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Museum Technician

Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Hopewell Furnace National Historical Site/Valley Forge National Historical Park
This job announcement has closed

Summary

The incumbent serves as a museum technician located at a museum facility in a National Park Service organization. The purpose of the position is to perform a full range of complex curatorial support work in a museum.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
04/03/2024 to 04/17/2024
Salary
$43,550 - $70,133 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 5 - 7
Locations
2 vacancies in the following locations:
Elverson, PA
King of Prussia, PA
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
7
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
NE-1612-NERO-24-12370396-IN
Control number
784668500

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Duties

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This positions performs curatorial support work in a museum under the direction of a professional. GS-5 Duties : Performs routine functions such as unpacking, repacking, processing, labeling, cataloging, storing objects, and cleaning objects. Prepares, maintains, and organizes manual and automated curatorial records. Performs routine research for catalog records, exhibits, and other purposes as assigned. GS-07 Duties: Performs a full range of complex curatorial support work in a museum such as: maintaining museum records, monitoring museum environment, processes incoming and outgoing loans, handles, cleans, stores, and labels objects in the permanent collection, serves as team member, and at times a team leader, on curatorial projects such as the elimination of cataloging backlogs; production of finding aids and location guides; photo documentation of collections; and the reorganization of storage areas, and assists with the design, installation, repair, and rehabilitation of exhibits.

Less then FPL: Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level.

Career Seasonal: Career-Seasonal appointments are permanent positions and include the same benefits as Career appointments, but do not provide work on a year-round basis. You will work from approximately January thru October, and you will be in a non-pay status for the remainder of the year.

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.
  • Direct Deposit: Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
  • Time-in-Grade: Any individual who is currently holding, or has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet time-in-grade requirements (must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent in the Federal service); with few exceptions as outlined in 5 CFR 300.603(b). Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal civilian employees applying for reinstatement who have had a break in service of less than one year, as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointments. Time-in-grade does not apply to new excepted service appointments. Time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.
  • Incidental Driving: You may be required to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of your official duties. Prior to your first official motor vehicle operation, and again every year thereafter (or more frequently if management determines such need exists), you will be required to sign an affidavit certifying to your possession of a valid State issued driver's license that is current and has not been revoked, suspended, canceled, or otherwise disqualified in any way to prohibit your operation of a motor vehicle. You will also submit a photocopy of your valid State issued driver's license prior to your first official motor vehicle operation, and again every year, or more frequently if management determines such need exists. Lastly, you may be required to submit (within a State sealed envelope or submitted directly by the State authorities), and at your own expense, all certified driving records from all States that discloses all valid driver's licenses, whether current or past, possessed by you. Please indicate in your application whether you possess a valid State driver's license.
  • Uniform: You will be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
  • Probationary Period: If you are a new employee or supervisor in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-04/17/2024-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 for each federal position listed as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of qualifying experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience.

For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected.

To qualify for this position at the GS-05 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:

EXPERIENCE: Have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-04 level in the federal service. Specialized experience demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of a Museum Technician. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include collections management, registration, cataloging, research, preservation, restoration, or conservation of collections of museum material, or other experience related to the position to be filled. GS-04 level experience may be internships, trainee positions, or entry level experience related to the operation or management of a museum or similar collection of valuable objects. You must include hours worked per week.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Have successfully completed a full four-year course of study (120 semester hours/180 quarter hours) leading to a bachelor's degree with at least 24 semester hours in any combination of courses such as art, history, museum studies, scientific subjects, or other courses related to the position to be filled. IMPORTANT - PLEASE NOTE: If you are using education to qualify you must document your degree in your resume. If your degree was not in one of the directly related fields listed in this response, you must submit a copy of your transcripts or a complete list of college courses taken that identifies for each course the college or university, semester or quarter hours earned, grade received, and date completed. We cannot determine eligibility without this information. (A copy of your official transcripts will be required before entrance on duty, if selected). You must submit transcripts.
-OR-
COMBINATION: Have a combination of specialized experience as described in A above and education as described in B above which total at least one year. For example, 6 months of specialized experience (50% of the specialized experience) and three years of education above high school (50% of the education) would qualify an applicant for this position. Only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours (i.e. beyond the second year) is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. One full academic year of study beyond the second year is equivalent to 6 months of specialized experience. You must include transcripts.

