Clarification from the agency

This position is open to all U.S. Citizens or U.S. Nationals. Note: Vacancy open Government-Wide under Job Announcement # 23R-TK-308530-MPA-NPM. More than one selection may be made from this announcement.

The Archivist is responsible for assessing, organizing, cataloging, and providing access to NPM’s archival holdings at the museum and at off-site storage. 

In this position you will:

• Gain intellectual and administrative control over archival material at the National Postal Museum.
• Survey, reappraise, and physically consolidate archival holdings and make recommendations on space needs for storing, processing, and providing access to NPM’s archival holdings.
• Implement best practices, create workflows, and provide guidance for public access to archival collections and provide research service in the area of postal history promptly and effectively to staff, to research scholars, and to members of the general public. 
• Manage archival collections in a database and produce finding aids.
• Consult with colleagues in Curatorial and Collections to develop and execute on a Collecting Plan that incorporates research needs and identifies gaps.
• Serve as liaison to Smithsonian Libraries and Archives and Smithsonian Online Virtual Archives.

Conditions of employment

• Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service.
• Pass Pre-employment Background Investigation.
• Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer.
• May need to complete a Probationary Period.

READVERTISEMENT - This position is being re-advertised.  Applicants who applied previously to 23R-TK-308011-DEU-NPM MUST reapply to be considered for this vacancy.

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. 

Qualifications

Basic Education Requirements:

Bachelor's degree in archival science or bachelor's degree with a major that includes 18 semester hours in archival science, history and/or in political science or government, and 12 semester hours in one or any combination of the following: archival science, history, American civilization, economics, political science, public administration, or government.

OR

Combination of education and experience - at least 30 semester hours that included courses as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

In the addition to meeting the Basic Education Requirements above:

Experience: You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-09 level in the Federal Service or comparable pay band system.  For this position Specialized Experience is defined as: Demonstrated experience assessing, organizing, and cataloging archival holdings in a museum-related, cultural, educational, or historical organization in the processing and appraising of collections, describing archival collections in finding aids, and making collections available to staff, researchers, and the public.

Or Education: 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or LL.M., if related.

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.

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.

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

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:

1. Ability to exercise administrative control over archival material at a museum-related, cultural, educational or historical organization.
2. Ability to enter data that meets data standards in database and generate finding aids via a database, gained through experience.
3. Ability to assess and reassess archival material and develop a Collecting Plan and solicit feedback from stakeholders gained through experience.
4. Ability to communicate effectively orally by presenting information to internal staff such as archivists, curators, collections managers, or conservators, external groups or individuals, gained through experience.

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 detailed information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed.