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Museum Specialist(Art) (Curatorial Assistant)

National Gallery of Art
This job announcement has closed

Summary

The division is comprised of five departments, including American and British Paintings, French Paintings, Italian and Spanish Paintings, Northern European Paintings, and Sculpture and Decorative Arts, under the direction of the Senior Curator of European and American Art. The incumbent reports to and performs a variety of duties of an administrative and curatorial nature assigned by the Senior Curator, the Curator of Northern European Paintings, and curators of Sculpture and Decorative Arts.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open date: 01/13/2023
Closed date: 01/27/2023
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$64,957 - $84,441 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 09
Promotion potential
11
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
Not required
Appointment type
Permanent
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Other
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Announcement number
NGA-23-043-DE
Control number
699981200

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

United States citizens and nationals

Duties

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As the Museum Specialist (Art), you will:

  1. Administrative operations and clerical support of the department: manages office and telephone reception and mail; maintains records and files; maintains office supplies, requisitions, and equipment; drafts, edits, proofreads, and/or produces departmental correspondence; makes travel arrangements; creates travel budgets, itineraries, and expense reports.  Schedules appointments and meetings for members of the department; reserves meeting spaces and equipment as needed.  Responsible for relaying information pertaining to changes in administrative procedures, travel policies, correspondence format, equipment, software, and related matters to the Head and other members of the Department. 
  2. Assists with coordination of tasks related to the permanent collection, exhibitions, art acquisitions, and loans. As assigned: coordinates with registrars, collectors, dealers, donors, photo lab, & conservation lab; initiates new photography; coordinates movement of art within the Gallery and, on occasion, couriers loans to & from other museums. Prepares materials for curatorial and trustee board meetings; prepares art advice forms & related paperwork for works of art considered for acquisition.
  3. Public service and collegiality: responds to inquiries and requests regarding collections and exhibitions; escorts visitors to the study room and monitors and assists the Collections Manager with visitors during their study room appointments and related duties as assigned, represents the department in contacts with both the general public and professionals; facilitates good communication and good working relationships within and outside the Gallery; observes confidentiality; acts as primary initial contact for visitors.
  4. Electronic Information Management: uses Microsoft Office programs; The Museum System; digital cameras and image scanners; maintains electronic files and databases; assists curatorial staff with computers and other equipment.
  5. Provides research assistance on objects in the permanent collection, exhibition loans, and potential art acquisitions.

Requirements

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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-301-9. A qualified candidate's online application and resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is at least one year of experience (combined), equivalent in responsibility to the GS-7 grade level in the Federal service, working in both a legal office and a museum or other cultural institution.

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. Skill in performing a variety of office management and administrative support in an art museum such as preparing business correspondence, scheduling appointments and arranging meetings, organizing and managing paper and electronic filing systems, travel arrangements, and expense/budget tracking, and keeping track of ongoing projects.
  2. Understanding of basic collections management, including art handling procedures as well as art handling experience.
  3. Ability to communicate with a wide variety of people, verbally and in writing, with accuracy and in a diplomatic and tactful manner.
  4. Skill in using Microsoft Office software (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams) for personal computers, Zoom, Adobe products, and image scanners; remote access, virtual meetings; project management software such as Wrike, and as well as art-related databases, and collections management databases such as The Museum System.
  5. Knowledge of the history of art with emphasis on Old Master and 19th-century European paintings and sculpture, basic art historical research methods, especially in archival research and online scholarly database systems.

 "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.

Education

2 full academic years of progressively higher level graduate education or master's or equivalent graduate degree related to the position. Related fields of study include art history, museum studies, archives management. 

Additional information

The National Gallery of Art fosters a diverse and inclusive workplace and is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

• More than one selection may be made from this vacancy announcement.

• Some positions may require completion of a probationary period of up to 1 (one) year.

AN EXTERNAL SELECTED CANDIDATE MUST BE FINGERPRINTED AND RECEIVE A BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION, RESULTING IN A SATISFACTORY SUITABILITY DETERMINATION BEFORE BEING HIRED FOR THIS POSITION.

• All males born after December 31st 1959 must abide by laws regarding Selective Service registration. To learn more about this law, visit the Selective Service web page, Who Must Register. If you are not registered and don't have an approved exemption, you will not be eligible for employment with the Federal government.

EEO Policy: https://help.usajobs.gov/index.php/EEO_Policy_Statement

Reasonable Accommodation Policy: https://help.usajobs.gov/index.php/Reasonable_Accommodation_Policy_Statement

Veterans Information: https://help.usajobs.gov/index.php/Veterans_Information

Selective Service Registration: http://www.sss.gov/

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.                                                                                             


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National Gallery of Art

The National Gallery of Art was conceived and given to the people of the United States by Andrew W. Mellon (1855–1937). Mellon was a financier and art collector from Pittsburgh who came to Washington in 1921 to serve as secretary of the treasury. During his years of public service he came to believe that the United States should have a national art museum equal to those of other great nations.

Agency contact information

Jamaal Carrington
Phone
202-842-6290
Fax
000-000-0000
Email
j-carrington@nga.gov
Address
National Gallery of Art
4th and Constitution Avenue NW,
Washington, District of Columbia 20565
United States

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