Open & closing dates: 04/05/2021 to 04/09/2021
Salary: $122,530 to $159,286 per year
Appointment type: Permanent – Federal
Work schedule: Full-time – Full-Time, Permanent
Job family (Series): 1015 Museum Curator
Current Smithsonian Institution Internal Employees/Agency Employees Only may apply including current Smithsonian Institution employees with Federal career/career-conditional status or eligibility.
Summary
This position is located in Smithsonian American Art Museum, (SAAM). The employee will be responsible for the operation and development of one of the museum’s most important functions.
Responsibilities
Manages the curatorial function as a recognized scholar in the field of American art. Determines the direction and emphases of the research, publications, acquisitions and exhibitions of the office; organization of the personnel, fiscal and other office resources; responsibility for proper management of the office’s budget; and supervision of diverse curatorial, technical and support staff.
Lectures and serves as a juror and performing similar public service tasks.
Maintains contact with artists, galleries, and collectors.
Conditions of Employment
Requires career/career-conditional status or eligibility.
May be required to serve an 18-month probationary period for supervisors.
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
You must meet these Basic Education Requirements:
(A) Degree: museum work; or in an applicable subject-matter field
OR
(B) Combination of education and experience – courses equivalent to a major, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education
OR
(C) 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 in A above.
In addition to Basic Requirements above, you must have following:
Experience: You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-13 level in the Federal Service or comparable pay band system. For this position Specialized experience is defined as managing a curatorial department within an art museum, developing a long-term plan and vision for that department, having knowledge of and experience with American Art, supervising staff, and communicating with individuals at all levels both inside out outside the organization.
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: If there is an Education substitution please input the requirement here. If there is no Education substitution please delete this section and the language below.
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.
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.
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 manage and oversee the Curatorial Department of art museum including developing a long-term plan/vision that is tailored to meet current and future needs of the organization.
- Knowledge of American Art.
- Ability to supervise a museum based curatorial staff.
- Ability to communicate orally with all levels of staff inside and outside an organization including management, staff, subordinates, collectors, donors and comparable positions within other museums.
- Ability to communicate in writing including preparing written materials for management, staff, exhibitions, collections, loans and publications.
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.
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.
A copy of your most recent SF-50 which shows your position title, series, grade, step, salary, position occupied, and tenure 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.
Most current Performance Appraisal.
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.
You must apply for this position online through the ‘Apply Online’ button and submit required supplemental documents (if they are relevant to you).
You may submit required documents by uploading them online during the application process;
OR
You may manually fax required documents. Faxes are received by an automated system, not a physical fax machine. Documents that are faxed as part of the application process must be sent with the system generated cover sheet by the closing date. Documents faxed without the system generated coversheet are not retrievable and cannot be considered as part of the application package.
The complete application package, including any required documents, is due in the Smithsonian Office of Human Resources on the closing date of the announcement by 11:59 PM Eastern Time.
If you are unable to apply online, paper applications may be accepted with prior approval of the Contact Person listed below.
Agency contact information:
Jan Williams
Phone: 202-633-6383
TDD: 202-633-6409
Email: Willija@si.edu
Address
SMITHSONIAN
Office of Human Resources
POB 37012, 600 Maryland Avenue, MRC 517
Suite 5060
Washington, District of Columbia 20013-7012
United States
At the end of the application process you will be able to create and save a PDF file that contains your responses to the assessment questions. You may save this file as initial receipt of your application. After the job announcement closes, you will receive an email from the Smithsonian with confirmation of receipt.
The Smithsonian receives many applications for each job. Each application is reviewed carefully which may take a few weeks. We will send you an e-mail to update you as we go through phases of the application review process. You may also check your application status by logging into www.usajobs.gov and selecting the tab “My USAJOBS;” e-mailing vacancy.info@si.edu; or by contacting the Office of Human Resources Representative listed.
Additional Information:
Tips on applying for Smithsonian jobs are available here.
The Smithsonian does not pay relocation expenses.
The Smithsonian embraces diversity and equal employment opportunity.
