Exhibits Specialist (Mount Maker)

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 Office of Exhibits, National Museum of Natural History.

Duties

The Exhibits Specialist (Mount Maker) is responsible for designing, fabricating, installing, and maintaining custom mounts for artifacts and museum objects at the National Museum of Natural History, ensuring their safe display, handling, preservation, and exhibition In this position, you will Fabricate mounts/brackets for specified specimens and objects from approved drawings and/or verbal instruction from the designer, curator, and conservator. Design mounts and brackets for museum objects, producing technical drawings and diagrams for review and approval by exhibition, curatorial, photography, publication, and conservation staff. Coordinate with exhibition, conservation, and collection staff to ensure the safe handling, movement, installation, and deinstallation of museum objects. Produce accurate castings that may require paints or intrinsic colorants, determines the best model making techniques, the appropriate materials, the correct color and a wide variety of other materials to make molds, fabricate diorama elements, lifelike models, and natural scenes to fulfill the specifications set by the exhibit designer or curator in the available time frame. Repair and finish fragile museum exhibit components and reproduce original exhibit parts that have been broken or damaged. Repair and maintains current exhibits, including the reproduction of original exhibit components that have been damaged and the repair of chipped and/or broken pieces with plaster, wood, plastic or other materials.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment Qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement. For information on qualification requirements, see Qualification Standards Handbook for General Schedule Positions on OPM website.

Qualifications and evaluation

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: SELECTIVE FACTOR: Skill in performing conservation tasks, including evaluating and developing treatment plans, for a wide range of natural history collections, including paleontological specimens and sensitive anthropological objects. Knowledge of contemporary materials, methods and techniques of mount making as applied to museum processes such as object handling, collections management, research, exhibition, photography, and conservation. Knowledge of various methods, techniques, and materials used in the design and fabrication of museum mounts/brackets, including familiarity with contemporary conservation perspectives on material selection and an ability to balance design aesthetics with necessary mount function. Knowledge of contemporary, generally approved practices in object handling and care: including the use of conservation grade padding for temporary and permanent storage of objects, the use of industrial lifting and rigging equipment, and a facility with re-housing techniques appropriate for wet-mounted specimens. Knowledge of the range of model making procedures that rely on traditional casting and mold making techniques, the use of handheld 3D scanning equipment, the use of CAD software for interpretive sculpting, and industrial additive manufacturing equipment. Skill in working with a variety of art and construction media including plastics, epoxies, plaster, wood and metal, and the properties of a variety of adhesives, pigments, solvents, plastics, epoxies, rubbers, fiberglass, etc. Applicants who meet or exceed minimum qualifications will be assigned to one of three category groups based on job-related criteria: Best Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements and excels in most of the job-related competencies above. Better Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements and satisfies most of the job-related competencies above. Good Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements but does not satisfy most of the job-related competencies above to a substantive degree. This category rating process does not add veterans' preference points or apply the "rule of three", but protects the rights of veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each category. A selecting official may make selections from the highest quality category (Best Category) provided no preference eligible in that category is passed over to select a non-preference eligible in that category unless the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 3317(b) or 3318(b) are satisfied. Preference eligibles who meet minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent must be listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-9 grade level or higher. Applicants who have not submitted a resume in the USAjobs system and/or have not answered all of the vacancy questions will not be considered for this position. You may preview questions for this vacancy.

Education

This position does have a positive education requirement.

Benefits

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 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? 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. 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.

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.