To qualify for this position at the GS-07 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:

EXPERIENCE: Have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 level in the federal service. Specialized experience demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of a Museum Technician. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include collections management, registration, cataloging, research, preservation, restoration, or conservation of collections of museum material, or other experience related to the position to be filled. GS-05 level experience may be routine or supportive work experience related to the operation or management of a museum or similar collection of valuable objects. You must include hours worked per week.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Do not have the specialized experience described above; however, successfully completed at least one (1) full academic year (18 semester hours) of related graduate level education, or superior academic achievement within a related field of study (e.g. museum studies, archival management, or history).IMPORTANT - PLEASE NOTE: If you are using education to qualify you must document your course work and/or degree completed in your resume or other application materials you submit. You must submit a copy of your transcripts or a complete list of college courses taken that identifies for each course the college or university, semester or quarter hours earned, grade received, and date completed. If you are qualifying based on education and you do not submit specific course work information as described previously, your application will be rated not qualified for consideration. (A copy of your official transcripts will be required before entrance on duty, if selected). You must submit transcripts.
-OR-
COMBINATION: Have the specialized experience described in 1A above; however, I have successfully completed at least one (1) full academic year (18 semester hours) of related graduate level education, or superior academic achievement within a related field of study (e.g. museum studies, archival management, or history).IMPORTANT - PLEASE NOTE: If you are using education to qualify you must document your course work and/or degree completed in your resume or other application materials you submit. You must submit a copy of your transcripts or a complete list of college courses taken that identifies for each course the college or university, semester or quarter hours earned, grade received, and date completed. If you are qualifying based on education and you do not submit specific course work information as described previously, your application will be rated not qualified for consideration. (A copy of your official transcripts will be required before entrance on duty, if selected). You must submit transcripts.
You must include transcripts.


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 ยง575.102 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 Potential: 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 is partially sedentary with prolonged standing, walking, and bending often required. Heavy items (e.g., boxes up to 50 pounds) must be lifted or moved frequently.

Working Conditions: Most of the work is performed in a museum environment of exhibit and storage areas, workroom/laboratory, and offices. Occasional work with materials which are dusty or stored with protective chemicals may require the use of dust masks, gloves, or other protective devices.

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 who apply under Competitive Merit Promotion procedures will undergo a quality review to determine if they are highly qualified based on the content of their resume and their responses to the questionnaire. Best qualified candidates will be referred if all required supporting documentation has been provided.

Candidates who apply under Noncompetitive Merit Promotion procedures will undergo a quality review to determine if they are minimally qualified based on the content of their resume and their responses to the questionnaire. Qualified candidates will be referred if all required supporting documentation has been provided.

You will be evaluated on the following competencies:

  • Information Management
  • Standards
  • Technical Competence
  • Written Communication


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 panel resume review. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job.

Please submit 1) a copy of your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation and 2) a list of any awards (e.g. superior performance awards, special act or achievement awards, quality step increase, etc.) you received in the last 5 years. Any performance appraisal/evaluation and award documentation you provide will be forwarded to the selecting official. The selecting official will review this documentation and give it due weight consideration during the overall selection process.

If you do not have your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation, please submit a statement as to why it is not available. Please indicate if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level.

Do not submit photographs with your application package. Documents with photographs may not be seen by hiring officials - you must remove your image from any badges, licenses, etc.

Do not upload Adobe portfolio documents. Adobe portfolio documents are not viewable by our agency's staffing offices.

National Park Service

The Department of the Interior (DOI) places a high value on diversity of experience and cultural perspectives and encourages applications from all interested eligible candidates. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) are fundamental principles that guide the Department and allow us to successfully achieve our mission.

Please visit find a park for additional park information.

Agency contact information

Billie Bowker
Email
billie_bowker@nps.gov
Address
Northeast Regional Office
1234 Market Street 20th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19107
US

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