Supervisory Museum Specialist

The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex, with 21 museums and the National Zoo. The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is a major bureau of the Smithsonian Institution that is responsible for the acquisition, curation, and preservation of collections of objects and specimens of natural history within the specialization of anthropology for this position.

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:

Experience: You qualify for this position if you have one year of full-time experience at the GS-12 grade level in the Federal Service or comparable pay band system that is close or similar to the operation or management of a museum or similar collection of valuable objects. For this position specialized experience is defined as management of archaeological, biological and ethnographic collections in a museum setting including planning, collections care and preservation, enhancing access, oversight of collection digitization projects and working with scholars and heritage communities.

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.

Responsibilities:

The Supervisory Museum Specialist (Anthropology) will oversee all aspects of the anthropology collections by developing and maintaining an overall vision for the care, management, and improvement of this vast/complex/diverse collection.

In this position, you will:

• Supervise the work of Collections Management staff in the Department of Anthropology; oversee and evaluate the collections management activities of other department staff and visiting researchers. Recruits and oversees contractors, volunteers and interns on collections improvement projects. 

• Independently manage and direct one of the world’s leading anthropology collections, consisting of over 3.5 million objects and improvement projects for the archaeological, biological anthropology and ethnographic collections.

• Establishes processes for visitor access and procedures for the safe handling of collections, movement, and inventory control of objects being imaged. Trains and/or oversees department staff, contractors, volunteers, and others (where appropriate) on procedures, monitors their performance, provides quality control, security, and oversight of the images produced.

• Coordinate all transactions including all acquisitions, loans, exchanges, transfers, and disposals. 

• Participate with scientific staff in planning the Department’s exhibit program, may act as Department contact with the Office of Exhibits and is responsible for aiding that Office in carrying out designated exhibit programs by providing specimens, maps or scientific information.

Salary : $121,785