Duties

Summary

This position is located with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Deputy Director, Trust Services, Division of Environmental & Cultural Resources Management in Reston, Virginia.

NOTE:
TRAVEL AND RELOCATION EXPENSES WILL NOT BE AUTHORIZED. ANY RELOCATION EXPENSES ASSOCIATED WITH REPORTING FOR DUTY WILL BE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SELECTED EMPLOYEE.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

• Provides technical assistance in all aspects of curating and managing museum collections.
• Coordinate and conduct the documentation and electronic cataloging and accessioning of BIA museum collections, following professional museum and BIA cataloging standards and conducts .
• Researches and develops exhibits, physical and virtual, of BIA museum objects as well as educational, interpretive, and training materials related to BIA's museum collections.
• Researches and analyzes data for museum management plans and reports.
• Identify preservation and conservation needs of museum collections.
• Provide assistance for appropriate procedures for the storage, exhibit, and conservation of museum objects.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
None

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship Required
• Preference in filling vacancies is given to qualified Indian candidates in accordance with the Indian Preference Act of 1934 (title 25, USC Section 472). Form BIA -4432 must be submitted with the application if claiming Indian Preference.
• You will be required to have federal payments made by Direct Deposit
• You may be required to successfully complete a probationary/trial period
• A background security investigation will be required for all new hires. Appointment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication.
• If you are a male applicant born after 12/31/1959 and are required to register under the Military Selective Service Act, the Defense Authorization Act of 1986 requires that you be registered or you are not eligible for appointment in this agency.
• Incumbent is required to operate a government motor vehicle, must possess a valid driver's license, and have a safe driving record within the 3 year period immediately preceding submittal of GSA Form 3607.

Qualifications

EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS: (OPM Operating Manual, Qualification Standards for Professional and Scientific Positions and Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR) for Museum Curator Series, GS-1015).

BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL GRADES:

A. Degree: museum work; or an applicable subject matter field, from an accredited college or university.
OR
B. Combination of education and experience in courses equivalent to a major, as shown in A above, PLUS appropriate experience or additional education.
OR
C. Four years of related experience that provided knowledge of the fundamental principles and theories of professional museum work comparable to that normally acquired through successful completion of the 4-year course of study as described in A above.

ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED: In addition to meeting the basic entry level qualification requirements, applicants must have the following:

GS-11: I have at least one year of specialized experience or the equivalent, comparable to at least the GS-09 in the Federal Service (obtained in either the public or private sector). Specialized experience is work that involved museum curatorial or collections management including but not limited to: using a professional museum collections management database to thoroughly document museum collections; maintaining safe and secure storage systems to house museum collections; completing loan, accessioning, and other museum documentation; moving museum objects using proper handling techniques; maintaining an environmental monitoring and housekeeping program; identifying and documenting conservation needs; completing condition assessments; researching museum objects; conducting work to meet regulatory requirements of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA); and preparing reports summarizing museum management activities. Experience may have been gained in a museum, college or university, historical society, or other setting that involves working with collections of museum objects or specimens requiring specialized care and handling.
OR EDUCATION:
Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree
OR
3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree
OR
LL.M., must be related to position.

All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Merit Promotion candidates must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the announcement closing date.

Preference in filling vacancies is given to qualified Indian candidates in accordance with the Indian Preference Act of 1934 (title 25, USC Section 472).

Additional selections may be made from this announcement if identical vacancies occur in the same location within 90 days from the closing date.

Education

If you are qualifying based on your education, you MUST provide transcripts or other documentation to support your educational claims. Unless otherwise stated: (1) official or unofficial transcripts are acceptable, or (2) you may submit a list with all of your courses, grades, semester, year, and credit for the course. All materials must be submitted by the closing date of the announcement.

If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) were taken on a pass/fail basis, your claim of superior academic achievement must be based upon class standing or membership in an honor society.

One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study.

If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education which shows the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: FOREIGN EDUCATION

Additional information

All new hires earn the beginning salary of their pay grade (Step 1). See 2019 Salary Tables here and select the duty station from the Reston, Virginia to choose the appropriate pay chart. If no specific chart is listed for this geographic location, see the "rest of U.S." chart.

The full performance level of this position is GS-11.

TELEWORK: Indian Affairs has determined that the duties of the position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework with supervisor approval.

You will be required to operate a government-owned or leased motor vehicle in the performance of duties, therefore, a valid driver's license is required. Incumbent must have a safe driving record within the three-year period immediately preceding submittal of GSA Form 3607 and be able to meet the safe driving requirements of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Career Transition Assistance Programs: These programs apply to employees who have been involuntarily separated from a Federal service position within the competitive service or Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: (1) meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria; (2) be rated well-qualified for the position with a score of 85 or above; and, (3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility. For more information visit: http://www.opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.asp .

Certain candidates may be eligible to apply under a special hiring authority including those for disabled individuals, Peace Corps employees, Foreign Service employees, veterans, etc. For more information, visit the following OPM websites: USAJOBS Information Center: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/ ; Vets Info Guide: http://www.fedshirevets.gov/ .

Former Federal Employees are required to indicate whether they received a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP) buyout in their previous employment with the Federal government, and are required to submit a copy of the applicable Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) regarding the VSIP. Most individuals who accept reemployment with the Federal government within 5 years of receiving the VSIP amount, must repay the gross amount of the separation pay prior to reemployment.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Your application package will be evaluated against the minimum qualification requirements specified above. In order to qualify, your resume must specifically describe your work history and the duties you performed in each position. Your resume will be evaluated after the closing date of 11/12/2019 to determine whether you meet the minimum qualification requirements for this position. Competencies measured include:

• Database Management Systems
• Interpersonal Skills
• Manages Resources
• Research

We will compare your resume and supporting documentation to your responses on the assessment questionnaire. If the information in your resume does not support your responses to the assessment questions, your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your qualifications.

Qualified Indian preference candidates will be referred to the hiring manager in order of veterans' preference.

You may preview the assessment questions here in the https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/10641900 .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Q Access Authorization

Drug test required
No

Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)

Trust determination process
Suitability/Fitness

Required Documents

The following documents are required for this position:

• Resume which details work experience including dates worked (mm/yy-mm/yy), position title, Grade (if federal service), and hours worked per week.
• On-line Assessment Questionnaire
• Most recent SF-50 (if applying under merit promotion. Be sure your SF-50 displays your tenure in box 24, your position in box 34, and that the SF-50 is not an award)
• Transcripts (if using education to qualify) - Unofficial transcripts are acceptable; however, an official transcript may be requested at a later time.
• Veteran's documentation - (if applicable) VA letter on VA letterhead stating your overall combined rating, SF-15, DD-214 (copy 4) reflecting an honorable discharge and dates of active duty military service.
• Special Appointing Authority documentation (if applying under a special hiring authority)
• BIA Form 4432 (if claiming Indian preference)
• Performance Appraisal (if applying under the Land Management Flexibility Act)

If you are applying as a VEOA candidate, you must submit a copy of your DD-214 and your letter from the VA reflecting an honorable discharge and that you either completed three years of active duty service or are a preference eligible. For more information see: https://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/shav/index.aspx#veoa .

If you are unable to apply online, require reasonable accommodation in the application process if you are an applicant with a disability, or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application .

ALL DOCUMENTS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 11:59 PM Eastern Time ON THE CLOSING DATE OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. If your application package is incomplete in any way, you will not be considered for this position, and requests for extensions will not be granted. Please double check your application package before you submit it.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WILL NOT BE SOLICITED OR ACCEPTED BY THIS OFFICE.

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.