The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex, consisting of 21 museums and galleries, the National Zoological Park, nine research facilities and the Smithsonian Libraries. The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) is the nation’s first collection of American art offers an unparalleled record of the American experience, capturing the aspirations, character and imagination of the American people throughout three centuries.
Summary
The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex, consisting of 21 museums and galleries, the National Zoological Park, nine research facilities and the Smithsonian Libraries. The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) is the nation’s first collection of American art offers an unparalleled record of the American experience, capturing the aspirations, character and imagination of the American people throughout three centuries.
The Objects Conservator will monitor the condition of and treat works of art in the SAAM collection as well as educate the public on the importance of conservation.
In this position, you will:
Performs independent technical examinations of works of art submitted to the lab to determine their condition, including the kind and extent of deterioration and treatment needed if any, examines works considered for purchase to determine state of preservation and treatment that would be required to make the artwork exhibitable, and visual examination is supplemented by use of ultraviolet light, infra-red light, radiography, microscopy, and chemical testing to identify materials used such as pigments, grounds, size, and surface coatings.
Performs extremely delicate treatments and operations on fragile artworks which suffer from damage and deterioration, including cleaning, repairing, lining, consolidation, filling, in-painting, varnishing, proper matting and framing, and other conservation procedures.
Consults with other experts, including curators, registrars, exhibition staff, and conservation scientists, provides expertise on climate control, light intensity, storage, and handling, and instructs and oversees museum staff, contractors, interns, and volunteers in art handling practices.
Attends and participates in professional national meetings and assists in staff training programs, including training and promoting conservation awareness on the part of the SAAM staff, fellows, and interns as well as training and supervising graduate conservation interns.
Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer
Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service.
Conditions of Employment: Work includes the everyday risk of a conservation lab, including contact with moderately hazardous chemicals and solutions. Incumbent complies with all regulatory safety requirements to ensure safety. Wears protective gear as required for the assigned task.
Physical Requirements: Work requires walking, standing, bending, lifting, and carrying moderately heavy items (up to 40pounds) including artwork, removable tabletops, and weights. Manual dexterity and excellent eyesight, color matching and depth perception are also required.
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
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 using diagnostic tools such as X-rays, UV, or microscopes to examine and evaluate the condition of three-dimensional art objects in a variety of media; documenting and photographing the condition of artworks, developing and performing conservation treatment plans for artworks in accordance with AIC ethical standards; and advising on emergency response, safe storage, handling or display requirements in a museum, historic site, or similar setting.
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: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related.
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.
Education
This position does not have a positive education requirement.
Additional information
This position is included in the bargaining unit.
Current or Former Political Appointees: Beginning January 1, 2010, agencies must seek prior approval from OPM before they can appoint a current or recent political appointee to a competitive or non-political excepted service position at any level under the provisions of title 5, United States Code. If you are currently or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, or Non-career SES employee in the executive branch, you MUST disclose that to the Office of Human Resources. Submit a copy of your applicable SF-50, along with a statement that provides the following information regarding your most recent political appointment:
Position title;
Type of appointment (Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES, or Presidential Appointee);
Agency; and,
Beginning and ending dates of appointment.
Recruitment Incentive: Recruitment incentive(s) may be authorized for this position. However, approval for incentives are contingent upon various availability. If authorized, certain incentives will require the incumbent to sign a service agreement to remain in the Federal government for a certain time period.
Note: This statement does not imply nor guarantee an incentive will be offered and paid.
The Smithsonian offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, vacation and sick leave, holidays, health/life insurance, accident insurance, and excellent retirement program options.
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:
Ability to use diagnostic tools to examine and document the condition and construction of a variety of art objects.
Skill in conserving a variety of art objects and materials such as wood, metal, stone, glass, craft objects, folk art, plaster, plastics, and mixed media, including different conservation materials and techniques, response to environmental damage and assessment and prioritization of damage and treatments.
Ability to monitor, advise and instruct others on the safe handling, storage and display of artworks.
Ability to prepare and present information on conservation activities to public and professional audiences.
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.
The Smithsonian offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, vacation and sick leave, holidays, health/life insurance, accident insurance, and excellent retirement program options.
