Exhibits Specialist (Lighting)

Full Job Description

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 Exhibits Technology Group (ETG), within the Exhibits Production Unit, which serves within the Office of Building Renovation and Exhibition Services (OBRES) at the National Museum of American History (NMAH), Under Secretary for Museums and Culture, Smithsonian Institution (SI).

Basic Qualifications: Education: Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- illustrative design, commercial art, fine arts, industrial design, architecture, drafting, interior design, or other fields related to the position.

Advanced training in a vocational school, technical institute, or art institute above the high school level in one of the fields listed above is creditable as general experience on a month-for-month basis.

OR Specialized Experience (for positions above GS-5): Experience in the actual type of work for which application is made.

Unpaid experience is creditable, provided the work done was of a quality level and demonstrated the ability required for the position.

This includes work in the appropriate field, e.g., design, modelmaking, art, taxidermy, or restoration.

In addition to the basic qualification requirement above: Experience: You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 level in the Federal Service.

For this position, specialized experience is defined as 1)Supporting advanced lighting and show control systems for exhibitions; 2) Troubleshooting lighting control technology; and 3) Overseeing the maintenance and operational readiness of interactive exhibition components.

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.

In an effort to streamline our hiring process, SI employees whose current position of record is in the same job series (1001) and who are in a (Federal competitive or excepted service appointment) (Trust) as this advertised position, are not required to submit a transcript with your application package.

However, if selected, you will be required to provide a copy of your transcript before your start date in the position.

Time-in-Grade Requirements: Under competitive merit promotion procedures, any individual who is currently holding, or who has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under a non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet "time-in-grade" requirements (have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade of the grade for which you are applying).

Major Duties:

The primary purpose of this position is to manage and support advanced lighting and show control systems for exhibitions, including programming, integration, and troubleshooting of lighting control technologies.

In this position, you will: Oversee the maintenance and operational readiness of interactive exhibition components and public-facing environments to ensure a high-quality visitor experience.

Conduct research to ensure projects/exhibits use state of the art approaches and continually keeps abreast of changing technology in lighting, AV, and multi-media fields.

Report ways to improve system speed, accuracy, efficiency, reliability, and safety in development, installation, and maintenance of exhibits and programs.

Oversee and provide input on annual lighting operational budgets for the Exhibition Production unit and assist other managers in the preparation of budgets and timelines for funded and special projects.

Establish, upgrade, and maintain overall exhibition and public lighting programming schedules.

Provide specific technical advice, design, cost estimating, and maintenance capabilities for project managers, curators, conservators, exhibit designers, and other museum managers.