Archives Specialist Job in Washington, DC

Vacancy No. CUR-2025-386 Department Architect of the Capitol
Salary $69,923.00 to $90,898.00 Grade 09 to 09
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 9/4/2025 Close Date 9/22/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Washington, DC


Summary

This position is assigned to the Architect of the Capitol (AOC), Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, Curator Division, Records Management and Archives Branch (RMAB). The RMAB preserves and safeguards the AOC archival collection, which consists of historically valuable drawings and textual records (paper, electronic and other formats) that document the administrative history of the AOC and the history of the Capitol Complex, to support the AOC’s ongoing business and construction needs.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

Applications will be accepted from all U. S. Citizens. Please be advised that federal retired annuitant candidates may only be considered as a temporary employee if the role can be filled in that capacity.

Duties

The RMAB also provides records management services for the agency including but not limited to maintaining the AOC records schedules and providing guidance on appropriately applying the records policies and the records retention and disposition authorities. The incumbent’s responsibilities are two-fold. Firstly, the Archives Specialist will perform duties involving records transfer and disposition; access controls; preservation activities; and archival arrangement, classification, and description through various procedures including but not limited to inventories. Second, their duties consist of providing administrative assistance to the branch itself through directly or indirectly managing archival/records management contracts and service agreements; maintaining the office budget by working with archivists on operational needs and to assist with optimizing those needs; and finally, to serve key roles division wide such as coordinating travel and training requirements.

Major Duties listed below are duties of the GS-12 level:

Records Transfer and Disposition (40%)

Facilitates and managements permanent records transfers to the archives. Identifies and resolves issues, such as transfer gaps.

Supports the development and revision of records policies, schedules and procedures based on National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and records and information management (RIM) standards and best practices.

Appraises records, physical and electronic, to discern their function, contact, and evidential or informational values to recommend the appropriate dispositions. Assess and researches their significance and uniqueness in documenting the history of the AOC and the Capitol Complex. Compares comparable records in the AOC and other agencies.

Assists with providing records management guidance and technical support to agency managers and staff. Undertakes and coordinates records management projects with agency offices, such as records inventories and migrations to electronic document management systems.

Ensures the appropriate disposition and retention of agency records. Assists with providing records disposition and retention guidance and technical support to agency offices.

Assists Records Manager in preparing and providing training, outreach and tours to promote records management and the archives. Contributes content for the branch’s intranet presence.

Serve as Records Management Liaison for Curator Division.

Archival Projects (20%)

Performs archival projects according to archival principles, such as archival inventorying, arrangement and holdings maintenance, to increase accessibility, improve storage conditions and ensure safe handling of the AOC archival collection.

Evaluates records to identify preservation concerns and conducts preservation projects according to preservation best practices, which include but are not limited to basic conservation stabilization and conversion to digital or other formats, to prevent, minimize and remediate deterioration, damage and loss of information.

Identifies and works with archivists to prioritizes archival and preservation projects as part of records transfers responsibilities.

Bridges and coordinates branch-wide archival and records management efforts and projects including but not limited to accessioning and description of records and record series.

Provides archival reference and research assistance to AOC leadership, managers, employees, and contractors in support of official agency business, the daily operations of Capitol Buildings and grounds and the management of construction, renovation and conservation projects.

Applies reference and access policies and procedures, including safeguards to protect personal identifiable information (PII), procurement sensitive and other controlled unclassified information (CUI).

Administrative (40%)

Performs a range of administrative support for the Division, such as training, travel, transit subsidies, on/off boarding, badging and telework agreements.

Serves as a purchase card holder for RMAB. Reconciles purchase card statements and tracks outstanding obligations.

Serves as select Contractor Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR). Resolves discrepancies with vendors.

Works with and advises Branch Chief on branch budgetary developments, guidelines, and deadlines. Coordinates obligations, allocations, and payments through agency-approved financial management systems.

