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Staff Curator

Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Washington Area Support Office (WASO)
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located in Harpers Ferry Center for Media Services in the Office of Media Development. The incumbent performs developmental assignments under closer than normal supervison.

Open to the first 75 applicants or until 09/06/2023 whichever comes first. All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
08/23/2023 to 08/31/2023
This job will close when we have received 75 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Salary
$78,592 to - $122,459 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 11 - 12
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Harpers Ferry, WV
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
25% or less - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
12
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
WO-1614-HFC-23-12016809-DE
Control number
744882800

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Duties

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The major duties of the Staff Curator position include, but are not limited to the following:
  • Participates in basic site visits, determines availability of graphic and artifact resources, develops specific communication goals and objectives, and produces a package of reference materials for the development of design concepts.
  • Researches park and project themes and resources, researches and implements plans for furnished historic interiors by independently conducting primary source research, participates in multi-media interpretive planning to ensure accuracy of material culture, locates and acquires period.
  • Develops historically furnished spaces to reflect a building type and style from all periods of our nation's history.
  • Prepares reports for furnished historic interiors, develops narrative support to amplify media concept presentations, writes complex interpretive themes, and integrates narrative and informational text with NPS interpretive principles and design products.
  • Collaborates with park staff, project managers, conservators, media specialists, and contractors to develop project scope, schedules, budgets and staffing needs and provides technical assistance to parks regarding historic furnishings planning and production, and interpretive media planning, design, and development.
  • Develops project scope, schedules, budgets, staffing needs that best satisfy NPS and park goals and objectives for interpreting sites and stories and serves as Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) to establish and manage the creative direction of contracted media products.
Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship required.
  • Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
  • Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males.
  • Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
  • If you are a new employee or supervisor in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period.
  • You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 5 nights per month. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
  • You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority..
  • The position to which you will be appointed is subject to a financial disclosure reporting requirement and you will be required to complete a new entrant Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 450) within 30 days of your appointment.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-09/06/2023-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (month/year), and the resume must reflect full and/or part-time or total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time). If part-time, the hours must be annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount of qualified specialized experience.

SELECTIVE FACTOR: This position performs work requiring an in-depth knowledge of American history, culture, and archeology and a specialty knowledge of the decorative and utilitarian arts and technology sufficient to describe and authenticate museum collections is required Candidates who do not meet this requirement by close of this announcement will receive no further consideration for this position.

To qualify for this position, you must possess at least one or all of the following basic requirements by the closing date of the announcement:
A. Degree: museum work; or in an applicable subject-matter field. -OR-
B. Combination of education and experience -- courses equivalent to a major, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. -OR-
C. Four years of experience that provided knowledge comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of the 4-year course of study as shown in A above.

- AND -

To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level, you must possess one or all of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:

EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience must include the following activities: Produces packages of reference materials for the development of design concepts, participates in multi-media interpretive planning to ensure accuracy of material culture, distills and communicates complex concepts in a form easily understood by diverse audiences, and manages the creative direction of contracted media products, such as indoor and outdoor exhibits. You must include hours per week worked. -OR-

EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. You must include transcripts. -OR-

Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. You must include transcripts.

To qualify for this position at the GS-12 grade level, you must possess the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:

EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience must include the following activities: Produces packages of reference materials for the development of design concepts, participates in multi-media interpretive planning to ensure accuracy of material culture, distills and communicates complex concepts in a form easily understood by diverse audiences, manages the creative direction of contracted media products, such as indoor and outdoor exhibits, researches and prepares reports and implementation plans for furnished historic interiors by independently conducting primary source research, provides direct assistance to the field by inspecting furnished and unfurnished historic structures and recommending improvements in interpretation and operation, and arranges and oversees installation of historic furnishings exhibits. You must include hours per week worked.

There is no substitution of education for experience at the GS-12 grade level.

You must include months, years and hours per week worked to receive credit for your work and/or volunteer experience. One year of specialized experience is equivalent to 12 months at 40 hours per week. Part-time hours are prorated. You will not receive any credit for experience that does not indicate exact hours per week or is listed as "varies". Experience listed as full-time will be credited at 40 hours per week.

Volunteer Experience: 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.

Education

To qualify based on education, you must submit a legible copy of transcripts from an accredited institution with your name, school name, credit hours, course level, major(s), and grade-point average or class ranking. Transcripts do not need to be official, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.

If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet qualification requirements, you must show that your education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.



Additional information

A selectee receiving a first appointment to the Federal Government (Civil Service) is entitled only to the lowest step of the grade for which selected the display of a salary range on this vacancy shall not be construed as granting an entitlement to a higher rate of pay.

A Recruitment Incentive May Be Authorized for a newly selected employee when appointed to a permanent, temporary, or term position. A Federal employee who is transferring to the National Park Service from another component, bureau or Federal agency and who does not meet the conditions under 5 CFR 575.102 is not eligible for a recruitment incentive.

A Relocation Incentive May Be Authorized for a Federal employee when the employee must move, as directed by the National Park Service (NPS) either through a management directed reassignment or selection for employment, to a different location at least 50 miles away from the one where his/her position of record held at time of selection is currently located, due to a need of the NPS. A relocation incentive is not the same as a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) move and, as such, may be granted in conjunction with one another.

This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if identical vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.

Promotion to the full performance level is neither guaranteed nor implied and will be based solely on your ability to satisfactorily perform the work of the position, existing work at the higher grade level, and recommendation by the position's supervisor.

Physical Demands: The work of this position involves walking and standing for long periods of time while in the parks during scoping and pre-design activities, and final/post inspection phases; ability to lift up to 20 pounds. Travel to parks may expose incumbent to a varying range of temperatures, conditions, and physical exertion much of which can be controlled by advance planning. Work can be stressful due to multiple projects demands and deadlines.

Working Conditions: Work is generally performed in an office setting. Frequent travel to project sites, other design offices or fabricators is expected.

The National Park Service has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.


How you will be evaluated

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

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the additional assessments required for this position. A review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the Assessment Questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job. If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses provided in the Assessment Questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation, you will be rated 'ineligible', 'not qualified', or your score will be adjusted accordingly. If a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications or experience, you can lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully; errors or omissions can affect your rating.

Candidates will be rated and ranked using Category Rating procedures. These procedures place candidates with veteran's preference above non-preference eligibles within each category. Veterans with a service-connected disability of at least 10 percent are listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher. Under Category Rating, candidates will be rated and ranked into one of three categories:

  • Best Qualified - applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are highly proficient in all requirements of the job and can perform effectively in the position.
  • Well Qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in most of the requirements of the job
  • Qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in some, but not all of the requirements of the job.
You will be evaluated on the following competencies:
  • Customer Service
  • History and Archaeology
  • Project Management
  • Research
  • Writing
In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires successful completion of additional assessments, including a structured interview. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job.

Writing samples may be requested during the interview process.

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