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Museum Technician (Geology) (Seasonal)

Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Pacific West Region (Interior Regions 8,9,10 and 12) - John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

Summary

The typical defined season is not to exceed 6 months between May - November but can be variable during these months due to weather conditions, project needs, or funding.

Anticipated Entry on Duty: May 2027.

Open to the first 50 applicants or until 11/16/2026, whichever comes first. All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration.

Overview

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Accepting applications
This job will close when we have received 50 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Location
Few vacancies in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
No
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$19.52 - $31.43 per hour
Pay scale & grade
GS 5 - 7
Promotion potential
None
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Appointment type
Temporary - Not to Exceed: 1039 Hours
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Represented by a union
No
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Financial disclosure required
No
Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.
Announcement number
CAHQ-27-13104091-DE-HQ
Control number
891422200

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open to U.S. Citizens or Nationals; and Career transition eligibles (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL). This announcement is for the National Park Service, Pacific West Region (Interior Regions 8,9,10 and 12). Please refer to the "Location" section to see which National Parks are included on this announcement.

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Duties

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Some of the Museum Technician Standard Duties include but are not limited to:

  • Assists with unpacking objects and processing them and performs limited cleaning. Places objects in storage, maintaining the organization already established by the supervisor.
  • Performs routine research for catalog records, exhibits, and other purposes as assigned. Catalogs objects. Enters cataloging data into the designated NPS catalog program using established NPS procedures.
  • Performs routine cleaning of objects as directed and according to established standards.
  • Performs a variety of basic clerical operations in support of the curatorial operation. Identifies and labels objects by matching documentation field labels, notes, etc. with the objects.
  • Assists with paleontology fieldwork.

Additional duties for GS-7:
  • Indepedently unpacks objects and processes them; identifies preservation needs and recommends additional actions.
  • Prepares, maintains, and organizes manual and automated curatorial records including accession records, catalog records, and donation forms; maintains and organizes other records, such as inventories and object lists.
  • Implements museum maintenance and housekeeping schedules.

Physical Demands: The work is partially sedentary with prolonged standing, walking, and bending often required. Heavy items (e.g., equipment and packs up to 50 pounds) must be lifted and carried on a routine basis.

Working Conditions: 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.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship required.
  • Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
  • Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
  • Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
  • Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more, visit Home | E-Verify
  • Occupancy of government quarters may be required.
  • Government housing may be available but is not guaranteed.
    • Use find a park to contact specific parks for more information on government housing.
  • You may be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
  • You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and/or shift work.
  • You may be required to complete training and operate a four-wheel drive vehicle.
  • You may be required to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of your official duties; a valid driver's license will be required in such cases.
    • You must be at least 18 years of age or older to operate government vehicles.
  • You may be required to complete training, obtain and maintain a government credit card with travel and purchase authority.
  • You may be required to travel overnight away from home occasionally. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
  • You must be at least (1)18 years old or (2) at least 16 years old and: (a) Have graduated from high school or been awarded a certificate equivalent to graduating from high school; or (b) Have completed a formal vocational training program; or (c) Have received a statement from school authorities agreeing with their preference for employment rather than continuing their education; or (d) Be currently enrolled in a secondary school and either work only during school vacation periods or work part-time during the school year under a formal student employment program.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-11/16/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. To receive credit for experience, your 2 page 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.Resumes must not exceed two single-sided pages and resumes longer than two pages will not be accepted. You may only submit one resume. Only the document submitted as the "Resume" under the Documents section will be used to determine your qualifications/eligibility and for rating purposes. In the event you submit more than one resume, only the latest submission will be reviewed.

To qualify for this position at the GS-05 grade level, you must possess one of the following:

A. One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-04 level in the federal service that equipped me with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of a Museum Technician. Specialized Experience, to be creditable, should be related to the operation or management of a museum or similar collection of valuable objects related to geological collections. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include assisting with collections management, registration, cataloging, research, preservation, restoration, or conservation of collections of museum material, or other experience related to the position to be filled. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: under supervision, unpack, process and repack museum objects; identify, label and prepare objects for storage or display; assist with preparation, maintenance and organization of curatorial records; and perform routine cleaning of museum objects per established standards. You must provide hours per week work and from/to dates (mo/yr) on your resume.
-OR-
B
. Successfully completed at least four (4) years above high school (120 semester hours or 180 quarter hours), leading to a bachelor's degree with major study or 24 semester hours of course work in a related field such as art, history, museum studies, scientific subjects (i.e., Biology, Geology, Paleontology), or other courses related to this position. You must provide transcripts.
-OR-
C
. Equivalent combination of experience and education as described above. To combine education and experience, first take the number of semester hours (or equivalent), in excess of the first 60 semester hours earned towards your degree and divide by 60 semester hours (or equivalent). Then take the number of months of full-time experience and divide by 12 months. Add the two percentages. The total must equal at least 100 percent in order to meet this description. You must provide transcripts and hours per week work and from/to dates (mo/yr) on your resume.