Your application package should include the following documents:
Resume - Your resume can be uploaded and attached to your application or created using the USA Jobs on-line resume builder. Ensure your resume contains the job title (including the occupational series and grade if it is Federal), job-related qualifications, starting and ending dates (month and year), hours worked per week, and salary for each employment period. It is your responsibility to ensure all information is submitted. Failure to include this information may result in disqualification for the position.
For assistance with creating a resume, please click here.
Proof of Veteran's Preference - DD214 (Member 4 Copy), if you are a veteran. Additionally, applicants claiming 10-point preference must complete Standard Form (SF) 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, as well as additional documentation required by the SF-15, such as a VA letter.
Unofficial school transcripts, if the position has an education requirement or if you are using education to qualify. If selected for the position, you must provide an official transcript before appointment.
Proof of U.S. accreditation for foreign study, if applicable.
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
Click on the "Apply Online" button on the upper right side of the page. Please Note:
You must apply for this position online through the 'Apply Online' button and submit required supplemental documents (if they are relevant to you).
You may submit required documents by uploading them online during the application process.
The complete application package, including any required documents, is due in the Smithsonian Office of Human Resources on the closing date of the announcement by 11:59 PM Eastern Time.
If you are unable to apply online, paper applications may be accepted with prior approval of the Contact Person listed below.
SMITHSONIAN
Office of Human Resources
POB 37012, 600 Maryland Avenue, MRC 517
Suite 5060
Washington, District of Columbia 20013-7012
United States
Next steps
At the end of the application process you will be able to create and save a PDF file that contains your responses to the assessment questions. You may save this file as initial receipt of your application. After the job announcement closes, you will receive an email from the Smithsonian with confirmation of receipt. The Smithsonian receives many applications for each job. Each application is reviewed carefully which may take a few weeks. We will send you an e-mail to update you as we go through phases of the application review process. You may also check your application status by logging into www.usajobs.gov and selecting the tab "My USAJOBS;" e-mailing vacancy.info@si.edu; or by contacting the Office of Human Resources Representative listed. Additional Information:
Your application package should include the following documents:
Resume - Your resume can be uploaded and attached to your application or created using the USA Jobs on-line resume builder. Ensure your resume contains the job title (including the occupational series and grade if it is Federal), job-related qualifications, starting and ending dates (month and year), hours worked per week, and salary for each employment period. It is your responsibility to ensure all information is submitted. Failure to include this information may result in disqualification for the position.
For assistance with creating a resume, please click here.
Proof of Veteran's Preference - DD214 (Member 4 Copy), if you are a veteran. Additionally, applicants claiming 10-point preference must complete Standard Form (SF) 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, as well as additional documentation required by the SF-15, such as a VA letter.
Unofficial school transcripts, if the position has an education requirement or if you are using education to qualify. If selected for the position, you must provide an official transcript before appointment.
Proof of U.S. accreditation for foreign study, if applicable.
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
Click on the "Apply Online" button on the upper right side of the page. Please Note:
You must apply for this position online through the 'Apply Online' button and submit required supplemental documents (if they are relevant to you).
You may submit required documents by uploading them online during the application process.
The complete application package, including any required documents, is due in the Smithsonian Office of Human Resources on the closing date of the announcement by 11:59 PM Eastern Time.
If you are unable to apply online, paper applications may be accepted with prior approval of the Contact Person listed below.
SMITHSONIAN
Office of Human Resources
POB 37012, 600 Maryland Avenue, MRC 517
Suite 5060
Washington, District of Columbia 20013-7012
United States
Next steps
At the end of the application process you will be able to create and save a PDF file that contains your responses to the assessment questions. You may save this file as initial receipt of your application. After the job announcement closes, you will receive an email from the Smithsonian with confirmation of receipt. The Smithsonian receives many applications for each job. Each application is reviewed carefully which may take a few weeks. We will send you an e-mail to update you as we go through phases of the application review process. You may also check your application status by logging into www.usajobs.gov and selecting the tab "My USAJOBS;" e-mailing vacancy.info@si.edu; or by contacting the Office of Human Resources Representative listed. Additional Information:
