Duties

Summary

This position is located in National Postal Museum (NPM), Smithsonian Institution. The employee serves as curator of the museum's permanent collection of postage and revenue stamps, stamped envelopes, postal history objects, and related artifacts to carry out the museum's mission of collections development and refinement; research; exhibition development; and public service.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

Grade 9:

• Develops personal knowledge of the museum's holdings and ensures careful identification, accurate cataloguing, and authoritative interpretation of artifacts in the museum's collection.
• Conceives, proposes, and develops onsite, online, traveling, and digital exhibitions from the permanent collection as well as temporary displays at national and international philatelic expositions and postal trade shows.
• Informs individual and group stakeholders, other agencies, and the public about the curatorial department's activities.
• Participates in the development and implementation of the museum's collecting plan through acquisition and deaccession and the preparation of related reports and paperwork.

Grade 11:

• Develops personal knowledge of the museum's holdings and ensures careful identification, accurate cataloguing, and authoritative interpretation of artifacts in the museum's collection.
• Proposes and carries out original research into the historical, artistic, technical, and cultural aspects of philately or postal communications resulting in publication online, in technical and/or specialist journals, or through exhibition.
• Conceives, proposes, and develops onsite, online, traveling, and digital exhibitions from the permanent collection as well as temporary displays at national and international philatelic expositions and postal trade shows.
• Informs individual and group stakeholders, other agencies, and the public about the curatorial department's activities.
• Participates in the development and implementation of the museum's collecting plan through acquisition and deaccession and the preparation of related reports and paperwork.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - Occasional travel will be required.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
11

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Pass Pre-employment Background Investigation
• Complete a Probationary Period
• Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer

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

Qualifications

Basic Requirements for this position:

• Degree in museum work or in an applicable subject matter field such as history or
• Combination of education and experience - courses equivalent to a major, as shown above, plus appropriate experience or additional education or
• Four years of experience that provided knowledge comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of the 4 year course of study as shown above.

In addition to the Basic Requirements, applicants must also have the following:

For Grade 09

Experience: You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the IS-07 level in the Federal Service or comparable pay band system. For this position Specialized experience is defined as experience handling and identifying philatelic, postal, or historical artifacts; implementing virtual or physical exhibitions of philatelic, postal, or historical artifacts; and answering routine reference inquiries from the public.

For Grade 11

Experience: You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the IS-09 level in the Federal Service or comparable pay band system. For this position Specialized experience is defined as experience documenting and authenticating philatelic, postal, or historical artifacts in a museum, academic, or other research setting; developing exhibitions that have both scholarly interest and public appeal; managing a collection of philatelic, postal, or historical artifacts to include evaluating potential acquisitions; and responding to technical or advanced research inquiries from the public, media and/or subject matter experts.

.

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.

Or Education:

GS-9: Two full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's or equivalent degree related to the position may be substituted to meet the experience requirements.

GS-11: Three full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree related to the position may be substituted to meet the experience requirements.

Or a Combination: Education and experience may be combined to meet the basic qualifications; for example, a half year of experience and a half year of education in the field may be qualifying.

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.

Education

Additional information

Please see Benefits at www.sihr.si.edu for a complete
description.

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:

Knowledge of philately, postal communications, history, or another field of study related to the work of this position.

Ability to plan and conduct scholarly and applied research into the historical, artistic, technical, and cultural aspects of philately or postal communications.

Ability to develop original exhibitions of varying scale relevant to philately, postal communications, history, or another field of study related to the work of this position.

Ability to communicate information related to the work of this position to experts, docents, and the public.

Ability to organize, manage, develop, and refine the museum's collection of postage and revenue stamps, stamped envelopes, postal history objects, and related artifacts.

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

To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Not Required

Drug test required
No

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. If you want to receive full credit for relevant experience your resume MUST contain the job title (including the occupational series and grade if it is Federal), duties, starting and ending dates (month and year), hours worked per week, and salary.
  
  USAJOBS has guidance on how to ensure that you submit a complete resume: If you have not written a Federal resume before, you may watch this Resume Writing Tutorial video on the USAJOBS YouTube channel , or read through a helpful Resume Writing FAQ article on the USAJOBS Help Site to learn what details you should, and should not, include in your resume. If any of the above information is not included in your resume we may not be able to fully credit you for your experience.
  
• 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.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education .

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.