Folk & Traditional Arts Specialist Job in Washington, DC

Vacancy No. DE-12561952-25-JC Department National Endowment for the Arts
Salary $82,764.00 to $128,956.00 Grade 11 to 12
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 11/26/2024 Close Date 12/5/2024
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Washington, DC


Summary

Who May Be Considered:
U.S. Citizens
View common definitions of terms found in this announcement.

Duties

The National Endowment for the Arts primarily supports projects of non-profit organizations, and in areas across all artistic disciplines, with an emphasis on systems change for underserved communities and advancing healthy and equitable arts ecosystems. This position is located in the Office of Multidisciplinary Arts and Equity in the Office of Strategy, Programs, and Engagement (SP&E) at the National Endowment for the Arts. Incumbent serves as Specialist for Folk & Traditional Arts, which are rooted in and reflective of the cultural life of a community, whether it be a geographic community or a community of practice. Genres of artistic activity include, but are not limited to, music, dance, crafts, and oral expression. In this position, you will:

-Report to the Folk & Traditional Arts Director and be responsible for assisting the Directors and Coordinators in their efforts to provide national leadership and direction, including recommending appropriate experts from the field to serve as application reviewers.

-Work in the agency's automated Grants Management (database) System (eGMS) to ensure accurate data entry and processing of applicant notification of rejection or tentative funding recommendation, revised budget, and grant award letters.

-Provide technical assistance to applicants and prospective applicants about proposed projects in context of published guidelines and with knowledge of field activities and trends.

-Review and evaluate Folk & Traditional Arts applications for eligibility, completeness, and adherence to published guidelines, including accuracy of applications in accordance with the agency and OMB rules and regulations pertaining to federal grants, prior to forwarding for review by panel.

-Manage items related to leadership initiatives as assigned, including cooperative agreements, reports, or stakeholder engagement. Duties might include managing series of meetings and convenings, webinar development and management, and other work items as they occur as well as processing cooperative agreements, interagency agreements, contracts and other government documents.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or National
  • Suitable for Federal employment, determined by a background investigation
  • May be required to successfully complete a probationary period
  • Selective Service registration required.
  • Complete the initial online assessment and USAHire Assessment, if required
  • All employees are required to participate in Direct Deposit/ Electronic Funds Transfer for salary payments.
  • All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement and clearly documented in your resume.
  • Relocation expenses are not authorized. Other recruitment incentives may be authorized.
  • This is a bargaining unit position.

Qualifications

In order to qualify for this position, you must meet one of the following requirements:

GS-11:

You must have at least one full year of specialized experience (in either the public or private sector) equivalent to the GS-9 level in the Federal service with experience performing the following duties:
1) Assisting in the administration of nonprofit arts and culture programs in the Folk & Traditional Arts field;
2) Reviewing and processing arts grant applications for eligibility, completeness and adherence to published guidelines;
3) Providing guidance about arts grants and the grant application review processes; and
4) Drafting a range of correspondence and written materials communications to communicate key ideas and information (such as budgets, spreadsheets, and Power Point presentations), using office technology (including emails, articles, newsletters, and/or statistical reports).

OR

B. Have successfully completed a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related, at an accredited college or university in a field that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. (NOTE: You must submit a copy of your college transcripts to support your claim). OR

C. I have a combination of graduate education and specialized experience, as described above, which when combined, total 100 percent of the requirement.

GS-12:

You must have at least one full year of specialized experience (obtained in either the public or private sector) equivalent to the GS-11 level in the Federal service with experience performing the following duties:

1) Managing the administration of nonprofit arts and culture programs in the Folk & Traditional Arts fields;
2) Reviewing and processing arts grant applications from receipt to closeout;
3) Resolving complex grant issues using knowledge of arts and culture fields and agency policy;
4) Serving as a liaison to other offices concerning applications, grants, and related issues; and
5) Drafting and developing complex materials to communicate key ideas and information (such as budgets, spreadsheets, and Power Point presentations) using office technology (including emails, articles, newsletters, and/or statistical research.

NOTE: Your resume must explicitly indicate how you meet this requirement, including experience in the Folk and Traditional Arts field, otherwise you will be found ineligible.

National Service Experience (i.e., 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.

Current or Former Political Appointees: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office.

Qualifications Must Be Met: The qualification requirements listed above must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Note about the information provided in your resume and supporting documentation: Your experience (paid and unpaid), education, awards, training and self-development will be evaluated as it relates to the position based upon the information provided in your resume/application and any other supporting documents.

Interagency/Career Transition Assistance Program (I/CTAP) Eligibles: If you have never worked for the federal government, you are not I/CTAP eligible. View information about I/CTAP eligibility on OPM's Career Transition Resources website. To be considered well qualified under I/CTAP, you must be rated at a minimum score of 85 for this position. In addition, you must submit the supporting documents listed under the required documents section of this announcement.

