Duties

Summary

The National Museum of African American History and Culture's primary purposes are to acquire, maintain and preserve objects which document social, cultural, political, military, technological and scientific developments in the United States related to the African American experience; to conduct research in the field of African American history, to publish findings for all audiences; and interpret historical developments through public exhibits and programs as well as digital content.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

The incumbent reports to the Assistant Director for Communications, Office of External Affairs, National Museum of African American History and Culture, and performs the following duties and responsibilities:

• provides support to the Public Affairs, Marketing and Communications, and Social Media teams, which may include several of the following areas: fiscal management, travel, management information systems, contract administration, property management, procurement, and overall office management;
• reviews project deliverables and tracks priorities against timetables, keeping the supervisor abreast of any items for which feedback or further action is needed;
• manages changes to the project scope, project schedule and projects costs using appropriate verification techniques;
• coordinates content for inclusion in reports, collateral and presentations, including collection of content and graphics;
• writes action plans for multi-phased projects, using standard project management best practices;
• ensures internal and external parties receive the necessary information to advance mission-critical initiatives;
• maintains best practices for the archival, storage, security and retrieval of records;
• orders a variety of goods and services using Smithsonian's financial system (ERP);
• prepares spending reports in MS Excel and Smartsheet;
• tracks expenditures from one or more federal funds, including determining or verifiyng financial and other codes based on transaction, source, purpose, and program and enters transactions into NMAAHC automated funds tracking system;
• books hotels, transportation, and occasionally arranges site meetings and prepares travel papers in hard copy and/or automated system; and
• maintains calendar(s) for supervisor, including leave, meetings, and project calendars.

Travel Required

Not required

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
09

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.

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.

For information on qualification requirements, see Qualification Standards Handbook for General Schedule Positions viewable on the web at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications.

Qualifications

Experience: You qualify for this position if you possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-07 level in the Federal Service or comparable pay band system. For this position specialized experience is defined as serving as an executive assistant managing administrative functions, projects and operations logistics for an executive in a museum or cultural setting, government office, nonprofit or corporation assembling data for reports; responding verbally and in writing to inquiries and requests from the public; preparing agendas, minutes and other materials for meetings; writing letters, memos, reports and other documents using Word; preparing PowerPoint presentations; developing Excel worksheets for budgets and to track projects; processing and monitoring financial transactions, expense management, procurement and travel authorizations; and establishing and maintaining office files and schedules.

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: master's or equivalent graduate degree or 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.

Or a Combination: Education and experience may be combined to meet the basic qualifications. For a full explanation of this option please see the Qualification Standards .

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

Flexible Spending Accounts - http://www.fsafeds.com/fsafeds/index.asp
Health Insurance - http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/index.asp
Leave - http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/index.asp
Life Insurance - http://www.opm.gov/insure/life/index.asp
Long Term Care Insurance - http://www.ltcfeds.com
Retirement Program - http://www.opm.gov/retire/index.asp

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:

Ability to provide high-level administrative support to senior management, including screening calls, managing and maintaining calendars and monitoring project deliverables.

Knowledge of procurement, travel, and financial management practices using automated systems to record and monitor funds expenditures and balances.

Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing using correct and proper English grammar, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and terminology.

Skill in software applications, such as Microsoft Office Suite technology and office practices.

Skill in project management.

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

To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
No

Required Documents

Your application package should include the following documents:

• 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.

• A copy of your most recent SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, which shows your position title, series, grade, step, salary, position occupied, and tenure group, to verify time-in-grade/competitive status. If you have previously held a higher grade and are applying based on that grade, you must provide a copy of the SF-50 showing you held the higher grade and/or have promotion potential to the grade being advertised. Do NOT submit Award SF-50s.
  
• 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.
• A recent performance evaluation
• 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.
• 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.