Program Manager Job in Washington, DC

Vacancy No. 26R-MA-313857-MPA-OF&A Department Smithsonian Institution
Salary $143,913.00 to $187,093.00 Grade 14 to 14
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 4/23/2026 Close Date 5/7/2026
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Status Candidates
Locations:
Washington, DC


Summary

The Smithsonian Institution (SI) is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex, with 21 museums and the National Zoo.  This position is located in the Office of Finance and Accounting (OF&A) under the Office of the Under Secretary for Finance and Administration (OUSFA).

More than one selection may be made from this announcement.

This job is open to

Federal employees - Competitive service

Current federal employees whose agencies follow the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's hiring rules and pay scales.

Land and base management

Current or former employees of a base management agency.

Veterans

Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces or a spouse, widow, widower or parent of a veteran, who may be eligible for derived preference

Military spouses

Military spouses of active duty service members or whose spouse is 100 percent disabled or died on active duty.

Individuals with disabilities

Individuals who are eligible under Schedule A.

Family of overseas employees

Family members of a federal employee or uniformed service member who is or was, working overseas.

Peace Corps & AmeriCorps Vista

Individuals who have served at least 2 years with the Peace Corps or 1 year with AmeriCorps VISTA.

Special authorities

Individuals eligible under a special authority not listed in another hiring path.

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).

Duties

The purpose of this position is to provide leadership and governance in managing the institutions Enterprise Risk Management and audit findings along with its integration with operations and decision making at all levels of the Smithsonian.  

In this position, you will: 

  • Manage the Smithsonian’s Integrated Risk Management (IRM)/ Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) program, strategy and development to identify, assess, prioritize and mitigate risks that could have a major impact on the organization’s ability to operate.
  • Manage and execute ERM governance activities with Regent presentations, ERC, ERMAC and Risk Champions to inform and update risk profile, risk assessments, risk appetite and resource challenges.
  • Manage, track, and report on SI audit findings across the Smithsonian.  Manage governance activities with Regents and Under Secretary meetings and presentations.  Serve as the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) liaison coordinating required actions and timely responses.
  • Support the integration and alignment of ERM program with insurance and internal controls programs for risk management.

Requirements

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.

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

Experience: You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-13 level in the Federal Service.  For this position, specialized experience is defined as developing and formalizing program governance through the establishment of policies and procedures; monitoring and analyzing risks across organizational units; providing guidance and fostering collaboration as appropriate; escalating issues when necessary; and implementing an annual risk assessment process that identifies, evaluates, and ensures effective management of all risk categories.

 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. 

Education

Please put down the Basic Education Requirements (if there are any).

Additional information

  • This position is not included in the bargaining unit.

Recruitment Incentive: Recruitment incentive(s) may be authorized for this position.  However, approval for incentives are contingent upon various availability. If authorized, certain incentives will require the incumbent to sign a service agreement to remain in the Federal government for a certain time period.

Note: This statement does not imply nor guarantee an incentive will be offered and paid.

Selections may be made for vacancies across the Smithsonian Institution (SI). By applying to this position, you agree to allow your application and other personal information to be shared with one or more SI hiring officials for employment consideration for same/similar positions within the location(s) identified in this announcement.

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.

ATTENTION: Due to the large number of qualified applicants for positions of this type, this job announcement will close at 11:59 pm Eastern Time on either: (A) The closing date listed above or (B) The date that 75 applications are received; whichever occurs first. If the announcement closes on the date that 75 applications are received, all applications submitted by 11:59pm that day will be given consideration, including those in excess of 75.

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.

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. Skill in developing and implementing ERM processes, frameworks, and assessments including OMB A-123 and ERM playbook, Committee of Sponsoring Organization’s (COSO) and the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) 31000 Enterprise Risk Management models with a focus on maturing the program.
  2. Knowledge and expertise of all governance aspects of risk management (evaluation, assessment, and brief) within a large, diversified Federal or quasi-governmental organizations.
  3. Knowledge of GAO yellow book and OMB A-50 audit guidance. Effective project management skills to ensure on-time delivery of required documentation.  Demonstrated relationship building skills; skilled to establish and maintain collegial and cooperative relationships and to work on cross-functional teams with strong customer focus.
  4. Knowledge of insurance mitigation programs and knowledge of casualty, property and inland marine programs/coverage.

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.

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

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.


You may preview questions for this vacancy.

Required Documents

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.

    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. Failure to provide the appropriate SF-50(s) may prevent you from receiving consideration for this position.  

  • 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.

How to Apply

Click on the "Apply Online" button on the upper right side of the page.
Please Note:

  • You must apply for this position online through the 'Apply Online' button and submit required supplemental documents (if they are relevant to you).
  • Your resume must be no more than two (2) pages.
  • You may submit required documents by uploading them online during the application process;
    OR
    You may manually fax required documents. Faxes are received by an automated system, not a physical fax machine. Documents that are faxed as part of the application process must be sent with the system generated cover sheet by the closing date. Documents faxed without the system generated coversheet are not retrievable and cannot be considered as part of the application package.
  • The complete application package, including any required documents, is due in the Smithsonian Office of Human Resources on the closing date of the announcement by 11:59 PM Eastern Time.
  • If you are unable to apply online, paper applications may be accepted with prior approval of the Contact Person listed below.

Agency contact information

Molly Abromavage
Phone
202-633-6734
Email
abromavagem@si.edu
Address
SMITHSONIAN
Office of Human Resources
POB 37012, 600 Maryland Avenue, MRC 517
Suite 5060
Washington, Virginia 20013-7012
United States

Next steps

At the end of the application process you will be able to create and save a PDF file that contains your responses to the assessment questions. You may save this file as initial receipt of your application. After the job announcement closes, you will receive an email from the Smithsonian with confirmation of receipt.
The Smithsonian receives many applications for each job. Each application is reviewed carefully which may take a few weeks. We will send you an e-mail to update you as we go through phases of the application review process. You may also check your application status by logging into www.usajobs.gov and selecting the tab "My USAJOBS;" e-mailing vacancy.info@si.edu; or by contacting the Office of Human Resources Representative listed.

Additional Information:

  • Tips on applying for Smithsonian jobs are available at www.sihr.si.edu/jobs.cfm.
  • The Smithsonian does not pay relocation expenses.
  • The Smithsonian Institution is an equal opportunity employer. Additional information can be found on our website at (www.si.edu/oeesd).

Smithsonian Institution

Join the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum, education, and research complex, with 21 museums, 14 education and research centers, and the National Zoo, in "Inspiring Generations through Knowledge and Discovery."

Agency contact information

Molly Abromavage
Phone
202-633-6734
Email
abromavagem@si.edu
Address
SMITHSONIAN
Office of Human Resources
POB 37012, 600 Maryland Avenue, MRC 517
Suite 5060
Washington, Virginia 20013-7012
United States