Conducts research and keeps abreast of policies, procedures and best practices to efficiently carry out duties. Evaluates and recommends changes in the Division’s procurement procedures and controls.

Maintains records for official recordkeeping and audit purposes. Maintains training and certifications required to perform duties.

Communicates effectively, orally and in writing.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • You must be a U.S. Citizen.
  • You must be able to pass a drug test.
  • Your resume and question responses must demonstrate the job-related KSAs.
  • You must meet the definition of specialized experience.

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Qualifications

You must meet the United States Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) qualification requirements (including specialized experience and/or educational requirements) for the advertised position. You must meet all eligibility and qualifications requirements by the closing date of the job announcement. Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on the OPM web site at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications.

1. Specialized Experience

Experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, candidates must have at least 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as having experience: assisting in managing an archive of historical materials to include accessioning, arrangement, description, disposition, preservation, and research.

Evaluation of Experience: Professional experience for this position must have been in archival science, or in a directly related field of work such as history that involved the collection, appraisal, analysis, or synthesis of information having historical or archival values. The following are illustrative of kinds of experience that may be accepted as meeting the professional experience requirements: (1) experience as an archivist in Federal, state, religious institution, business, or other archives, or in manuscript depositories, and (2) experience of an archival nature that involved research in archival science, or in a directly related field such as history, government, economics, political science, international relations, or international law.

--OR—

2. Graduate Education Two (2) years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Masters’ degree in archival science, history, American civilization, economics, political science, public administration, or government.

--OR--

3. Combination of Graduate Education and Professional Experience Combinations of successfully completed graduate level education and specialized experience may be used to meet total experience requirements. Only graduate level education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be combined with experience.

Education

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Additional information

Welcome Veterans. The Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) gives veterans' preference rights in the legislative branch to certain veterans as applied by the Congressional Accountability Act. Veterans' preference is applied on this vacancy announcement. If you are a veteran and have been separated under honorable conditions, you must submit a copy of your DD-214 or other proof of eligibility; SF-15, if applicable; and Department of Veterans Affairs documentation of disability, if applicable. For more information, please visit http://www.opm.gov/veterans/html/vetguide.asp#6.

If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System. If you are exempt from registration under Selective Service Law, you must provide appropriate proof of exemption. Please visit the Selective Service System website for more information.

DRUG TESTING: The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) is a Drug Free Workplace. As part of the AOC’s suitability assessment, a candidate tentatively selected for a position who is not a current AOC employee is required to submit to screening for illegal drug use. Satisfactory completion of a drug test is a condition of employment with the Agency. A candidate must test negative prior to being eligible for appointment into a position. We will schedule, provide, and cover the cost for the drug test.

The selectee(s) under the vacancy announcement for this position is subject to a criminal record check by the U.S. Capitol Police and satisfactory adjudication to be eligible for employment at the Architect of the Capitol.

The Architect of the Capitol is an E-VERIFY Participant. E-VERIFY is an Internet-based system that compares information from an employee's Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to data from U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration records to confirm employment authorization in the United States. If you are selected for this position, the documentation that you present for purposes of completing the DHS Form I-9 will be verified through the DHS "E-VERIFY" electronic system. For more information on E-Verify, please visit http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/gc_1185221678150.shtm

The Architect of the Capitol is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, genetic information, sexual orientation and/or disability.
This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency. The decision on granting reasonable accommodation will be on a case-by-case basis.

Moving expenses are not authorized.

Relocation expenses are not authorized.

Probationary Period- A newly hired selectee(s) is subject to the completion of a one-year trial/probationary period, regardless of whether or not a trial/probationary period has been completed previously with the Architect of the Capitol or another Federal agency.

This vacancy announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies in any of the jurisdictions of the Architect of the Capitol.

All application materials become the property of the Architect of the Capitol.

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.

Benefits

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Review your resume and responses carefully. Your eligibility for consideration and qualifications for the position will be determined based upon a review of your detailed resume and your responses to job specific self-assessment questions.

