Supervisory Archivist

Summary

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 with the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Under Secretary for Museums and Culture.

More than one selection may be made from this announcement.

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Duties

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The Supervisory Archivist applies professional archival principles and methods of archival collections development, arrangement, preservation, documentation, and description to the organization and management of CFCH's archival collections.

In this position, you will:

• Define, schedule, and manage documentation projects involving archival materials, following accepted archival standards, e.g., Society of American Archivists.
• Direct registration and cataloging procedures for archival material.
• Apply professional archival principles and methods of archival collections development, arrangement, preservation, documentation, and description to the organization and management of CFCH's archival collections.
• Collaborate with CFCH Advancement to identify funding sources to support archival work and collections, assists in grant and other forms of writing to secure financial support.
• Maintain reference research of national and international traditional music and cultures and scholarship in folklore and ethnomusicology. This includes specialized scholars, music producers, tradition bearers; staff of other federal archives and libraries; staff of university and research archives and libraries.
• Plan and carry out the full range of supervisory and managerial authority.

Requirements

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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.

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 Requirements:

1. Bachelor's degree in archival science or bachelor's degree with a major that includes 18 semester hours in archival science, history and/or in political science or government, and 12 semester hours in one or any combination of the following: archival science, history, American civilization, economics, political science, public administration, or government.
   
   or
2. Combination of education and experience - at least 30 semester hours that included courses as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Professional experience must have been in archival science, or in a directly related field of work such as history that involved the collection, appraisal, analysis, or synthesis of information having historical or archival values. The following are illustrative of kinds of experience that may be accepted as meeting the professional experience requirements: (1) experience as an archivist in Federal, state, religious institution, business, or other archives, or in manuscript depositories, and (2) experience of an archival nature that involved research in archival science, or in a directly related field such as history, government, economics, political science, international relations, or international law.

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-12 level in the Federal Service. For this position, specialized experience is defined as serving as a senior archivist in a cultural, educational, historical, or museum setting, performing archival treatment such as condition assessment, preservation, arrangement, and description for research use. Experience must include work with audio collections and at least two of the following: documents, photos, film, video, or digital materials.

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.

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.

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.

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 sufficient information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed.

Education

Please refer to qualification above.

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.

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.



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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 for a complete description.

Flexible Spending Accounts -

Health Insurance -

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Life Insurance -

Long Term Care Insurance -

Retirement Program -