnomusicology, oral history and documentary studies to administer archival collections.**

Ability to lead and supervise a diverse workforce.**

Ability to build and maintain relationships with individuals from a variety of backgrounds in order to provide consultation, liaison and reference services.

Ability to analyze organizational and operational problems and develop solutions to plan and carry out library programs.

Ability to communicate in writing.

Ability to communicate effectively other than in writing.

Additional information

Although it is the Library's policy to afford the maximum pay benefit to employees when setting rates of pay, a new appointee who has had no previous Federal service will generally be paid the minimum step of the grade.

The Library of Congress is an equal opportunity employer. All who meet the eligibility requirements are encouraged to apply.

Applicants must submit a complete application package that is received by the closing date of this announcement.

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 email ADA@loc.gov. The decision on granting reasonable accommodation will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Applicants with disabilities may be considered under special hiring procedures and must submit an appropriate certificate of eligibility when applying for this position. The proof or disability/certification may be issued by the State Vocational Rehabilitation Office, Disability Services or Career Services office of the applicant’s college or university, or the Department of Veterans Affairs. The letter must verify that the applicant has a severe disability and must be dated within three years of the date of the application.  Certification from health care providers are not accepted. For more information contact the Library's Office of EEO/Diversity Programs at 202-707-6024 or email spp@loc.gov. FAILURE TO SUBMIT YOUR CERTIFICATION WILL CAUSE YOUR APPLICATION TO NOT BE CONSIDERED UNDER THE SELECTIVE PLACEMENT PROGRAM.

The Library of Congress is the national library of the United States and is part of the Legislative Branch of the Federal government. As such, all positions are in the excepted service.

Appointment/retention is subject to a favorable evaluation of an appropriate personnel security/suitability investigation.

The Library reserves the right to fill a lesser or greater number of vacancies indicated during the life of this vacancy announcement.

Initial appointments, permanent or indefinite, to the Library of Congress require completion of a one-year probationary period. In addition, per Library of Congress Regulation 2010-12, an appointee or internal selectee is subject to a one-year supervisory probationary period, if this is his/her first supervisory/managerial position at the Library.

The Library of Congress may offer repayment for all or part of federally insured student loans. However, not all service units within the Library of Congress participates in the repayment of federally insured student loans. Therefore, determination to repay a federally insured student loan is subject to approval by the appropriate service unit.

The selected applicant may be required to file a financial disclosure statement with the House of Representatives, U.S. Congress, in accordance with the provisions of Public Law 95-521, Ethics in Government Act of 1978.

How you will be evaluated

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

The Library of Congress evaluates applicants through an applicant questionnaire and a structured interview. Applicants may also be screened for some jobs through licensing, certification, and/or education requirements, a narrative/application review, and/or a preliminary telephone interview. The knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that are marked with a double asterisk (**) in the vacancy announcement and the applicant questionnaire are considered the most critical for a position. To be considered for final selection, applicants must demonstrate fully acceptable experience in these designated KSAs in the narrative/application review, preliminary telephone and/or full structured interview. The various assessment tools listed above are designed to verify or explore applicants' experience, knowledge, and training directly related to the job in order to identify the best qualified applicants for selection.

Are you a veteran?  Please indicate the type of veterans' preference you are claiming in your application materials and/or applicant profile and provide the appropriate supporting documentation to validate your claim.  Those applying for 5-point preference must submit Member Copy 4 of your DD 214.  Those applying for 10-point preference must fill out an SF-15 (click here for the form) and provide the required documentation listed on the back of the form.  If required supporting documentation is not attached, Veterans' Preference will not be considered in the application process.


For more information regarding eligibility requirements, please see the Library of Congress Merit Selection Plan, Section X.D, at: https://loc.gov/static/portals/careers/documents/LCD-9-420.1%E2%80%93Merit-Selection-Plan_LC-Rules-and-Regulations.pdf.


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