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National Museum of African Art - Smithsonian Institution

Head of Visitor Experience and Engagement (Supervisory Education Specialist)

Summary

The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex, with 21 museums and the National Zoo—shaping the future by preserving heritage, discovering new knowledge, and sharing our resources with the world.  This position is located in Visitor Engagement Department of the National Museum of African Art (NMAFA) the Smithsonian Institution.   The National Museum of African Art (NMAFA) is a leading research and reference center for the visual arts of Africa.

How to Apply

Click on the “Apply Online” button. 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; 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.

Marie Parks
Phone
202-633-6332
TDD
202-633-6409
Fax
202-633-6401
Email
Parksma@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

Apply Online

This job is open to


Individuals with disabilities
Federal employees – Competitive service
Current or former competitive service federal employees.
Military spouses
Peace Corps & AmeriCorps Vista
Special authorities
Individuals eligible under a special authority not listed above, but defined in the federal hiring regulations.
Veterans
The public



Clarification from the agency

This Merit Promotion position is open to Current and Former Federal Employees with permanent status or reinstatement eligibility. Individuals who are eligible for a special appointing authority may also apply such as Individuals with Disabilities (Schedule A), former Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, and Vista volunteers; certain Military Spouses, or individuals eligible under various programs for Veterans (VRA, VEOA, 30% disabled).More than one selection may be made from this announcement.

Duties

The Supervisory Education Specialist lead the strategic vision, staff and operations of the Visitor Engagement and Experience Department.
In this position you will:

  • Manage a docent pool of approximately 50 volunteers, ensuring necessary training and compliance to SI standards of conduct.
  • Develop and facilitate innovative, unique, creative programs for in-person and virtual audiences that reflect NMAFA’s mission to serve a Global Africa audience, with a special focus on a young, global Africans.
  • Identify and develop key cross-disciplinary, external partnerships on the African continent and in the diaspora to strategically enhance the relevance, reach, and impact of content and programs.
  • Collaborate across the Smithsonian Institution, prioritizing content and programs that support pan-institutional initiatives and priorities.

Requirements

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.
COVID-19 VACCINATION REQUIREMENTS:
For the latest information on the COVID-19 vaccination requirements and its impact on your application, click on Smithsonian Institution’s Frequently Asked Questions.

Qualifications

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.

Basic Requirements:

      Degree: that included or was supplemented by major study in education or in a subject-matter field appropriate to the position. or
      Combination of education and experience — courses equivalent to a major in education, or in a subject-matter field appropriate to the position, plus appropriate experience or additional course work that provided knowledge comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of the 4-year course of study described in A 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 or comparable pay band system.  For this position specialized experience is defined as performing the following duties: supervision; development, implementation, and evaluation of in-person and virtual  programming activities with stakeholders that support the museum’s mission.

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.

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.

Benefits

How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

  • Applicants for this position may be evaluated in multiple stages. The first stage is an evaluation of your responses to the online multiple-choice questions that assess your experience, education, and/or training for the job related competencies below:
  • Ability to supervise a team and mentor/coach in a professional setting.
  • Knowledge of and skill to developing, delivering, evaluating and scaling programs.
  • Knowledge and skill to Identify and develop key cross-disciplinary, external partnerships on the African continent and in the diaspora to strategically enhance the relevance, reach and impact of content and in the diaspora to strategically enhance the relevance, reach and impact of content and programs.
  • Skill to communicate engagement impact stories internally and externally to museum and Smithsonian leadership, trustees, external partners, and donors.

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.

You may preview questions for this vacancy.

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. 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.
  • Most current Performance Appraisal.
  • Detailed resume created in the USAJOBS Resume Builder.
  • Proof of Veteran’s Preference – DD214 (Member 4 Copy), if you are a veteran. Additionally, applicants claiming 10-point preference must complete Standard Form (SF) 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, as well as additional documentation required by the SF-15, such as a VA letter.
  • Proof of prior federal service such as the latest SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, if applicable.
  • 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.

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 but recruitment incentives may be authorized.
  • The Smithsonian embraces diversity and equal employment opportunity (www.si.edu/oeema).