Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open to INTERNAL USHMM current, permanent federal employees and Agency Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) applicants ONLY.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is a federally chartered, nonpartisan institution that was created by the US Congress to serve as America’s national memorial to the victims of the Holocaust and an educational institution dedicated to the history and lessons of the Holocaust. The Museum seeks to educate Americans from all 50 states and all walks of life as well as international audiences. The Museum has three areas of expertise: Holocaust remembrance, Holocaust scholarship and education, and genocide prevention.

In carrying out its important memorial and educational mission, the Museum is guided by its institutional values for our workplace: Honor the memory of the victims; carry out our work with dignity, humility, integrity and respect for others; and strive for excellence through teamwork, rigor, and a culture of continuous learning. Consistent respect for others is the foundation for trust, collegiality and inclusion.

Duties Include:

Serve as the Archival Affairs Division (AAD) Deputy Director and to provide, alongside the Division Director, comprehensive archival, cataloging, and strategic direction for the two AAD branch chiefs and their staff, the Film and Special Media Archivist, the Institutional Archivist and Records Manager, and the Museum, with an emphasis on description and the orchestration of archival processing and cataloging of incoming collections and accretions, and coordination with other staff to ensure and expand physical and digital access to the Museum’s Collection of Record.

Develop and implement archival standards and practices for the Museum that meet or exceed the international standards of the archival field and displays expertise in orchestrating teams of archivists, catalogers, and support staff structuring the organization of collections on behalf of the Museum.

Oversee the efforts of the archival team (all Division employees) regarding all materials acquired for the Museum’s collections, including three-dimensional artifacts, papers and manuscripts, film, oral histories, recorded sound, and copies of archival collections from other institutions.

Ensure that branch-led procedures for archival organization, description, indexing, and cataloging are developed and followed by Archival Affairs Division staff to enhance usability and discoverability of collections.

Support the development, management, oversight, and reporting on budgets to the division and office leadership; Initiates or drafts preparation of grant proposals and reports to donors in cooperation with the Office of Development staff and in collaboration with the Rubenstein Institute Director of Planning and Administration and Office leadership.

Prepares verbal and written draft presentations, subject to the concurrence of the Division Director, on behalf of the Museum on topics including the activities, policies, and methods of the Division, Office, and Museum for partner and other archival institutions, scholars, researchers, donors, media, and others.

Implements archival processing and cataloging procedures and priorities in close collaboration with the needs of and workflows within the Office.

Provides direction and management of the Archival Affairs Division, through leadership and monitoring staff activities and projects.

Conditions of employment

On-line resumes must be submitted by 11:59pm EST of the closing date.

You must be a suitable for Federal employment.

You must be a U.S. citizen.

You must be registered for Selective Service if applicable (www.sss.gov).

Time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date.

A one year probationary/trial period may be required.

Payment of relocation expenses is not authorized.

The USHMM is an equal opportunity employer.

This agency provides reasonable accommodations 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 granting reasonable accommodation will be on a case-by-case basis.

As a condition of employment, all new hires must agree to direct deposit of their salary checks.  Employees will have up to two (2) pay periods from the date they enter on duty to arrange for their direct deposit transaction.

This is a Federal agency.  Former employees who received a voluntary separation incentive (“buyout”) must repay the full amount of it if reemployed under any type of appointment or under a personal service contract within five years after separation with a buyout.

Qualifications

Qualification requirements in the vacancy announcements are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook, which contains federal qualification standards. This handbook is available on the Office of Personnel Management's website located at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards. 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.

Basic Requirement:

Degree: Bachelor's degree in archival science or bachelor's degree with a major that includes 18 semester hours in archival science, history and/or in political science or government, and 12 semester hours in one or any combination of the following: archival science, history, American civilization, economics, political science, public administration, or government.

OR

Combination of education and experience - at least 30 semester hours that included courses as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education

Evaluation of Experience:
Professional experience 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.

In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the specialized experience listed below.

Specialized Experience: Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. Qualifying experience for GS- 14 includes one year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-13 which is directly related to the work of this position and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. For this position, specialized experience is developing and implementing archival standards and practices that meet or exceed the international standards of the archival field; displaying expertise in orchestrating teams of archivists, catalogers, and support staff; overseeing and providing direction and management of the Archival Arrangement and Description Branch; monitoring staff activities of the archival team (all Branch employees) regarding all materials acquired for the Museum’s collections; supporting the development, management, oversight, and reporting on budgets to the division and office leadership; initiating or drafting grant proposals and reports.

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). Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to current employees applying for a Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. NOTE: All current or former Federal employees must provide a copy of their SF-50 (you may need to submit more than one), "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, tenure (1 or 2), and type of service (Competitive or Excepted).
***Failure to submit required documentation will result in an ineligible rating.

How you will be evaluated

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

We will review your resume and supporting documentation (transcripts if applicable) to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for the position. If you meet the minimum qualifications stated in the vacancy announcement, we will compare your resume, and supporting documentation to your responses on the scored occupational questionnaire that you completed as part of the application. However, your resume or optional cover letter must support your responses to the occupational questions, or your score will be lowered. The best-qualified candidates will be identified for referral to the hiring manager and may be invited for a structured  interview.

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (ex: resume and supporting documents), your responses to the application questionnaire, and the results of the online assessments required for this position. Be sure your resume includes enough detail to support your qualifications.

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):  Accountability, Conscientiousness, Decision Making, Flexibility, History and Archeology, Leadership, Manages and Organizes Information, Partnering, Planning and Evaluating, Self-Management, Team Building, Writing

To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment that measures critical general competencies needed to perform the job.

Optional Essay Questions
Applicants may choose to respond to four short essay questions (200 words max each) to help us better understand your alignment with the agency's mission. These responses are optional and will not affect the applicant's eligibility.

A complete application includes 

1. Your resume must clearly demonstrate, in two pages or less, how your skills and experiences align with the "Qualifications" section and support your questionnaire responses. If the resume exceeds two pages, only the first two will be reviewed. 2. Vacancy question responses, and 3. Submission of any required documents. Please note that if you do not provide all required information, as specified in this announcement, you may not be considered for this position (or may not receive the special consideration for which you may be eligible).Please ensure all required documents, including any required work samples, narratives, or other materials as stated in this announcement, are attached to your application package.

All applicants are required to submit a résumé either by creating one in USAJOBS or uploading one of their own choosing. Please limit your resume to two-pages. Applicants with resumes exceeding two-pages will be removed from consideration. To receive full credit for relevant experience, please list the month/date/year and number of hours worked for experience listed on your résumé. We suggest that you preview the online questions, as you may need to customize your résumé to ensure that it supports your responses to these questions. For resume writing guidance, please visit USAJOBS Help Center - How do I write a resume for a federal job?

VETERANS' PREFERENCE DOCUMENTATION: If you are claiming veterans preference, please see applicant guide for required documentation. In order to be considered for veterans preference, you must submit all required documentation as outlined in the applicant guide.

CAREER TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PLAN (CTAP) OR INTERAGENCY CAREER TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PLAN (ICTAP) DOCUMENTATION: If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee, click CTAP/ICTAP for eligibility and a detailed list of required documents you must submit in order to be eligible.

ICTAP Applicants: To be considered well-qualified and exercise selection priority as an ICTAP candidate, displaced Federal employees must satisfy all qualification requirements for the position and rate highly qualified. ICTAP candidates must provide copies of all of the following documentation at the time of application: 1) agency notice; 2) most recent performance appraisal; and 3) most recent SF-50 or notification of personnel action that includes position, grade level, and duty location. Applicants who do not provide this documentation will not receive consideration as an ICTAP candidate. 

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