Education

Education must be from an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For additional information, refer to the U.S. Department of Education web site at http://www.ed.gov. Submit a copy of your college transcript (unofficial is acceptable) or you may submit a list with all of your courses, grades, semester, year, and credit for the courses.

Foreign Education: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet Federal qualification requirements if you can show that your foreign education is comparable to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States. For example, specific courses accepted for college-level credit by an accredited U.S. college or university, or foreign education evaluated by an organization recognized for accreditation by the Department of Education as education equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. college or university. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence with your application. See Recognition of Foreign Qualifications for more information.

All materials must be submitted by the closing date of the announcement.

Additional information

Additional selections may be made from this vacancy.

Identification of promotion potential in this announcement does not constitute a commitment or an obligation of management to promote the employee selected at some future date.

If you are claiming CTAP/ICTAP eligibility, you must submit proof by 12/05/2024 that you meet the requirements of 5 CFR 330.605(a) for CTAP and 5 CFR 330.704 for ICTAP or you will not receive priority consideration. The proof includes a copy of the agency notice, your most recent Performance Rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty station. To be considered well-qualified and exercise selection priority of this vacancy, you must earn a minimum score of 85 (prior to the assignment of veteran's preference) on the rating criteria for this position.

VETERANS PREFERENCE: If claiming 5-point veteran preference you MUST submit copy number 4 of the DD-214. If you are claiming 10-point veteran preference you MUST submit an SF-15, Application for 10-point Veteran's Preference AND all other required documents in order to be granted the preference.

All documents must be received by 12/05/2024.

Additional information on veteran's preference is available at: http://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/veterans.aspx

If you are selected for this Federal position, you will be required to complete a "Declaration of Federal Employment", (OF-306), prior to being appointed to determine your suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation. Failure to answer all questions truthfully and completely or providing false statements on the application may be grounds for not hiring you or dismissing you after you begin work, and may be punishable by fine or imprisonment (U.S. Code, Title 18, Section 1001).

The application contains information subject the Privacy Act (P.L. 93-579, 5 U.S.C. 552a). The information issued will be used to determine qualifications for employment, and is authorized under Title 5 U.S.C. Section 3302 and 3361.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Reasonable_Accommodations_for_USA_Hire

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.

Review our 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.

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), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

  • Attention to Detail
  • Customer Service
  • Decision Making
  • Flexibility
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork


Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your eligibility. Qualified candidates will be assigned to one of 3 quality categories: Best Qualified, Highly Qualified, and Qualified. The category assignment is a measure of the degree in which your background matches the competencies required for this position.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

Veterans: Qualified veterans who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10% are listed in the best-qualified category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level, or higher. This position is not considered scientific/professional. Other 10-point preference eligibles and veterans with 5-point preference who meet the eligibility and qualification requirements are placed above non-preference eligibles within the category in which they qualify. View information on www.fedshirevets.gov

If you are determined qualified, you may be referred to the hiring manager for consideration and may be called for an interview. Preview the Application Questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12561952

Recruitment methods and selection procedures will based solely on merit after fair and open competition, and will be made without regard to political, religious, or labor organization affiliation or non-affiliation, marital status, race, color, sex, national origin, non-disqualifying disability, sexual-orientation or age.

Required Documents

To apply for this position, you must submit a complete Application Package which includes:

  1. Your resume showing a detailed description of your job-related qualifications that includes beginning and ending dates with the month and year and hours worked per week (if less than 40) for each paid and non-paid work experience job title listed.
  2. Your responses to the job questionnaire and the USA Hire Competency Based Assessment
  3. Other supporting documents:
    • Cover Letter, optional
    • Official or unofficial College Transcript(s) , if qualifying based on education.
    • Veterans' Preference documentation, if applicable (e.g., DD-214 Member Copy 4 showing type of discharge/character of service, SF-15 Form and related documentation, VA letter, etc.)
  4. If your application is rated as well-qualified (score 85 or above) and you are claiming special priority selection rights under the Interagency/Career Transition Assistance Program (I/CTAP) You must submit:
  • 1) a copy of your agency notice;
  • 2) a copy of your most recent performance rating; and
  • 3) a copy of your most recent SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, noting your current position, grade level, and duty location.

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

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments, and required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. The application process is as follows:

  1. Click the Apply Online button.
  2. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation.
  3. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date.
  4. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice.
  5. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials.
  6. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended.
  7. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link.
  8. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused.
For more general information, system requirements, reasonable accommodation information, and to request assistance regarding the USA Hire Assessments, review the following resources: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=USA_Hire_Assessments.

To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed.

To view the announcement status or your application status: Click on this: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application.

Agency contact information

CSB HR Inquiries
Address
National Endowment for the Arts
400 7th Street SW
Washington, DC 20506
US
Learn more about this agency

Next steps

Best qualified applicants will be referred to the hiring manager. The hiring manager may choose to conduct interviews. Once the selection is made, you will receive a notification of the decision.

Thank you for your interest in the National Endowment for the Arts


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


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