Head of Digital Collections

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 within the Digital Collections team, department of Digital Access & Archives, Division of Public History, National Museum of American History (NMAH), Under Secretary for Museums and Culture, at the Smithsonian Institution (SI). Duties In this position you will lead NMAH’s efforts to grow and expand the impact of its digital collections, through planning, project management, and collaboration. In this position, you will: Lead the development of the strategy for digitizing and documenting NMAH’s collection of objects and archival materials, in support of collections care and public history applications. Oversee a team of permanent and term staff and contractors working in photography and other forms of digitization, digital asset and data management, rights and reproductions, systems management, and cataloging. Formulate program goals and priorities, develop schedules and checklists, and assign tasks to subordinate staff. Develop and implement standards, policies, workflows, and procedures for digital collections, across the information lifecycle. Oversee the museum’s digital preservation, digital reformatting, and digital imaging technical specifications. Coordinate digitization activities across the museum (for example, 2D imaging, 3D imaging, audiovisual reformatting, and transcription); advance, resource, and directly manage selected digitization projects and partnerships. 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. May be required to serve an 18-month probationary period for supervisors. 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 Experience: 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: developing digitization and digital access strategies for collections in a museum, archive, library, or similar setting, including evaluating approaches, identifying priorities, determining resource needs, and creating policies or procedures. 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. Education There is no basic education requirement for this position. Additional information This position is not 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. Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution. 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/