Clarification from the agency

Current Smithsonian Institution Internal Employees/Agency Employees Only may apply including current Smithsonian Institution employees with Federal career/career-conditional status or eligibility. More than one selection may be made from this announcement.

The Archeologist provides assistance, oversight, and coordination of cultural resource compliance and is tasked with conducting archeological research for the Museum including working with Slave Wrecks Projects partners.

In this position, you will:

• perform terrestrial and underwater archaeology field work that involves the safe documentation, excavation, and analysis of artifacts, features, and structures located on land and underwater to include performing surveys, digging and documenting sites that may contain artifacts related to the Slave Wrecks Project and other archeological research of the African diaspora.

• author and submit for final review, discussion and approval, material for object labels, the Museum’s website, interactive education devices, and justifications for acquisitions as well as a variety of other documents as determined by supervisor. Scholarly research may serve primarily internal purposes or may result in publications and exhibitions that make contributions to knowledge in the field.

• develops and submit to supervisor or designated senior colleague research plans; provide oversight and coordinate anthropological and archaeological, and archival research for the Slave Wrecks Project network with its international partners as well as other archeological and research projects.  Work in an international scope and partners with community stakeholders in conducting and shaping research.

• present historical, cultural, and archeological information to a variety of audiences and community members including at meetings, conferences, technical training workshops and other programs and venues both internal to the Museum and externally both national and international.

• participate as a Smithsonian scientific diver coordinating with the SI Scientific Dive Office to maintain compliance with requirements for necessary diving certifications professionalization.  Seek opportunities to work with SI Scientific Dive community and leadership (i.e., workshop groups, board membership, etc.).

Conditions of employment

• Requires career/career-conditional status or eligibility.
• Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service.

Conditions of Employment

Qualification requirements, including one year time-in-grade at the next lower grade level for promotion candidates, must be met within 30 days of the job announcement closing date. See the 'Required Documents' section for additional information.

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

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications:

1. Degree that included 3 semester hours each in the following course areas:

   • History of archeology.
   • Archeology of a major geographical area such as North America or Africa.
   • Regional archeology, archeological cultures, or sites in a specific part or portion of a major geographical area to acquire or develop a foundation for regional specialization for professional development.
   • Theory and methods of archeology. Methods include, but are not limited to, typology, classification, sampling, cultural evolution, diffusion, dating, and analytical techniques.
   • Archeological field school, to provide a basic understanding of theoretical and practical approaches to research design implementation, field preservation techniques, and report preparation by participation in actual field work.

     AND

   • Six semester hours of related course work in:

     • geography, geology, or cultural geography;
     • history, historiography, or historical archeology;
     • environmental studies;
     • scientific writing (nonfiction English composition); and/or
     • surveying;

     AND

   • Archeological field school.

In addition to the basic qualification requirement above:

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 demonstrated experience conducting research on terrestrial and underwater archeological fieldwork on shipwrecks and cultural landscapes; producing publications, programs, associated with the Slave Wrecks Project and other related archaeological efforts; participating in public service efforts; serving as a consultant; and answering public inquiries.

Your resume must be no more than two (2) pages and should clearly demonstrate how your experience aligns with the responsibilities and specialized experience required for this position. Do not copy language directly from the vacancy announcement, as you will be deemed ineligible for consideration. Instead, provide detailed, descriptive information about your actual 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.

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.

In an effort to streamline our hiring process, SI employees whose current position of record is in the same job series (0193) and who are in a Federal competitive service appointment as this advertised position, are not required to submit a transcript with your application package. However, if selected, you will be required to provide a copy of your transcript before your start date in the position.

Time-in-Grade Requirements: Under competitive merit promotion procedures, any individual who is currently holding, or who has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under a non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet "time-in-grade" requirements (have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade of the grade for which you are applying).

How you will be evaluated

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

Your application will be evaluated first for the basic qualifications described above. The applications that meet the basic qualifications will be evaluated further against the following criteria:

1. Skill in conducting research and recovering artifacts and objects related to the African diasporic material culture including archeological sites, areas of human habitation, sites of cultural practice, and remains of shipwrecks.
2. Ability to communicate in writing
3. Ability to organize, manage, develop and refine material culture collections and other data sets illustrating and documenting the Slave Wrecks project and African diasporic archaeology.
4. Ability to communicate orally.
5. Skill as an underwater scientific diver.

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.