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Archivist

National Archives and Records Administration
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This is an Archivist position at the National Archives and Records Administration, serving in an organizational unit within the Office of Research Services under the Chief Operating Officer. The archivist will carry out complex professional assignments involving various media types (e.g. textual, motion picture, sound, photographic, or cartographic). Responsibilities may include accessioning, processing, preserving, digitizing, and providing access to the holdings of the National Archives.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
09/29/2023 to 10/10/2023
Salary
$53,105 to - $69,035 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 7
Location
2 vacancies in the following location:
College Park, MD
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
Recent graduates - Initial period of one year or more. Position may be converted to a permanent or term position.
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Excepted
Promotion potential
12
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
Trust determination process
Announcement number
Pathways-12035610-23-AD-X
Control number
752075700

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Open to U.S. Citizens/U.S. Nationals who are Recent graduates and have completed a degree or certificate from a qualifying education institution within the previous 2 years. Students who are within 9 months of graduating may apply. Veterans unable to apply within 2 years of receiving their degree, due to military service obligation, have a full 2-year eligibility period upon release or discharge from active duty. The eligibility period for veterans must be within 6 years of degree completion.

Duties

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The following includes duties for these positions at the GS-12. However, the position that you are applying for is at a lower grade. You will have the opportunity to learn to perform relevant duties and will receive training to help you grow in this position.

As an Archivist, you may:

  • Cooperate with staff in Preservation Programs and other qualified experts to establish preservation and conservation priorities and identify solutions to preservation challenges.
  • Coordinate activities associated with treatment and reformatting of records by qualified NARA staff or NARA-approved experts in other agencies or private organizations.
  • Develop and deliver responses (orally or in writing) to non-routine reference requests (including researcher requests, complex FOIAs , and Congressionals) that draw upon a broad knowledge of records, involve multiple sources of information, employ innovative research techniques, or require interpretation of complex rules or procedures.
  • Develop plans for processing records beyond the establishment of initial control; coordinate processing activities carried out by other NARA staff.
  • Interact with the researchers during in-person and virtual consultations. Familiarize researchers with existing finding aids and other related material such as the National Archives Catalog, and other subject area guides to media holdings.
  • Interpret complex descriptive standards and assist others in applying them. Increase access to records by screening records, and/or improving finding aids such as box and/or file lists, scope notes and other descriptive identifiers using NARA systems.
  • Plan and coordinate activities leading to the identification of records eligible for transfer; document the transfer of legal or physical custody of records from the records creator to the National Archives and Records Administration; resolve issues associated with transfers.
  • Recognize relationships among records transferred to the legal and/or physical custody of the National Archives and Records Administration, establish the boundaries of series, and determine appropriate record group allocation.
  • Review records and apply appropriate restrictions in compliance with EO 13526, the Freedom of Information Act, access rules of the House and Senate, copyright laws, or donor requirements.
  • Review transferred records to confirm their provenance and assure proper application of the records schedule or deed of gift that authorized their transfer; resolve uncertainties about the provenance of transferred records.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

- All selectees must sign a Pathways Participant Agreement.
- Subject to a trial period is required.
- Must successfully complete a background investigation.
- Complete a Declaration for Federal Employment to determine your suitability for Federal employment, at the time requested by the agency.
- If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System or are exempt from having to do so.
- Have your salary sent to a financial institution of your choice by Direct Deposit/Electronic Funds Transfer.
- Go through a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) process that requires two forms of identification from the Form I-9. Federal law requires verification of the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires in the U.S.
- Obtain and use a Government-issued charge card for business-related travel.
- PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The work is mostly sedentary, however the incumbent must be physically able to perform the duties of this position. Physical demands may include climbing caster-equipped ladders, maneuvering on catwalks, moving heavy carts of records, and handling boxes of records stored up to 15 feet above the floor and typically weighing 50 pounds, occasionally more. The work may also demand considerable periods of maintaining a stationary position, moving, or otherwise positioning oneself to access objects, equipment, or records located in high and low places.


Key Requirements:

  1. Please refer to "Conditions of Employment."
  2. Click "Print Preview" to review the entire announcement before applying.
  3. Must be U.S. Citizens or U.S. Nationals.
  4. Public Trust background investigation will be required.

Qualifications

You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

To be eligible for the Recent Graduates Program, applicants must have, within the previous 2 years*, completed all educational requirements for a qualifying associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying institution; [or intended graduation is no more than 9 months from date of application. (However, you must graduate prior to being appointed to the position.)] if applicable.

*Veterans who, due to a military service obligation, were precluded from applying to a Recent Graduates Program during any portion of the 2-year eligibility period may have their eligibility period extended so that they receive the full 2 years of eligibility. The remaining 2-year eligibility period will begin upon his or her release or discharge from active duty. The veteran's eligibility period may not extend beyond 6 years from the date of completion of all requirements of an academic course of study.

To be qualified for this position at the GS-7 level, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-5 level that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position.
Specialized experience for this position includes:
-Preforming archival functions, such as: accessioning, handling donations, processing or describing, or digitizing collections, monitoring, researching and managing documents; AND
-Experience communicating and assisting various audiences.

OR 1 year of graduate-level education; or superior academic achievement (A GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale for all completed undergraduate courses or those completed in the last 2 years of study, or a GPA of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale for all courses in the major field of study or those courses in the major completed in the last 2 years of study, or rank in the upper one third of the class in the college, university or major subdivision, or membership in a national honor society recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies.).

OR You may qualify by a combination of experience and education. To combine education and experience, the total percentage of experience at the required grade level compared to the requirement, as well as the percentage of completed education compared to the requirement must equal at least 100 percent. NOTE: Only education in excess of the basic education requirement (i.e., beyond bachelor's degree) is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement.

Education

Individual Occupational Requirement

Basic Education Requirement:

  • 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 above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
Education completed outside of the United States must be deemed equivalent to that gained in conventional/accredited U.S. education programs to be acceptable for Federal employment.

Additional information

  • We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies.
  • This announcement may be used to fill like positions in other organizations within the National Archives and Records Administration.
  • This is a non-bargaining unit position.
  • We offer opportunities for telework, per Agency policy.
  • We offer opportunities for alternative and flexible work schedules, per Agency policy.
  • This position may be converted non-competitively to a term or permanent position in the competitive service.

WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE PATHWAYS PROGRAM? For additional information regarding the Pathways Program, please refer to the following website: www.usajobs.gov/StudentsAndGrads.Education generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

How you will be evaluated

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

Your application includes your resume, responses to the online questions, and required supporting documents. Please be sure that your resume includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position; failure to provide sufficient evidence in your resume may result in a "not qualified" determination.

Rating: Your application will be evaluated in the following areas: Communication, Problem Solving, and Technical. Your application will be rated and ranked among others, based on your responses to the online questions, regarding your experience, education, training, performance appraisals and awards relevant to the duties of this position. Your rating may be lowered if your responses to the online questions are not supported by the education and/or experience described in your application.

Category rating will be used to rank and select eligible candidates. If qualified, you will be assigned to one of three quality level categories, depending on your responses to the online questions, regarding your experience, education, and training related to this position.

Veterans' preference is applied after applicants are assessed. Qualified preference-eligibles with a compensable service-connected disability of 10% or more will be listed at the top of the highest category.

Referral: If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application may be referred to a selecting official for consideration. You may be required to participate in a selection interview.

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