Your resume will be evaluated based on evidence of your ability to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) for this position, possession of any specialized experience, and how well your background and experience relates to the self-assessment questions in the job announcement. The self-assessment questions relate to the following knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies:

-Records Transfer and Disposition

-Archival and Preservation Projects

-Reference and Research

-Communication

Your responses to the self assessment questions serve as the basis for your initial rating. You will receive a numerical score based on your responses to these questions. Next, your responses will be evaluated by a Human Resources Specialist and/or a subject matter expert against the information provided in your resume and optional cover letter. Your resume must support your answers to the self assessment questions. Falsifying your background, education, and/or experience is cause for not hiring you or disqualification for further consideration.

Please note that a complete application is required for consideration. (Please review the “Required Documents” section of this job announcement to see what must be included in a complete application).
You may preview questions for this vacancy.

Required Documents

The Architect of the Capitol's job application process is designed to ensure that we only ask you for the information that is absolutely needed to evaluate your qualifications and eligibility for the position.

To apply for this position, you only need to submit online the following: a) your resume and 2) answer the online vacancy assessment questionnaire. The online questionnaire contains eligibility and screening questions and other relevant supplemental information. No additional documentation or attachment is required at the time of application.

We ask that you prepare and submit a resume that best describes fully your background experience, skills, abilities, education, training and other relevant credentials. The resume should include dates of employment.

Nothing further is required until it is requested by the staff of the Human Capital Management Division. If additional documentation is required for a position, you will be asked to provide it during the selection process or upon selection. At that point, we may ask you to submit documentation to support statements made in your resume.

For example, we may ask you to provide documents such as college transcripts, copy of diploma or proof of Federal employment status. If the position requires a license or certification, we will ask candidate(s) to provide proof at the time of selection.

If you are claiming veterans' preference, we may ask you to submit proof of Veterans preference (DD-214, and, if claiming 10-point preference, the SF-15 plus proof required by that form).

If you fail to provide the required documents, we will withdraw a tentative job offer made and/or remove you from further consideration.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

How to Apply

You MUST apply online. FORMS RECEIVED BY FAX, EMAIL OR U.S. POSTAL SERVICE DELIVERY WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

If you are a new user to the USAJobs Site and have never registered for an account; you will first need to create an account profile with your basic contact information and a resume to begin applying. You must be a registered USAJobs user AND you must be signed-in to your account in order to apply for this position. For help setting up an account or for general help using USAJobs, go to USAJobs Help Page.

NEED HELP?
If you experience any difficulties with the application site, help is available! If you have problems completing your on-line application, contact the Monster Hiring Management Help Desk at 1-866-656-6831 or by e-mail at MGSHELP@monster.com. The help desk is available Monday - Friday 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. You may call and leave a voice mail message at all other times.

All required supporting documents will be collected electronically via the USAJobs “Saved Documents” feature.

If you are unable to apply on-line, you may visit our Employment Center for technical assistance in entering your application. The Employment Center is located at 441 Second & D Streets S.W., Washington, D.C., Room H2-178, and is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. You may call (202) 226-7000 for directions.

Agency contact information

Nyika Humphries
Address
Architect of the Capitol
United States Capitol
Washington, District of Columbia 20515
United States

Next steps

You will receive a notice generated by the USAJobs System when you have successfully submitted your application. After all application packages have been received, we will review your application and transcript(s) (if you are qualifying based on education) to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements.

You can check the status of your application by logging into http://www.usajobs.gov. You may also sign up to receive automatic emails anytime the status of your application has changed by logging into your USAJobs Account, editing your profile and changing the ‘Notification Settings’ to indicate that you want to be notified by email when the status changes. Information regarding the status of your application should be updated in the system within 2 weeks after the closing date of this job announcement.


Note: We cannot accept applications on behalf of Federal Agencies. Application instructions are listed within the Job Description.