Maintenance Mechanic Leader
Smithsonian Institution
FreshPosted Mar 12
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Posted: March 9, 2026 (4 days ago)
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Maintenance Mechanic Helper
Smithsonian Institution
Other Agencies and Independent Organizations
Location
Washington, District of Columbia
Salary
$28.73 - $33.48
per hour
Type
Full-Time
More Maintenance & Trades jobs →Closes
March 23, 2026
Job Description
Summary
This job is for a helper role at the Smithsonian Institution, where you'll support skilled workers in keeping museums and facilities in good shape by doing hands-on tasks like repairs, painting, and loading materials.
It's ideal for someone who enjoys manual labor, has basic building skills, and wants to work in a historic, high-traffic environment like Washington, D.C.'s museums.
No advanced qualifications are needed, but reliability and a willingness to learn on the job are key.
Key Requirements
- Ability to perform general maintenance repairs and manual tasks in museum facilities
- Experience with construction, demolition, or repair of walls, floors, and partitions
- Skills in painting, including surface preparation like sanding and applying coatings
- Basic knowledge of electrical repairs
- Physical ability to load and unload trucks and handle heavy materials
- Relevant paid or unpaid experience, including volunteer work, demonstrating these skills
- Resume limited to 2 pages with detailed descriptions of actual experience (no copying from job announcement)
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 in one of the Smithsonian Institution's facilities serviced by the Office of Facilities Management (FM).
The Office of Facilities Management (FM) is responsible for all Smithsonian facilities, many of which are designated as historic and all of which are visited by millions of people each year.
In order to be rated qualified, an applicant's overall experience and training must indicate possession of the minimum knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform the duties of this position.
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. Major Duties:
The Maintenance Helper assists journeymen maintenance workers in accomplishing day-to-day duties required to maintain the facilities in museums.
In this position, you will: Perform general maintenance repairs, construction, and various other manual tasks. Carry out demolition/construction or repair of walls, floors, partitions, cases, etc.
Carry out paint jobs, to include preparation of surfaces by sanding, brushing, and applying coating materials. Carry out electrical repairs. Load and unload trucks.
Check your resume before applying to catch common mistakes