Rights & Reproduction Coordinator

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 Department of Digital Collections, Office of Digital Access and Archives, Division of Public History, National Museum of American History (NMAH), at the Smithsonian Institution (SI). Learn more about this agency Duties The primary purpose of the position is to extend the use of NMAH’s collections by fulfilling user requests for digital assets in a range of formats; coordinating and directly performing image‑based and audiovisual digitization; evaluating rights and legal reuse of media assets; and performing digital asset management tasks. In this position, you will: • Facilitate requests from internal and external stakeholders to obtain and use digital media assets depicting the museum collection. • Communicate professionally with requestors regarding timelines and available rights and reproductions services, including high‑resolution imaging, audiovisual reformatting, and usage permissions. • Research and review media assets for potential legal, ethical, and policy restrictions. • Evaluate risks and advise on the fair and legal use of NMAH’s digital collections media by internal and external users. • Directly perform and support digitization of collections materials, including museum objects, analog audiovisual materials, and photographic‑ and paper‑based archival materials, using overhead photography, flatbed scanning, 3D capture, and audiovisual reformatting. • Prepare and import media assets into the Smithsonian’s digital asset management system and reference these assets in the museum’s collections and archival information systems. 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 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-09 level in the Federal Service.  For this position, this specialized experience is defined as: managing rights and reproductions functions at a cultural heritage institution, determining the rights status for collections media based on contemporary intellectual property and privacy laws, and digitizing collections to high level professional standards, including still image capture using professional digital camera systems and audiovisual reformatting of analog media using specialized equipment and established conversion workflows. OR Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree OR LL.M., if related such as library and information science, digital asset management, intellectual property law,  media preservation and museum studies.  OR a Combination: Education and experience may be combined to meet the basic qualifications. 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. 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 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. Expand Hide  additional information 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.aspLeave - http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/index.aspLife Insurance - http://www.opm.gov/insure/life/index.aspLong Term Care Insurance - http://www.ltcfeds.comRetirement Program - https://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/