Clarification from the agency

This Merit Promotion position is open to Current Federal Employees and Former Federal Employees with permanent status or reinstatement eligibility. Individuals who are eligible for a special appointing authority may also apply such as Individuals with Disabilities (Schedule A), former Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, and Vista volunteers; certain Military Spouses, or individuals eligible under various programs for Veterans (VRA, VEOA, 30% disabled).

As a Museum Specialist you will serve as a Liaison for NMAI's museum collection at the Cultural Resources Center (CRC)

The duties of this position include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Have a working knowledge of the over 850,000 objects in the NMAI collection from North, Central and South America of Native cultures, art forms and material from a wide variety of geographic and cultural regions (contemporary, archaeological, and ethnographic) including an awareness of the potential spiritual and sensitive nature of some items or materials in Native collections to better facilitate collections visits.

• Conducts research on Native cultures and their material culture and make connections between different elements to determine best avenues for securing information for the researcher. Examples could include materials related to a specific tribe or all examples of netted style beadwork in the collections from the entire hemisphere. In addition to using the museum’s database (EMu), the incumbent utilizes outside resources (i.e., Web searches, museum & outside publications, archaeological reports, and tribal websites). When developing database reports, the incumbent must also consider the cultural sensitivity of some objects.

• Exercises knowledge, skill, and experience in collections care practices and participates in collections care duties. This work includes maintaining the cleanliness of the collections space (vacuuming, dusting, and reshelving) and following all requirements for the proper tracking, moving and storage of collections objects.

• Manages requests for visits to the NMAI collections at the Cultural Resources Center that may come from Native community members and representatives, SI/NMAI staff, Federal and state officials, researchers, academics and curators, museum professionals, visitors, or the general public.

Conditions of employment

• Pass Pre-employment Background Investigation
• May need to complete a Probationary Period
• Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer
• Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service.

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.

Physical Requirements

Employee may need to lift up to 40 Ibs, unassisted.

Must be able to operate manual and automated equipment. 

Must be able to work at heights of up to 12 feet from the floor from a ladder, personnel lift or secure shelving. 

Must be able to walk, stand, bend and reach for up to 100% of duty time. 

Qualifications

Experience: You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-07 level in the Federal Service.  For this position specialized experience is defined as: experience in a museum, cultural, or historical organization focusing on Native American (or other indigenous culture of the Western Hemisphere) collections. The experience must include at least one of the following areas: Coordinating visitor services with an emphasis on Native American visitors, Collections management, Research related to Native art, culture, or history.

OR

You qualify with Education:  Master's or equivalent graduate degree; 

OR   2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree; OR LL.B. or J.D., if related 

OR You may qualify by a combination of experience and education.           

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.

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.

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. Experience in working with Native American or other indigenous cultures of the Western Hemisphere is required.

2. Ability to perform research of Native art, culture, and history in the western hemisphere from the Arctic to South America, using a variety of resources. This includes the ability to effectively use collections information systems (relational databases) to conduct research as well as using outside resources, i.e., WEB searches, museum & outside publications, archaeological reports, and tribal websites.

3. Ability to work with tools, materials, and equipment used in the process of installing exhibits and packing collections items. Broad knowledge of specialized packing and transportation methods for a variety of museum collection items. Art handling experience in loading, unloading, and packing trucks.

4. Ability to communicate orally and deal effectively with a variety of individuals and to function as the department’s point person regarding visits and tours by effectively communicating the department’s policies and procedures, adapting to shifting staff and visitors’ priorities and schedules, and successfully coordinating visits and tours.

BASIS OF RATING:  Once the announcement closes, your application will be automatically evaluated and rated by the system and a Human Resources Specialist. To determine if you are qualified for this job, a review of your application and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the occupational questionnaire. The numeric rating you receive is based on your responses to the questionnaire. The score is a measure of the degree to which your background matches the knowledge, skills, and abilities required of this position. If, after the Human Resources Specialist reviews your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that the score you have received is not a true reflection of your qualifications and/or experience, your score can and will be adjusted to more accurately reflect the information you provided that support your abilities. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Your resume should provide detailed information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed.

Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA):  If you are applying for a VEOA appointment, you must be a veteran and must be honorably separated and either a preference eligible or have substantially completed 3 or more years of active service. ("Active Service" under this law means active duty in a uniformed service and includes full-time training duty, annual training duty, full-time National Guard duty, and attendance, while in the active service, at a school designated as a service school by law or by the Secretary concerned.) A veteran who is released under honorable conditions shortly before completing a 3-year tour is also eligible.

Noncompetitive Appointment Authorities:  The following links contain information on the eligibility requirements to be considered under a noncompetitive appointing authority:

• Primary Appointing Authorities for Career and Career-Conditional Appointments
• Hiring Authorities for Veterans
• People with Disabilities

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), hours worked per week, and salary 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.

  For assistance with creating a resume, please click here.
  

• 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.
• Proof of Veteran's Preference - DD214 (Member 4 Copy) if you are requesting a special appointment authority, such as VRA or VEOA
• Proof of severe disability if you are requesting special placement consideration.
• Proof of eligibility for a military spouse appointment, such as a permanent change station military order.
• Proof of eligibility for any other special appointing authority not specifically mentioned here.

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 sufficient information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed.

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