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 is a professional Objects Conservator responsible primarily for carrying out conservation treatment on a wide variety of objects: inorganic, organic, archaeological, and ethnographic. This includes but is not limited to materials such as metals, ceramics, stone, glass, wood, plastics, leather, basketry, tools, furniture, as well as mixed media and sculptures. Provides technical advice and conservation support on exhibit and loan projects; advises and conducts environmental control, pest management, disaster preparedness, collections handling and use; and assists in maintaining lab operations for the variety of objects in the NMAAHC collection. Duties include:

• supporting operations of the Conservation Laboratory and supporting continued development of unit-wide guidelines for the handling, care and storage, presentation and exhibition of collections;
• proposing to the Supervisory Conservator budget and staff needs for the operation of the Objects Lab and preparing estimates of object treatment and project costs;
• performing written surveys, technical examination reports, and treatment proposals with sketches, photographs, analytical reports, digital images, radiographs, etc., as needed;
• advising NMAAHC staff on effective preservation methods and requirements for handling or use of NMAAHC collections for any purpose, including exhibitions, storage, loans, public programs, etc.; and
• performing maintenance work on the NMAAHC collection to assist with collections housing and storage and providing safe travel environments for objects in transit.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
12 - Full performance level of this position is GS-12.

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.

Qualifications

Experience: You qualify for this position if you possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 level in the Federal Service or comparable pay band system. For this position specialized experience is defined as examining and evaluating the condition of objects; developing treatment plans; performing conservation treatment; creating housing; advising on display or exhibit requirements; and documenting the process.

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.

For a full explanation of this option please see the Qualification Standards .

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

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 communicate in writing in order to prepare written surveys, technical examination reports, treatment proposals, policies and guidelines related to the handling and care of collection items.

Skill in the examination and treatment of delicate and/or badly deteriorated museum objects, color matching, visual aspects of ethnographic and archaeological objects.

Ability to communicate orally when advising and training staff about museum object conservation.

Knowledge of the tools, supplies, equipment, methods and practices appropriate for housing and preparing a multidisciplinary collection for storage.

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
Other

Drug test required
No

Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk

Trust determination process

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.
  
• Proof of eligibility for a military spouse appointment, such as a permanent change station military order
• Proof of severe disability if you are requesting special placement consideration
• 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 eligibility for any other special appointing authority not specifically mentioned here.

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.