Clarification from the agency

Open to U.S. Citizens, nationals, or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.. Also advertised as 22R-MA-306876-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:

• Communicates with potential visitors to determine their interests; directs them to additional NMAI departments or individuals if appropriate; maintains an up-to-date collection visits calendar; performs thorough searches for objects relevant to visitors’ interests; produces and disseminates a variety of reports if necessary; compiles appropriate object lists for visits if needed; and prepares for or handles visits directly or delegates appropriately in consultation with NMAI’s Collections Manager.
• Provides general tours of CRC when necessary and coordinates with other NMAI departments in organizing tours. Serves as collections representative in meetings regarding large NMAI or SI tours of CRC.
• Performs research related to collections inquires. Incumbent must have working knowledge of Native cultures, art forms and material from a wide variety of geographic and cultural regions (contemporary, archaeological and ethnographic) including an awareness of the potential spiritual and sensitive nature of some items or materials in Native collections to better facilitate collections visits.
• Participates in general collections care duties as needed. Maintaining the cleanliness of the collections space (vacuuming, dusting and putting things away) and following all requirements for the proper tracking, moving and storage of collections objects. Incumbent will be required to participate in general housekeeping duties and may be called upon to aid members of the collections management staff in moving or storing objects.

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, specialized experience is defined as:

GS-09: Coordinating visitor services with an emphasis on Native American visitors, collections management, or research work that is related to Native art, culture or history in either a Native American (or other indigenous culture of the Western Hemisphere) museum, cultural, or historical organization or a museum, cultural, or historical organization with Native American (or other indigenous culture of the Western Hemisphere) collections; 

OR; 

Master's or equivalent graduate degree; 

OR; 

2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; 

OR; 

LL.B. or J.D., if related;

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 Native American culture, art, history and Native collections.
2. Ability to perform research about Native art, culture and history in the western hemisphere from the Arctic to South America, using a variety of resources.
3. Knowledge of museum best practices to the care, handling, moving, housing, tracking, and storage of a museum collection of Native American ethnographic, archaeological, and contemporary art material.
4. Ability to deal effectively with a variety of individuals and to function as the department’s point person regarding visits and tours by effectively communicating the department’s policies and procedures.

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.