About This Position
The Smithsonian Institution is the world's largest museum, education, and research complex, with 21 museums and the National Zoo.
This position is located in the Exhibitions Office of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM), Smithsonian Institution (SI). The Exhibitions Office is responsible for planning, designing, producing, installing, and maintaining permanent and temporary exhibitions in the Donald W. Reynolds Center and Renwick Gallery.
Qualifications
Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- illustrative design, commercial art, fine arts, industrial design, architecture, drafting, interior design, or other fields related to the position. Advanced training in a vocational school, technical institute, or art institute above the high school level in one of the fields listed above is creditable as general experience on a month-for-month basis.
OR
Experience: Examples of qualifying general experience include: design and construction of exhibits, posters, photographic displays, signs, or displays of art or technical equipment; preparation or mounting of museum specimens; wood carving, sculpting, illustrating, interior or industrial design; or the use of tools and techniques related to carpentry, plastics, sheet metal, electrical or electronics work, machining, painting, molding, or in making machines, apparatus, and instruments.
In addition to the basic qualification requirement above: Experience: You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 level in the Federal Service. For this position, specialized experience is defined as providing project coordination, exhibits production, and art and exhibits installation.
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.
Time-in-Grade Requirements: Under competitive merit promotion procedures, any individual who is currently holding, or who has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under a non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet "time-in-grade" requirements (have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade of the grade for which you are applying).
Major Duties
The Exhibits Specialist manages and coordinat the museum's exhibition calendars, production/installation schedules and special projects schedules. In this position, you will: Serve as project scheduler/coordinator for all temporary installation and permanent collection exhibitions. Design and fabricate exhibit components such as panels, platforms, cases, furniture and/or interactive prototypes using a variety of materials including wood, metal, and synthetics. Train and oversee outside art handling/installation contractors in all aspects of art handling and installation methods and techniques.
Conditions of Employment
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.
How You Will Be Evaluated
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: Knowledge of project coordination for temporary installation and permanent collection exhibitions. Knowledge of exhibit production to design and fabricate exhibit components.
Knowledge of art and exhibit installation including safe handling of objects, training and oversite of contractors, and participating in the installation of exhibition audiovisual equipment, labels and exhibitions graphics elements. 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.
You may preview questions for this vacancy.
Additional Information
This position is 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.
How to Apply
Click on the "Apply Online" button on the upper right side of the page. Please
Note: You must apply for this position online through the 'Apply Online' button and submit required supplemental documents (if they are relevant to you).
Your resume must be no more than two (2) pages.
You may submit required documents by uploading them online during the application process.
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.
Required Documents
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. Ensure your resume contains the job title (including the occupational series and grade if it is Federal), job-related qualifications, starting and ending dates (month and year), and hours worked per week, for each employment period. It is your responsibility to ensure all information is submitted.
Failure to include this information may result in disqualification for the position. For assistance with creating a resume, please click USAJOBS Help Center - How do I write a resume for a federal job? Current and former employees MUST submit a copy of their Standard Form (SF)-50, “Notice of Personnel Action,” that indicates proof of status and time-in-grade eligibility.
The SF-50 must include your position title, series, grade, step, salary, type of service (competitive or excepted in block 34), and tenure (1 or 2 in block 24). Please provide a SF-50 that shows the length of time you have been in your current/highest grade level. Examples of appropriate SF50s include: Appointments, Reassignments, Within-grade/range increases or Promotion actions.
NOTE: Pay adjustments and award SF-50s do not include the length of time in your current position, therefore, they are NOT acceptable SF-50's on their own.
You may need to provide more than one SF-50. Failure to provide the appropriate SF-50(s) may prevent you from receiving consideration for this position. 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.