Museum Collection Assistant Jobs in Washington, DC

Summary
The Smithsonian Institution is the world's largest museum, education, and research complex, with 21 museums and the National Zoo. This position is organizationally located in Collections Management (OCM), Acquisitions and Special Collections, Curatorial Affairs (OCA), National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC).
Learn more about this agency
Duties
Help
The Supervisory Museum Specialist oversees a portion of the collections information management services and participates with the Assistant Director in establishing long- and short-term goals, hiring, space management and budget.
In this position, you will:

• Assess potential acquisitions to flag any issues with the collections policies, providing relevant information to the Collections Committee and Director to assist them in their decision to follow through with or deny an accession.
• Manage incoming loans for inaugural and temporary exhibitions. Negotiates terms of agreements and associate paperwork. Manage and implement all aspects of the museum's outgoing loans program.
• Regularly review and update policies and procedures in accordance with evolving museum practices.
• Specify requirements and monitor packer, shipper, airline, freight forwarder and customs broker provision of proper packing, handling, control and timely delivery of objects. Ensures that museum standards for security, care and handling of objects are observed both in transit and while objects are in the custody of NMAAHC.
• Plan work to be accomplished by staff.

Requirements
Help
Conditions of employment

• Requires career/career-conditional status or eligibility.
• Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service.
• May be required to serve an 18-month
  probationary period for supervisors.

Conditions of Employment
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. See the 'Required Documents' section for additional information.
For information on qualification requirements, see Qualification Standards Handbook for General Schedule Positions viewable on OPM Website.
Qualifications
Basic Qualifications: Experience related to the operation or management of a museum or similar collection of valuable objects. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include collections management, registration, cataloging, research, preservation, restoration, or conservation of collections of museum material, or other experience related to the position to be filled. Most positions require a particular subject-matter specialization, e.g., aeronautics, anthropology, art, geology, history, natural science, technology, biology, or zoology.
In addition to the basic qualification requirement above:
Grade 13: You qualify for this position if you possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-12 level in the Federal service or comparable pay band system that is in or closely related to the operation or management of a museum or similar collection of valuable objects. For this position specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience managing incoming and outgoing loans, negotiating loan contracts, overseeing object installation, organizing shipping of museum objects, and accessioning.
Your resume must be no more than two (2) pages and should clearly demonstrate how your experience aligns with the responsibilities and specialized experience required for this position. Do not copy language directly from the vacancy announcement, as you will be deemed ineligible for consideration. Instead, provide detailed, descriptive information about your actual experience.
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.
Education
This position has no basic education requirement.
Additional information
This position is not included in the bargaining unit.
Recruitment Incentive: Recruitment incentive(s) may be authorized for this position. However, approval for incentives are contingent upon various availability. If authorized, certain incentives will require the incumbent to sign a service agreement to remain in the Federal government for a certain time period.
Note: This statement does not imply nor guarantee an incentive will be offered and paid.
Selections may be made for vacancies across the Smithsonian Institution (SI). By applying to this position, you agree to allow your application and other personal information to be shared with one or more SI hiring officials for employment consideration for same/similar positions within the location(s) identified in this announcement.
Expand Hide additional information
Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
Benefits
Help
The Smithsonian offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, vacation and sick leave, holidays, health/life insurance, accident insurance, and excellent retirement program options.
Please see Benefits at https://www.si.edu/OHR/benefits for a complete description.
Flexible Spending Accounts - https://www.fsafeds.com/
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 - https://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/