Clarification from the agency

United States Citizens and nationals

As the Supervisory Museum Specialist (Head of Exhibitions), you will:

• Work closely with the XO/P to develop and manage an exhibition schedule that reflects the National Gallery’s vision to be Of the Nation and For All the People, showing work that reflects a diversity of geography, chronology, gender, race/ethnicity, theme, medium, and other factors as may be determined by the Executive Officers and the Director.
• Establish and maintain a record of data on multiple aspects of exhibitions that enables clear visualization of the development of the program over time. 
• Work closely with the department of visitor experience (DD-VE) to evaluate the National Gallery’s success with individual exhibitions as reflected through staff feedback and visitor response, and to synthesize and effectively communicate learning from such evaluation to meaningfully inform future projects. 
• Oversee the exhibition proposal process through which curators submit proposals for exhibitions and installations for review by their curatorial colleagues and the Exhibitions Steering Committee (ESC). 
• Oversee the implementation of the Exhibition Planning Process (EPP) from initial exhibition proposal to final lessons learned report, identifying weaknesses in process, and proposing specific improvements.  Ensure accountability within the exhibitions department and models accountability with other departments.
• Play a key role in developing and managing a schedule of “Conversations” and other small (generally single room) installations using works from the permanent collection.
• Take a leadership role in soliciting feedback from departments that interact with the department of exhibitions and work proactively and collaboratively with staff from across the National Gallery to solve problems and capitalize on successes.
• Supervise the preparation and management of all aspects of budgets for individual exhibitions and installations, and for the exhibitions department’s administrative needs. 
• Ensure clarity and transparency in all budget matters and communicate regularly with the office of the treasurer to ensure compliance with all National Gallery financial and budget policies.
• Maintain regular communication with the development office (DD-DEV) to share information, ensure they have the necessary information to develop grant, sponsorship, and gift proposals, and help shape expectations for fundraising that impact the overall exhibition program budget.
• Collaborate with colleagues in the National Gallery’s department of loans (PRL-LS) to help inform decisions on loans from the National Gallery’s collection, as related to existing and potential future reciprocal requests.
• Oversee and advise appropriate staff on the preparation of National Gallery applications for U.S. Government Indemnity for special exhibitions.
• Advise staff on negotiation of loans from national and international lenders, including but not limited to matters of insurance/indemnity, immunity from seizure, absolute liability, and courier requirements.
• Work collaboratively with peers within the National Gallery and in the field, showing leadership in addressing overarching exhibition issues such as those related to government indemnity, immunity from seizure, absolute liability, sustainability, etc., and propose policies and procedures for discussion with/review by XO/P.
• Through three subordinate GS-1016-14 supervisors, monitor work across the department to ensure that team is functioning at a high level, personally identifies or accepts feedback from staff on aspects of departmental work/distribution of work that may be creating challenges and work constructively to create and enact solutions.
• Support professional development of staff at all levels through mentoring, internal work assignments, training, and participation in national and international exhibition-related conferences and organizations. Allocate financial resources to such opportunities, distributing them among all levels of staff, when and as appropriate.
• Manage the performance of all exhibition department staff according to the requirements and deadlines of the National Gallery’s performance management process and the specific expectations of the XO/P, including providing regular constructive feedback, rewarding strong performance in meaningful ways, and addressing performance deficiencies with fairness, clarity, and firmness.
• Embrace and effectively utilize software and technological platforms that support effective exhibition management, including TMS, Microsoft Office, Wrike (or other project management software), and other systems as appropriate.
• Lead by example through accountability, transparency, and collegiality.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a United States Citizen.
• This employer participates in the e-Verify program.
• Males must abide by Selective Service registration requirements.
• See "Other Information" section regarding Selective Service requirements.

Your resume serves as the basis for qualification determinations and must highlight your most relevant and significant work experience and education (if applicable) as it relates to this job opportunity. 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). Your resume must include the dates of all qualifying experience (from month/year to month/year) and the number of hours worked/volunteered per week.

To ensure compliance with an applicable preliminary nationwide injunction, which may be supplemented, modified, or vacated, depending on the course of ongoing litigation, the Federal Government will take no action to implement or enforce the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to Executive Order 14043 on Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees. Therefore, to the extent a Federal job announcement includes the requirement that applicants must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 pursuant to E.O. 14043, that requirement does not currently apply. Federal agencies may request information regarding the vaccination status of selected applicants for the purposes of implementing other workplace safety protocols, such as protocols related to masking, physical distancing, testing, travel, and quarantine.

Qualifications

Candidates must meet the Qualification Standards Handbook requirements for the GS-1016-15.

Candidates must possess at least one year of specialized experience, equivalent in responsibility to the federal GS-14 level, responsible supervising and coordinating the planning and administration of all temporary exhibitions and installations at an art museum, including negotiation of loans, establishment of additional participants and venues, financial planning, oversight of the Exhibition Planning Process (EPP), and personnel management. 

Your application and resume must demonstrate that you possess the following knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs). Do not provide a separate narrative written statement. Rather, you must show in your résumé how your past work experience demonstrates that you possess the KSAs identified below. If asked to do so, cite specific examples of employment or experience contained in your resume and describe how this experience has prepared you to successfully perform the duties of this position. DO NOT write "see resume" in your application!

Those applicants who meet the minimum qualification requirements will be evaluated against these factors to determine the best-qualified candidates.

1. Mastery knowledge of administrative operations related to special exhibitions and temporary installations in art museums.
2. Mastery knowledge of and demonstrated experience in direct administration of international loan exhibitions within an art museum environment, with demonstrated knowledge of U.S. and foreign government indemnity programs, matters relating to immunity from seizure, negotiation of loan agreements, and other aspects of the professional administration of exhibitions.
3. Demonstrated experience supervising and effectively managing staff within a federal environment, actively addressing performance strengths and deficiencies.
4. Experience with and aptitude for a variety of software programs including Microsoft Office, The Museum System (TMS), and project management software such as Wrike.

 "Experience" refers to paid and unpaid experience. Examples of qualifying unpaid experience may include: volunteer work done through National Service programs (such as Peace Corps and AmeriCorps); as well as work for other community-based philanthropic and social organizations. 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.

Time-in-Grade: Current Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement to receive consideration under merit promotion procedures.

CTAP/ICTAP candidates: To be considered "well qualified" you must meet all of the requirements as described in this section.

You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date 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 and rated under the Category Rating and Selection procedures. The quality categories are defined as "Best Qualified", "Well Qualified", and "Qualified".

Based on your responses to the job-specific self-assessment questions, eligible candidates are placed for selection consideration into one of three pre-defined quality categories as described below:

Best Qualified Category - In addition to meeting minimum qualifications for the position, candidates must fully demonstrate proficiency in all major aspects of the position.

Well Qualified Category - In addition to meeting minimum qualifications, candidates must demonstrate proficiency in some, but not all of the major aspects of the position.

Qualified Category - In addition to meeting minimum qualifications, applicants must demonstrate a basic level of knowledge, skill and ability of the position.

If you are eligible for career transition assistance plans such as ICTAP or CTAP, you must meet the definition of "well qualified" which is defined as having a score of 85 or better.

Application of Veterans Preference: The Category Rating Method 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 pre-defined quality category. Preference eligibles who meet minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent (i.e., CPS and CP) must be listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher.

If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses you provided in your online questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation before the vacancy closes, you may be rated 'ineligible', 'not qualified', or your score may be adjusted accordingly.