Clarification from the agency

Open to U.S. Citizens, nationals, or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.. Also advertised as 22R-MA-306571-MPA-NMAI for current and former Federal employees with permanent status or reinstatement eligibility or individuals who are eligible for a special appointing authority. To be considered for each vacancy, apply to BOTH jobs. More than one selection may be made from this job opportunity announcement.

Duties and responsibilities include:

• Generates legal contracts for loans, accessions and other agreements. Assures that all necessary legal forms are completed properly, signed by authorized individuals and that originals and appropriate copies are preserved in NMAI official files.
• Catalogs objects through consultation with curatorial staff and through independent research, generates and updates condition reports, assigns and documents catalog numbers to objects and coordinates and documents pest management actions.
• Acts as NMAI Registration member on exhibition teams for exhibit preparation, legal contracts and certificates of insurance, crating and shipping, installing or deinstalling objects and condition reporting.
• Acts as courier for some shipments – both domestic and international – installs objects in exhibition galleries and generates condition reports with supporting photo documentation.

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.

Conditions of Employment

COVID-19 VACCINATION REQUIREMENTS:

For the latest information on the COVID-19 vaccination requirements and its impact on your application, click on Smithsonian Institution’s Frequently Asked Questions. 

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 on OPM website.

Qualifications

Specialized Experience: Experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the occupation. Applicants who have the 1 year of appropriate specialized experience, are not required to have general experience, education above the high school level, or any additional specialized experience to meet the minimum qualification requirements.

For this position at the GS-09 level, applicants must have 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, GS-07, in the Federal Service or equivalent.

For this position, specialized experience is defined as:

GS-09:  Experience assisting with loans, installing and/or de-installing museum objects and collections, accessioning, crating and shipping arrangements; and reporting the condition of museum objects and collections.

OR; 

2 full academic years of progressively higher level graduate education or master's or equivalent graduate degree related to the position; 

OR; 

Equivalent combinations of education and experience.  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.

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.

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:

1. Knowledge of museum registration principles and practices and knowledge of methods, techniques for the care of collections and conservation methods and treatments, collections management policies, related ethical, legal and liability issues, collections insurance and damage and loss procedures.
2. Skill in using automated systems for managing collections information, cataloging standards, inventory methods, condition reporting and photographic documentation of objects to properly record and retrieve information.
3. Knowledge of how to protect the Museum’s and lenders’ interests regarding object care, collections preservation guidelines, professional standards for the handling and storage of collections and appropriate environmental conditions for the effective management of museum collections, loan objects and exhibit programming.
4. Knowledge of standards for crates and crate storage and applicable regulations and conventions for the transportation of items across state and international boundaries.

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.