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United States

Hiring for Special Assistant at Washington, DC Full Time

Duties

Duties and responsibilities include:

  • Affirms to Native communities and the non-Native public, the historical and contemporary culture and cultural achievements of the Indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere by advancing, in consultation, collaboration and cooperation with them, a knowledge and understanding of their cultures, including art, history, and language.
  • Develops material for the Director to use in speaking engagements, both internally and externally.
  • Ensures that the Director maintains regular interaction with direct reports as well as key leaders throughout the Smithsonian, and ensures timely responses for all requests for information from these parties.
  • Performs document management for the Director. This includes coordinating and tracking the flow of incoming and outgoing correspondence, oversight of meeting planning and scheduling, conferences and travel; designing and organizing filing systems; locating and assembling information; following up with management and staff for assignments and commitments; organizing, coordinating and prioritizing a large amount of paperwork and electronic documents; and managing day-to-day activities.

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.

Conditions of Employment

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.

Qualification requirements must be met within 30 days of the job announcement closing date.

For information on qualification requirements, see Qualification Standards Handbook for General Schedule Positions on OPM website.

Qualifications

Specialized Experience: Experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the occupation. Applicants who have the 1 year of appropriate specialized experience, are not required to have general experience, education above the high school level, or any additional specialized experience to meet the minimum qualification requirements.

For this position, specialized experience is defined as:

GS-12: Experience supporting an executive in the areas of managing calendars and travel; responding to inquiries, concerns, and requests from internal and external customers; preparing briefings and papers; carrying out special projects; and proving a full range of domestic and foreign travel assistance to include making and confirming travel arrangements, preparing travel authorizations and vouchers, providing general guidance.

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.

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.

Education

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

This position is NOT included in the bargaining unit.

Recruitment incentives may be offered.

Flexible Spending Accounts – http://www.fsafeds.com/fsafeds/index.asp
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 – http://www.opm.gov/retire/index.asp

  • Benefits

    A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal 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.

    Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

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 Native American culture, history, and contemporary issues and professional and special interest organizations and groups, and tribal community structures and hierarchies.
  • Ability to develop material for an organization’s senior level official to use in speaking engagements, both internally and externally.
  • Skill in oral communication to perform administrative duties for an organization’s senior level official.
  • Ability to perform document management for an organization’s senior level official.

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.

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.

  • Benefits

    A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal 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.

    Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

  • Required Documents

    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. 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 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. 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.
    • 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
    • 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.

  • 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; 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.

    Agency contact information

    Molly Abromavage

    Phone

    202-834-9426

    TDD

    202-633-6409

    Fax

    202-633-6401

    Email

    [email protected]

    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 [email protected]; 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).

  • Fair and Transparent

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

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

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 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. 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.
  • 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
  • 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.

Help

This job is open to

  • The public

    U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.

Clarification from the agency

Open to U.S. Citizens, nationals, or those who owe allegiance to the U.S. Also advertised as 22R-MA-307470-MPA-NMAI for current and former Federal employees with permanent status or reinstatement eligibility or individuals who are eligible for a special appointing authority. To be considered for each vacancy, apply to BOTH jobs. More than one selection may be made from this announcement.

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