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Museum Curator

Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Mount Rushmore National Memorial
This job announcement has closed

Summary

The purpose of this position is provide direction over extensive museum collections and carry out responsibilities in the four museum functions of collections, exhibits, research, and education.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
11/14/2022 to 11/29/2022
This job will close when we have received 30 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Salary
$54,727 to - $86,074 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 9 - 11
Location
Keystone, SD
1 vacancy
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 5 nights per month. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
Yes—You may qualify for reimbursement of relocation expenses in accordance with agency policy.
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time - You may be required to work shifts, weekends, evenings, holidays and/or overtime.
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
11
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
MW-1542-MORU-23-11683550-ST
Control number
683975300

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Duties

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Implements the professional and technical administration for the museum and archive collection program. Assists in planning and implementing recommendations for programming priorities of the museum management function.
Conducts assigned work in compliance with the NPS museum property accountability rules. Supports consultation with all divisions to assure the park's compliance with legislative requirements, DOI and NPS policy dealing with preservation of museum objects and archive material.
Consults with Tribal cultural groups on the management of collections and park projects.
Assists with the preparation of historic preservation documentation, compliance and background materials as required by Section 106 and Section 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
Executes segments of collections research required to meet NHPA, NAGPRA, NPS guidelines, and the research needs of the park.
Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level.

Physical Demands: The work requires mental alertness, better than average manual dexterity, and mobility. Although primarily sedentary, inspections and operations evaluations involve activities demanding a certain amount of exertion such as walking, climbing, crawling, lifting of heavy objects, bending, stooping, and reaching. Working with collections can involve prolonged exposure to hazardous
materials and equipment. Working with lighting systems, environmental control systems, and alarm systems can involve exposure to electrical current and the use of power tools with physical hazards. The work entails the ability to concentrate for long periods of time.

Working Conditions: Most of the work is performed in an office and storage or laboratory facility. Frequent visits are made to the library, visitor center, and other museums in the park. The incumbent makes occasional field trips to the backcountry. Some travel to other facilities and museums, as well as to training and professional meetings is required.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship required.
  • Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
  • Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males.
  • Complete the initial online assessment and USAHire Assessment, if required.
  • Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
  • Any individual who is currently holding, or has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet time-in-grade requirements (must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent in the Federal service). Time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal civilian employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.
  • You may be required to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of your official duties. Prior to your first official motor vehicle operation, and again every year thereafter (or more frequently if management determines such need exists), you will be required to sign an affidavit certifying to your possession of a valid State issued driver's license that is current and has not been revoked, suspended, canceled, or otherwise disqualified in any way to prohibit your operation of a motor vehicle. You will also submit a photocopy of your valid State issued driver's license prior to your first official motor vehicle operation, and again every year, or more frequently if management determines such need exists. Lastly, you may be required to submit (within a State sealed envelope or submitted directly by the State authorities), and at your own expense, all certified driving records from all States that discloses all valid driver's licenses, whether current or past, possessed by you. Please indicate in your application whether you possess a valid State driver's license.
  • You will be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
  • If you are a new employee or supervisor in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period.
  • Government housing is not available.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-11/29/2022-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of specialized experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience.

For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected.

Individual Occupational Requirements
Basic Requirement

Degree:Have successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in museum studies, archaeology, anthropology, history, or similar area of cultural resources management.
-OR-
Combination of education and experience - where 24 semester hours related to courses equivalent to a major, in museum studies, archaeology, anthropology, history, or similar area of cultural resources management, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
-OR-
Four (4) years of experience that provided knowledge comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of the 4-year course of study as shown above.

- AND -
To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:

EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience includes performing collections management, registration, cataloging, research, preservation, restoration, or conservation of collections of museum material, or other experience related to the position to be filled. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least one (1) year of experience; however, I have a 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. related to museum studies, archaeology, anthropology, history, or similar area of cultural resources management. IMPORTANT - PLEASE NOTE: If you are using education to qualify you must document your coursework and/or degree completed in your resume or other application materials you submit. You must submit a copy of your transcripts, or a complete list of college courses taken that identifies for each course the college or university, semester or quarter hours earned, grade received, and date completed. If you are qualifying based on education and you do not submit specific coursework information as described previously, your application will be rated not qualified for consideration. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, I have 6 months of specialized experience (50% of the experience requirements for this position and grade level) combined with one year of education as outlined above (50% of the education required to qualify. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include transcripts.

