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-JS-308184-MPA-NMAH More than one selection may be made from this announcement.

This position is located in the Preservation Services at the National Museum of American History (NMAH).  Preservation Services supports long-term collections preservation and access by managing programs in conservation treatment, documentation, and research; providing preservation training and guidance on collection care; partnering with the Office of Facilities Management and Reliability (OFMR) to monitor environmental conditions, and managing collection disaster response.

In this position, you will:

• Serve as the conservation coordinator among the conservation labs and on loan and exhibit teams.
• Develop conservation plans and schedules for the projects and track the conservation work against the overarching project plans and provide feedback on conservation-related aspects of exhibit and loan plans.
• Carry out conservation work on objects with the highest degree of variability and complexity in structures, materials, significance, age, and condition.
• Oversee and develop annual staffing plans, conduct formal and informal evaluations of all staff, make recommendations for further staff development, coach and counsel staff to ensure a civil work environment, encourage a team-based approach to project planning and implementation, prepare adverse or disciplinary actions, and recruit new staff.

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.

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 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

Specialize Experience: You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 level in the Federal Service.  For this position, specialized experience is defined as performing independent coordination and organization of multiple conservation projects related to museum exhibits and loans.

In addition to meeting the specialized experience above, all applicants must submit a digital portfolio in PDF format consisting of no more than fifty (50) pages.  Failure to submit your portfolio will result in loss of consideration.

1. All work in the portfolio, including all documents and photographs, must have been created by the candidate and be of the candidate’s own work. Documents, photographs, or work created or performed by someone other than the candidate are not acceptable. All text in the documents must be easily readable—use fonts such as Times New Roman size 11, Ariel size 10, Calibri size 11, or above.
2. The portfolio must include conservation reports of at least five (5) but no more than ten (10) conservation treatments of historic or artistic works.
3. Each conservation report must document the object’s condition and include the treatment proposal, final treatment report, and appropriate photographic information and documentation of before, during (as needed), and after treatment images. At least one (1) of the conservation reports must document the scientific investigation and analysis of the object’s materials or deterioration products. The scientific documentation must include the methods of investigation and analysis used with all pertinent information, such as tables/graphs/charts, etc. appropriate to the methods used.
4. The conservation reports must represent the candidate’s experience in conserving a variety of historic or artistic works, object materials, and various treatment materials, methods, and techniques.

Candidates are to assemble work into a multi-page PDF document labeled [Name]_Cons_GS11_NMAH.  The quality of the presentation of the portfolio shall be a factor in its evaluation. 

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.

How you will be evaluated

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

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:

• Knowledge of project management concepts and processes in order to organize, sequence, track, and communicate about the conservation component of exhibits and loans within a team environment.
• Knowledge in reviewing, assessing, planning, scheduling and advising on conservation requirements for exhibits and loans.
• Knowledge in performing conservation treatment on a wide variety of objects (objects, paper, or textiles).
• Skill in supervision in order to oversee the establishment of goals, articulation of priorities, development of schedules and checklists, and the assignment of tasks.

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.