Clarification from the agency

This position is open to all U.S. Citizens or U.S. Nationals. Note: Federal employees with permanent status or individuals eligible for special appointing authorities may also apply to Job Announcement #23R-MP-308277-MPA-NMAFA. More than one selection may be made from this announcement.

The Assistant Registrar is responsible for Collections Management activities in the areas of accessioning and deaccessioning, incoming and outgoing loans, object movement, packing and shipping, care, handling, and storage of objects in the museum’s custody, as well as the ethical and legal documentation issues associated with these activities.

In this position you will:

• Maintain primary responsibility for coordinating the safe movement and storage of works of art within the museum and offsite storage.
• Coordinate the efficient function of storage spaces, including arrangement of cyclical cleaning, and equipment maintenance.  
• Provide support with Museum collection deposits and acquisitions, and all documentation and tracking processes.
• Assist with domestic and international loans to and from the Museum and ensures the accountability of all National Museum of African Art (NMAfA) collection objects under loan contract. 
• Assist the Museum's exhibition team with the installation and deinstallation of temporary and permanent exhibitions.

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.

Qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement.

For information on qualification requirements, see Qualification Standards Handbook for General Schedule Positions on OPM website.

Qualifications

Experience:  All applicants must meet the Selective Factor and the Specialized Experience requirements in order to be minimally qualified for this position. Your application must show written evidence of both requirements:  

Selective Factor Requirement:

Must have demonstrated knowledge of the principles, best practices and processes of registration and collections management in a museum or cultural institution.

In addition to meeting the Selective Factor above

Specialized Experience Requirement GS-09 :  You qualify for this position if you possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-7 level in the Federal Service or comparable pay band system.  For this position Specialized experience is defined as coordinating the safe movement and storage of works of art; coordinating logistics for, reviewing, and documenting loans; receiving shipments for incoming loans and acquisitions deposits; and assisting with the installation and deinstallation of museum exhibitions.

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.

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.

Or Education:

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

Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work.

One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement.

Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended.

Or a Combination: Education and experience may be combined to meet the basic qualifications. 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.

How you will be evaluated

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

How You will be Evaluated:

• Applicants for this position may be evaluated in multiple stages. The first stage is an evaluation of your responses to the online multiple-choice questions that assess your experience, education, and/or training for the job-related competencies below:
• Ability to supervise a team and mentor/coach in a professional setting.
• Knowledge of and skill to developing, delivering, evaluating and scaling programs.
• Knowledge and skill to Identify and develop key cross-disciplinary, external partnerships on the African continent and in the diaspora to strategically enhance the relevance, reach and impact of content and in the diaspora to strategically enhance the relevance, reach and impact of content and programs.
• Skill to communicate engagement impact stories internally and externally to museum and Smithsonian leadership, trustees, external partners, and donors.

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.