Museum Curator (Art)

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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 the Department of the Office of Curatorial Affairs, National Portrait Gallery (NPG), Smithsonian Institution. The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery (NPG) tells the story of America by portraying the people who shape the nation's history, development, and culture.

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Overview

• Accepting applications
• Open & closing dates
  
  

Opening and closing dates 03/24/2025 to 03/31/2025

• Salary
  
  

$120,579 - $185,234 per year

• Pay scale & grade
  
  

GS 13 - 14

Washington, DC FEW vacancies

• Help Help Location
• Washington, DC

• Remote job
  
  

No

• Telework eligible
  
  

Yes—Ad-Hoc

• Travel Required
  
  

Not required

• Relocation expenses reimbursed
  
  

No

• Appointment type
  
  

Permanent - Federal

• Work schedule
  
  

Full-time - Full-Time, Permanent

• Service
  
  

Competitive

• Promotion potential
  
  

14

• Job family (Series)
• 1015 Museum Curator
• Supervisory status
  
  

Yes

• Security clearance
  
  

Not Required

• Drug test
  
  

No

• Position sensitivity and risk
  
  

Noncritical-Sensitive (NCS)/Moderate Risk

• Trust determination process
• Credentialing
• Suitability/Fitness
• Financial disclosure
  
  

No

• Bargaining unit status
  
  

No

• Announcement number
  
  

25R-BD-312118-MPA-NPG

• Control number
  
  

834087600

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This job is open to

• Internal to an agency
  
  

Current federal employees of the hiring agency that posted the job announcement.

Clarification from the agency

Open to current Smithsonian Institution employees with Federal career/career-conditional status or eligibility only. More than one selection may be made from this announcement.

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Duties

In This Position, You Will:

• Conduct in-depth scholarly research in American art history, with a focus on portraiture, leveraging specialized expertise and integrating various subdisciplines within the broader field of study.
• Contribute to shaping the national collection by highlighting inclusive and meaningful stories of individuals who influenced America, through strategic acquisitions, meticulous collection care, and enhancing public access to the museum’s holdings
• Design and curate engaging, thought-provoking exhibitions, including accompanying catalogues and other written materials, utilizing the permanent collection and creating temporary displays that support the museum’s strategic objectives.
• Oversee and provide leadership in the Curatorial Department, ensuring the effective management and coordination of departmental activities and responsibilities.
  
  

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Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Requires career/career-conditional status or eligibility.
• 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

Individual Occupational Requirements

Basic Requirements:

• Degree: museum work; or in an applicable subject-matter field. OR
• Combination of education and experience -- courses equivalent to a major, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. OR
• 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.
  
  

Experience:

In addition to the basic qualification requirement above:

Grade 13: 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:

• Researching art history, curating exhibitions, and identifying acquisitions;
• Developing presentations on art and history for public programs; AND
• Managing collections, exhibitions, preservation, and publications.
  
  

Grade 14: 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. For this position, specialized experience is defined as:

• Researching art history, curating exhibitions, and identifying acquisitions;
• Developing presentations on art and history for public programs;
• Managing collections, exhibitions, preservation, and publications; AND
• Leading and supervising staff, including conducting performance evaluations.
  
  

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.

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.

Education

This position has positive education requirements

Additional information

This position is not included in the bargaining unit.

Current or Former Political Appointees: Beginning January 1, 2010, agencies must seek prior approval from OPM before they can appoint a current or recent political appointee to a competitive or non-political excepted service position at any level under the provisions of title 5, United States Code. If you are currently or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, or Non-career SES employee in the executive branch, you MUST disclose that to the Office of Human Resources. Submit a copy of your applicable SF-50, along with a statement that provides the following information regarding your most recent political appointment:

• Position title;
• Type of appointment (Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES, or Presidential Appointee);
• Agency; and,
• Beginning and ending dates of appointment.
  
  

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.

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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 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/

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:

• Knowledge of Historical and contemporary art in a specific area (painting and sculpture, photographs, time-based media, Latin/Latinx Art, and prints and drawings) to identify potential acquisitions and properly document new accessions.
• Knowledge of art history to research American historical and contemporary portraiture, document collections, develop exhibitions, and publish research according to scholarly standards.
• Ability to curate museum exhibitions to examine lives of historical or contemporary figures, or to explore other relevant cultural themes for broad public audiences.
• Ability to perform on cross-departmental teams for exhibitions, education, and other projects.
  
  

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.

• Help 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/

• As a new or existing federal employee, you and your family may have access to a range of benefits. Your benefits depend on the type of position you have - whether you're a permanent, part-time, temporary or an intermittent employee. You may be eligible for the following benefits, however, check with your agency to make sure you're eligible under their policies.
  
  

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), hours worked per week, and salary 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 here.

• 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. 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).
• 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.
  
  

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.

• 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).
• 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.
  
  

Agency contact information

Beatrice Dabney Beatrice Dabney

Phone 202-633-6336 Email DabneyB@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

Next steps

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 at https://www.si.edu/OHR/howtoapply.
• The Smithsonian does not pay relocation expenses.
• The Smithsonian embraces diversity and equal employment opportunity (www.si.edu/oeema).

• The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
• Criminal history inquiries
• Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy
• Financial suitability
• New employee probationary period
• Privacy Act
• Reasonable accommodation policy
• Selective Service
• Signature and false statements
• Social security number request
  
  

Help Help

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), hours worked per week, and salary 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 here.

• 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. 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).
• 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.
  
  

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.

Help Help

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).
• 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.
  
  

Agency contact information

Beatrice Dabney Beatrice Dabney

Phone 202-633-6336 Email DabneyB@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

Next steps

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 at https://www.si.edu/OHR/howtoapply.
• The Smithsonian does not pay relocation expenses.
• The Smithsonian embraces diversity and equal employment opportunity (www.si.edu/oeema).
  
  

Fair & Transparent

The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.

• Criminal history inquiries
• Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy
• Financial suitability
• New employee probationary period
• Privacy Act
• Reasonable accommodation policy
• Selective Service
• Signature and false statements
• Social security number request