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.

This position is located in the Information Technology Office (ITO), NMAAHC, Smithsonian Institution and is responsible for installing, configuring, troubleshooting and maintaining hardware and software to ensure the availability and functionality of Museum IT systems.

Duties include:

Installing, configuring, troubleshooting, testing and maintaining hardware and software to ensure the availability and functionality of NMAAHC’s IT systems.

Performing administrative duties related to the system administration of IT systems that includes participation in system development lifecycle processes for new or modified systems and assisting with licensing renewals and replacements.

Performing research and providing oversight of contract vendors performing work on smaller IT contracts, purchase orders, and/or task orders.

Assisting in conducting studies or analysis on existing and new systems that encompass one or more areas of IT (security, applications, LAN/WAN, customer support, audio/video, etc.) and participating in identifying operational improvements, developing and maintaining the enterprise architecture and performing a variety of telecommunication control functions.

Assisting with management of IT property inventory and accounting for equipment throughout the museum.

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 Requirements:
For all positions individuals must have IT-related experience demonstrating each of the four competencies listed below.

• Attention to Detail - Is thorough when performing work and conscientious about attending to detail.
• Customer Service - Works with clients and customers (that is, any individuals who use or receive the services or products that your work unit produces, including the general public, individuals who work in the agency, other agencies, or organizations outside the Government) to assess their needs, provide information or assistance, resolve their problems, or satisfy their expectations; knows about available products and services; is committed to providing quality products and services.
• Oral Communication - Expresses information (for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing oral presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately.
• Problem Solving - Identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives, and to make recommendations.

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-7 level in the Federal Service. For this position, specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience designing, implementing, and maintaining information technology AND audio-video systems and applications in the museums, arts or education sectors; supporting the system development lifecycle for new or modified systems and applications; providing technical customer support to end-users; providing technical oversight over contractors; and assisting with management of IT property inventory and accounting for equipment.

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. 

Or Education: Two full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master’s or equivalent degree related to the position may be substituted to meet the experience requirements.

Undergraduate or Graduate Education: Degree in computer science, engineering, information science, information systems management, mathematics, operations research, statistics, or technology management or degree that provided a minimum of 24 semester hours in one or more of the fields identified above and required the development or adaptation of applications, systems or networks.

Or a Combination: Education and experience may be combined to meet the basic qualifications. For a full explanation of this option please see the Qualification Standards. Special Instructions for Foreign Education: If you are qualifying by education and/or you have education completed in a foreign college/university described above, it is your responsibility to provide transcripts and proof of U.S. accreditation for foreign study. For instructions on where to fax these documents, see the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

How you will be evaluated

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

Applicants for this position may be evaluated in multiple stages. The first stage is an evaluation of responses to the online multiple-choice questions that assess your experience, education, and/or training for the competencies below:

1. Knowledge, skill and experience in installing, configuring, troubleshooting, testing and maintaining hardware and software to museum IT systems.
2. Knowledge of and experience in selecting and using federal, state, and local museum rules, regulations and procedures for development of lifecycle processes for new or modified systems as well as licensing renewals and replacements.
3. Knowledge of and experience in selecting rules, regulations and procedures related to contracting and providing oversight to outside vendors involved with performing work on smaller IT contracts, purchase orders, and/or task orders.
4. Knowledge and experience with assisting in the study and analysis of one or more areas of IT (security, applications, LAN/WAN, customer support, audio/video, etc.); participating in the identification of potential operational improvements, development and maintenance of enterprise architecture; and performance of a variety of telecommunication control functions. 
5. Knowledge and experience with assisting with management of IT property inventory and accounting for equipment throughout the museum.

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.

Your application package should include the following documents:

• Resume - Your resume can be uploaded and attached to your application or created using the USA Jobs on-line resume builder. Ensure your resume contains the job title (including the occupational series and grade if it is Federal), job-related qualifications, starting and ending dates (month and year), and hours worked per week, for each employment period. It is your responsibility to ensure all information is submitted. Failure to include this information may result in disqualification for the position. 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.

• For assistance with creating a resume, please click USAJOBS Help Center - How do I write a resume for a federal job?

• Current and former employees MUST submit a copy of their Standard Form (SF)-50, “Notice of Personnel Action,” that indicates proof of status and time-in-grade eligibility. The SF-50 must include your position title, series, grade, step, salary, type of service (competitive or excepted in block 34), and tenure (1 or 2 in block 24). Please provide a SF-50 that shows the length of time you have been in your current/highest grade level.  Examples of appropriate SF50s include: Appointments, Reassignments, Within-grade/range increases or Promotion actions.  NOTE: Pay adjustments and award SF-50s do not include the length of time in your current position, therefore, they are NOT acceptable SF-50’s on their own. You may need to provide more than one SF-50. 

  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).
  
  
• Unofficial school transcripts, if the position has an education requirement or if you are using education to qualify. If selected for the position, you must provide an official transcript before appointment.

• Proof of U.S. accreditation for foreign study, if applicable.

Next steps