Duties
Summary
This position is on the staff of the Chief Curator (C), Department of Northern European Paintings (CNE) and Department of Sculpture and Decorative Arts (CSD). The incumbent reports to the head of the curatorial departments and performs a variety of duties of an administrative and curatorial nature for the departments.
Responsibilities
The incumbent:
- Administrative operations and clerical support of the departments manages office and telephone reception and mail; maintains records and files; maintains office supplies, requisitions, and equipment; drafts, edits, proofreads, and/or produces departmental correspondence; makes travel arrangements; creates travel budgets, itineraries, and expense reports. Schedules appointments and meetings for members of the department(s); reserves meeting spaces and equipment as needed. Responsible for relaying information pertaining to changes in administrative procedures, travel policies, correspondence format, equipment, software, and related matters to the Head(s) and other members of the Department(s).
- Assists with coordination of tasks related to the permanent collection, exhibitions, art acquisitions, and loans. As assigned: coordinates with registrars, collectors, dealers, donors, photo lab, & conservation lab; initiates new photography; coordinates movement of art within the Gallery and, on occasion, couriers loans to & from other museums. Prepares materials for curatorial and trustee board meetings; prepares art advice forms & related paperwork for works of art considered for acquisition.
- Public service and collegiality: responds through supervisor to inquiries and requests regarding collections and exhibitions; escorts visitors to curatorial records and files and art storage rooms and monitors and assists with visitors during their appointments and related duties as assigned, represents the department(s) in contacts with both the general public and professionals; facilitates good communication and good working relationships within and outside the Gallery; observes confidentiality; acts as primary initial contact for visitors.
- Electronic Information Management: uses Microsoft Office programs; The Museum System; digital cameras and image scanners; maintains electronic files and databases; assists curatorial staff with computers and other equipment.
- Provides research assistance on objects in the permanent collection, exhibition loans, and potential art acquisitions.
Conditions of Employment
- You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job.
- Subject to a background/suitability investigation.
- Designated and/or random drug testing may be required.
- Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
- Your resume serves as the basis for qualification determinations and must highlight your most relevant and significant work experience and education (if applicable) as it relates to this job opportunity. 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). Your resume must include the dates of all qualifying experience (from month/year to month/year) and the number of hours worked/volunteered per week.
Physical Requirements: The work is mostly sedentary, may walk to other offices in the East and West Buildings.
Qualifications
SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE:
- Applicants must have a minimum of one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility comparable to the next lower grade or comparable pay band in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private sector.
- 2 full academic years of progressively higher level graduate education or master’s or equivalent graduate degree related to the position. Related fields of study include art history, museum studies, archives management, or other courses related to the position to be filled OR 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-07 level in the Federal service working in a curatorial department in an art museum in a support capacity.
- Other Relevant Eligibility Criteria: Candidate has completed a master’s degree in a field of art history or museum studies, or has other experience demonstrating knowledge of basic art historical research methods. Has significant experience of at least one year comparable to the GS-07 in the federal government in an administrative support, or intern position in a curatorial department in an art museum, thus demonstrating understanding of the functions and operations of a curatorial department. These may include a position as a project assistant, curatorial assistant, exhibition assistant, research assistant, or collections management assistant. Demonstrates effective communication and interaction on a regular basis with people inside and outside the employing museum. Evidence of excellent command of English through writing samples or cover letter. Demonstrates a high level of ability in coordinating numerous projects simultaneously and with a high attention to detail. Candidate is competent in use of Microsoft Office programs and experienced in creating reports containing images, as evidenced by previous job experience. Has experience handling art, working with art collections and collections management databases, such as The Museum System or other equivalent.
- Candidates must reflect in their submitted USAJOBS résumés the possession of this specialized experience. If their résumés do not include such specialized experience, they will be ineligible for this position.
- Those applicants who meet the minimum qualification requirements will be evaluated against these factors to determine the best-qualified candidates. Candidates should ensure their résumé and submitted materials clearly demonstrate possession of these factors to receive maximum employment consideration.
- Skill in performing a variety of office management and administrative support in an art museum such as preparing business correspondence, scheduling appointments and arranging meetings, organizing and managing paper and electronic filing systems, travel arrangements, and expense/budget tracking, and keeping track of ongoing projects.
- Understanding of basic collections management, including art handling procedures as well as art handling experience.
- Ability to communicate with a wide variety of people, verbally and in writing, with accuracy and in a diplomatic and tactful manner.
- Skill in using Microsoft Office software (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams) for personal computers, Zoom, Adobe products, and image scanners; remote access, virtual meetings; project management software such as Wrike, and as well as art-related databases, and collections management databases such as The Museum System.
- Knowledge of the history of art with emphasis on pre-1900 European paintings, sculpture, and/or decorative arts basic art historical research methods, especially archival research and online scholarly database systems.
- CTAP/ICTAP candidates: To be considered “well qualified” you must meet all of the requirements as described in this section.
- You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
Education
This position doesn’t have a positive education requirement, you may submit copies of your transcripts or a course listing. You must provide documentation supporting your education claims.
Education must be obtained from an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Foreign education must be reviewed by an organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For special instructions pertaining to foreign education and a list of organizations that can evaluate foreign education, see the Department of Education website.
Additional information
The National Gallery of Art fosters a diverse and inclusive workplace and is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
More than one selection may be made from this vacancy announcement.
Some positions may require completion of a probationary period of up to 1 (one) year.
AN EXTERNAL SELECTED CANDIDATE MUST BE FINGERPRINTED AND RECEIVE A BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION, RESULTING IN A SATISFACTORY SUITABILITY DETERMINATION BEFORE BEING HIRED FOR THIS POSITION.
All males born after December 31st 1959 must abide by laws regarding Selective Service registration. To learn more about this law, visit the Selective Service web page, Who Must Register. If you are not registered and don’t have an approved exemption, you will not be eligible for employment with the Federal government.
