Museum Specialist (General)

About the role

The Smithsonian Institution is the world's largest museum, education, and research complex, with 21 museums and the National Zoo. This position is located in the National Air & Space Museum/Collections Processing Unit (CPU).

The Collections Processing Unit is responsible for protecting the National Collections of Aeronautics and Space Artifacts in perpetuity and guaranteeing intellectual and physical control over those collections. More than one selection may be made from this announcement.

What you will do

• The Museum Specialist (General) serves to carry out collections management activities, including developing and implementing procedures to be followed by staff, interns and volunteers involved in packing, handling, moving, transporting and storing of objects and work within the unit.
• In this position, you will: Determine the storage of artifacts by analyzing storage requirements.
• Advise on storage plans and approaches.
• Designs innovative storage systems.
• Assemble, disassemble, load, unload, secure, crate, or cradle aforementioned types of artifacts.
• These tasks require the incumbent to construct cradles, dollies, and other supports necessary to ensure safe handling, movement, and storage of the artifacts.
• Perform various types of specimen-handling operations, including those that require the operation of forklifts or similar equipment, box trucks, tractor trailers and other vehicles or equipment.
• Direct or coordinate museum technicians and specialists, interns, visitors, researchers and contractors in the collections areas and their work with the collection, providing them with assistance and maintaining the security for the collection at all times.
• Collaborate/Consult with the Registrar, curatorial units and Conservator may research, document, catalog, inventory and write condition reports on accessioned artifacts and propagating them to The Museum System.
• Occasionally serves as project manager/coordinator for assignments.

Requirements

• 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.
• Must obtain/maintain a Class A commercial driver's license within 9 months of hire.

Education

Education can be substituted in lieu of specialized experience for this position only at the GS-07 and GS-09 grade levels. (unofficial transcripts must be submitted at the time of application).

How you will be evaluated

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: Knowledge of museum object handling and storage standards for a widely varied aeronautical and space artifact collection.

Skill in the use of stationary and power hand tools used in the preservation, storage, moving, or transporting of artifacts. Skill in operating material handling equipment, such as forklifts; scissor lifts; Aerial Work Platforms and similar equipment.

Knowledge of accepted museum collections management methodology and practices related to small, medium, and large aeronautical and space related artifacts. Ability to use specialized computer programs to input artifact related data into the collections information database.

Ability to communicate in writing for the purpose of writing and documenting physical descriptions of artifacts or digital material in accordance with procedures and established standards and communicating with staff within and outside the unit.

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 You may preview questions for this vacancy.

Documents you must provide

• 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.
• SI Trust employees are ineligible for Merit Promotion consideration unless you submit a Standard Form (SF) - 50, "Notice of Personnel Action", that indicates proof you previously held a 'status' position and proof of time-in-grade.
• 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.

Benefits

The Federal Government offers a comprehensive benefits package. Please see Benefits at *** for a complete description.

Flexible Spending Accounts - *** Health Insurance - *** Leave - *** Life Insurance - *** Long Term Care Insurance - *** Retirement Program - ***

What to expect next

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 *** and selecting the tab "My USAJOBS;" e-mailing ***; or by contacting the Office of Human Resources Representative listed. Additional Information: Tips on applying for Smithsonian jobs are available at *** The Smithsonian does not pay relocation expenses.

The Smithsonian Institution is an equal opportunity employer. Additional information can be found on our website at (***).

Additional information

This position is 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.

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.