To qualify for this position at the GS-07 grade level, you must possess one of the following:

A.
One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 level in the federal service that equipped me with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of a Museum Technician. Specialized ). Experience, to be creditable, should be related to the operation or management of a museum or similar collection of valuable objects related to geological collections. 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 including unpack, process and repack museum objects; identify, label and prepare objects for storage or display; independently catalog objects into museum database; prepare, maintain and organize curatorial records; independently perform routine cleaning of museum objects per established standards; assist with installation, repair and rehabilitation of exhibits. You must provide hours per week work and from/to dates (mo/yr) on your resume.
-OR-
B.
Successfully completed at least one year of graduate level education (18 semester hours, 27 quarter hours or equivalent) with coursework related to the duties of the position. Related fields of study include art, history, museum studies, scientific subjects, or other courses related to the position to be filled. You must provide transcripts.
-OR-
C.
Equivalent combination of experience and education as described above and education as described above which total at least one year. For example, 6 months of specialized experience (50% of the specialized experience listed above) and one half year of graduate level education in coursework related to the field (9 semester hours or 14 quarter hours equaling 50% of the education listed above) would qualify an applicant for this position. You must provide transcripts and hours per week work and from/to dates (mo/yr) on your resume.

Qualifying experience may be obtained in the private or public sectors. The OPM Qualification Standards Handbook is available for review at: OPM Qualification Standards.

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 the interpretation of foreign education programs and that (1) deemed your education equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program, or (2) given full credit for 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 salary range on this vacancy does not grant an entitlement to a higher rate of pay.

Additional vacancies may be filled using this job announcement.

Click here for the OPM Salaries and Wages to calculate locality pay.

Non-Competitive Rehire Eligibility: Temporary seasonal employees can only maintain their non-competitive rehire eligibility if they work no more than a combined total of Temporary NTE 1039 hours anywhere in the National Park Service (NPS) within their established service year. Accordingly, non-competitive rehire eligibility allows for re-appointment to the same position or another position appropriate for temporary appointment with the same qualification requirements (5 CFR 316.402[b][7]), based on series and grade, anywhere in the major subdivision (NPS).

If you have held a temporary seasonal appointment in the past 12 months and have already worked the maximum temporary appointment combined total of 1039 hours during that period, you are still welcome to apply. However, please be aware that exceeding the limit of 1039 hours in your established service year will result in the loss of your non-competitive rehire eligibility.

The limit can be exceeded by working multiple temporary seasonal positions that result in a combined total greater than 1039 hours. The limit also can be exceeded by working a single temporary seasonal appointment that exceeds 1039 hours, unless granted an exception by OPM.

*This position may be filled under a temporary seasonal appointment not-to-exceed 1560 hours rather than 1039 hours depending on the park and program*

Employment may be terminated at any time due to fluctuations in funding levels, project needs, employee performance, or other considerations.

All Department of Interior (DOI) employees, their spouses, and minor children may not acquire or retain any claim, permit, lease, small tract entry, or other rights granted by the Department in Federal lands, with limited exceptions. Additional ethics prohibitions can be found here, https://www.doi.gov/ethics/ethics-prohibitions.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

How you will be evaluated

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

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.

Your resume must not exceed 2 pages. Only the document submitted as the "Resume" under the Documents section will be used to determine your qualifications/eligibility and for rating purposes. In the event you submit more than one resume, only the latest submission will be reviewed.

Candidates will be rated and ranked using Category Rating procedures. These procedures place candidates with veterans' 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:
  • History and Archaeology
  • Technical Competence
  • Technology Application
  • Visual Identification

Current or former displaced Federal employees who are surplus, displaced, or involuntarily separated have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP). To be considered under CTAP/ICTAP, you must be well-qualified. To meet the definition of well-qualified, you must (1) score at least 85 on the assessment questionnaire; (2) meet the minimum qualification requirements (education, experience or a combination therein), including any selective placement factors; and (3) be able to perform the duties of the position upon entry with reasonable accommodation, when applicable.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Providing false or misleading information on your resume or supporting documentation may result in removal from consideration or other action consistent with applicable federal hiring regulations. Applicants who include vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate language or information in their application package will be ineligible for further consideration for this position.

National Park Service

The Department of the Interior protects and manages the Nation's natural resources and cultural heritage; provides scientific and other information about those resources; and honors its trust responsibilities or special commitments to American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and affiliated Island Communities. Click here to learn more about the Department of the Interior and its bureaus.

The mission of the National Park Service is to preserve the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. You can make a difference by bringing your unique experience, background, and perspective to our work. Click here to learn more about the National Park Service.

Please visit find a park for additional park information.

Agency contact information

DOI Seasonal Temp Team
Email
seasonaltempteam@ios.doi.gov
Address
Seasonal Staffing Office-John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
John Day Fossil Beds NM
32651 Highway 19
Kimberly, OR 97848
US

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