Clarification from the agency

Current National Museum of American History Internal Employees with Federal career/career-conditional status or eligibility. More than one selection may be made from this announcement.

• Manages storage in multiple and unconnected spaces within the museum and offsite. Plans include maintaining physical and intellectual accessibility, object housing, disaster preparedness, economy of space use and security of collections.

• Carries out specialized research in the history of medicine and science and the medicinal and scientific collections.
• Develops temporary exhibits and participates in the development of larger, long-term exhibits. Exhibit development includes intellectual concept and emphasis, script and labels and object selection.

• Answers collections inquiries by letter, telephone, email, or in person. 

Conditions of employment

• Requires career/career-conditional status or eligibility.
• 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, including one year time-in-grade at the next lower grade level for promotion candidates, 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 OPM Website.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

Specialized Experience: You qualify for this position if you possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-09 level in the Federal service or comparable pay band system.  For this position specialized experience is defined as: providing collections management work for a medical and scientific collection in a historical museum or cultural setting including managing and preserving collections; using and maintaining a collections information system and database; and conducting directed research in support of an historical museum’s collections, collections management practices, exhibitions, and other museum related projects.

OR

Education: Successful completion of 2 full academic years of progressively higher-level graduate education or master's or equivalent graduate degree related to the position.  Related degrees may include museum studies.

OR

A combination of related graduate level education and experience as described above.

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 procedures and methods used in the handling, storage, care, and preservation of museum collections, including record keeping.

2. Knowledge of research and cataloging methods.

3. Ability to research and contextualize exhibits and collections within American history and culture.

4. Ability to communicate orally and in writing to respond to inquiries from the general public, donors, and vendors regarding exhibits and collections.

5. Skill in using museum collection information systems and databases to support collections management, documentation, and access.
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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 detailed information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed.