Duties

The Museum Specialist assists the members of the Office of Curatorial Affairs (OCA), National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) working on U.S. Latinx initiatives, programs and projects.

In this position, you will:

• Assist staff with research, collections development (including acquisitions, documentation, and management), exhibition development, public service and programming centered on the US Latinx experience, which includes US Afro-Latinx people, art, history, and culture.
• Conduct research on topics, themes, graphic images, and objects within the Smithsonian, outside museums, private collections, universities, libraries, and other cultural and educational organizations associated with US Latino/a/x history, art, and culture. Conduct provenance research.
  
• Focus on proper and up-to-date identification and documentation of the collections records, monitor requests for conservation needs and storage of collections objects, monitor the quality and accuracy of cataloging, and assist staff with physical cataloging of objects as needed, and ensure digital object records are accurate, timely and complete.
  
• Prepare written documents for use in exhibitions, the museum's websites, educational purposes, and acquisitions. Work with relevant staff to manage communication with vendors and donors.
• Work on teams with Office of Curatorial Affairs and other NMAAHC and Smithsonian staff to develop, encourage, and facilitate uses for US Latinx collection information and content.

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

COVID-19 VACCINATION REQUIREMENTS:

For the latest information on the COVID-19 vaccination requirements and its impact on your application, click on Smithsonian Institution's Frequently Asked Questions .

Qualifications

Basic Qualification: Experience related to the operation or management of a museum or similar collection of valuable objects. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include collections management, registration, cataloging, research, preservation, restoration, or conservation of collections of museum material, or other experience related to the position to be filled.

In addition to the basic qualification requirement above:

You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-09 level in the Federal Service or comparable pay band system. For this position specialized experience is defined as conducting research in support of a museum, cultural or educational institution; supporting acquisitions processes and collections management; planning public/educational programs. This experience must be related to US Latinx art, history and culture.

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.

Qualification requirements must be met within 30 days of the job announcement closing date.

For information on qualification requirements, see Qualification Standards Handbook for General Schedule Positions on OPM website .

Additional information

This position is not included in the bargaining unit.