To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:

EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience includes the operation or management of a museum or similar collection of valuable objects. Examples of qualifying specialized experience involving museum program management and project management of a more complex nature, working independently. Experience in long term planning and management of museum collections, archeological collections, at a park, regional repository, or similar (e.g., museum, museum facility); (ii) Museum database management including ICMS/Re: Discovery or similar (e.g., Past Perfect, Arctos, etc.). This experience must demonstrate a broad knowledge of and experience with applying the theories, principles, practices, and techniques of museum collection management. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least three (3) years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree, or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in education or another field of study directly related to the work of this position such as museum studies, archaeology, anthropology, history, or similar area of cultural resources management. (You MUST submit a copy of your transcripts indicating degree earned and credit hours in order to qualify based on education). You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, I have six months of specialized experience (50% of the experience requirement), and 45 semester hours, or 68 quarter hours of directly related graduate education (50% of the education requirement). (You MUST submit a copy of your transcripts indicating degree earned and credit hours in order to qualify based on education).The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include transcripts.

Volunteer Experience: 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). 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.

Education

To qualify based on education, you must submit a legible copy of transcripts from an accredited institution with your name, school name, credit hours, course level, major(s), and grade-point average or class ranking. Transcripts do not need to be official, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.

If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet qualification requirements, you must show that your education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.

Additional information

A selectee receiving a first appointment to the Federal Government (Civil Service) is entitled only to the lowest step of the grade for which selected. The display of a salary range on this vacancy shall not be construed as granting an entitlement to a higher rate of pay.

A Recruitment Incentive May Be Authorized for a newly selected employee when appointed to a permanent, temporary, or term position. A Federal employee who is transferring to the National Park Service from another component, bureau or Federal agency and who does not meet the conditions under 5 CFR §575.102 is not eligible for a recruitment incentive.

A Relocation Incentive May Be Authorized for a Federal employee when the employee must move, as directed by the National Park Service (NPS) either through a management directed reassignment or selection for employment, to a different location at least 50 miles away from the one where his/her position of record held at time of selection is currently located, due to a need of the NPS. A relocation incentive is not the same as a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) move and, as such, may be granted in conjunction with one another.

This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if identical vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.

Promotion to the full performance level is neither guaranteed nor implied and will be based solely on your ability to satisfactorily perform the work of the position, existing work at the higher grade level, and recommendation by the position's supervisor.

The National Park Service has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Reasonable_Accommodations_for_USA_Hire

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document that you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application. Click the following link for more information, https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Alternate_Application_Information.

How you will be evaluated

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

A review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the Assessment Questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job. If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses provided in the Assessment Questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation, you will be rated 'ineligible', 'not qualified', or your score will be adjusted accordingly. If a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications or experience, you can lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully; errors or omissions can affect your rating.

Candidates who apply under Competitive Merit Promotion procedures will undergo a quality review to determine if they are highly qualified based on the content of their resume and their responses to the questionnaire. Best qualified candidates will be referred if all required supporting documentation has been provided.

Candidates who apply under Noncompetitive Merit Promotion procedures will undergo a quality review to determine if they are minimally qualified based on the content of their resume and their responses to the questionnaire. Qualified candidates will be referred if all required supporting documentation has been provided.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your responses to the online assessments completed during the application process. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics):

  • Attention to Detail
  • Communications and Media
  • Decision Making
  • Flexibility
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Knowledge Management
  • Learning
  • Manages Resources
  • Organizational Development
  • Planning and Evaluating
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork


In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.

Please submit 1) a copy of your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation and 2) a list of any awards (e.g. superior performance awards, special act or achievement awards, quality step increase, etc.) you received in the last 5 years. Any performance appraisal/evaluation and award documentation you provide will be forwarded to the selecting official. The selecting official will review this documentation and give it due weight consideration during the overall selection process.

If you do not have your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation, please submit a statement as to why it is not available. Please indicate if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level.

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