Museum Curator

Full Job Description

This position is located in the Collections Branch of the Cultural Resources and Museum Management Division at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.

Open to the first 101 applicants or until 03/25/2026 whichever comes first. All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration. Requirements Continued...

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 year probationary period during which your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest will be evaluated.

This probationary period is an extension of the appointment process and therefore requires the agency to determine if continued employment would advance the public interest, meet the organization goals and mission of the agency, and/or otherwise promote the efficiency of the service.

In determining if your employment advances the public interest, the agency will consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Under applicable law, the employment of an individual serving a probationary or trial period automatically terminates when that period ends unless the agency affirmatively certifies, in writing, that the individual's employment should continue and that their appointment should be finalized.

In the absence of agency action to affirmatively certify continued employment beyond the probationary or trial period, such appointments are terminated.

Upon completion of your probationary your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-03/25/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

In order to qualify for this position, you must meet one of the following basic requirements: Bachelor's or higher degree in museum work or in an applicable subject-matter field such as: Museum Studies, History, Library Science and Archeology.

OR Combination of education and experience -- courses equivalent to a major, as shown above. Plus, appropriate experience or additional education.

The quality of the combination demonstrates that I possess the knowledge, skill and ability required to perform the work of this position and is comparable to that normally acquired through the completion of a full four-year course of study with a major as described above.

OR Four years of experience that provided knowledge comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of the 4-year course of study as shown in A above.

PLEASE NOTE: You must submit a copy of your transcripts, or a complete list of college courses taken that identifies each course, college or university, semester or quarter hour earned, grade received, and date completed.

If you fail to submit, your application will not be considered, and you will be rated ineligible.

In addition to meeting one of the above requirements, you must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service performing the following: (1) handling and maintaining the storage, registration, processing and cataloging of museum and archival collections utilizing a standard museum information system such as the Interior Museum Collections System (ICMS); (2) performing annual collection inventories and reporting; (3) recommending and implementing long-term preventative conservation of collections; (4) conducting research necessary to identify and/or authenticate museum collections, to obtain necessary catalog and descriptive data, and to develop techniques for preservation.

OR 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D.

or equivalent doctoral degree in museum work; or in an applicable subject-matter field such as: Museum Studies, History, Library Science, Archeology.

OR COMBINATION OF EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above.

The total percentage of qualifying specialized experience and related graduate level education must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for GS-11. You must include transcripts.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience.

For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 for each federal position listed as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of qualifying experience that you will be granted.

An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience.

For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience.

Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience.

For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected.

Volunteer 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.

ICTAP/CTAP Clearance - Current surplus and current or former displaced Federal individuals who have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) must be well qualified for the position to receive consideration for special priority selection.

Well qualified means that the applicant meets the following: OPM qualification standards for the position; all selective placement factors, where applicable; special qualifying conditions that OPM has approved for the position, where applicable; is physically qualified with reasonable accommodation, where appropriate to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position upon entry; and is rated by the organization at least at the well qualified level on all competencies.

Federal employees seeking CTAP/ICTAP eligibility must submit proof that they meet the requirements of 5 CFR 330.605(2) for CTAP and 5 CFR 330.704 for ICTAP.

This includes a copy of the agency notice, a copy of their most recent Performance Rating, and a copy of their most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location.

Please annotate your application to reflect that you are applying as a CTAP/ICTAP eligible.

If you are selected for Federal employment, you will be required to fill out a Declaration of Federal Employment, OF-306, prior to being appointed to determine your suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation.

Failing to answer all questions truthfully and completely or providing false statements on your application may be grounds for not hiring you, or for firing you after you begin work.

Also, you may be punished by fine or imprisonment (U.S. Code, Title 18, section 1001). Major Duties:

As a Museum Curator, GS-1015-11 with the National Park Service (NPS), your duties will include, but are not limited to: Provides professional and technical direction in support of the museum collections program.

Leads and oversees the management of the photographic, moving image and oral history archival collections.

Leads and oversees the development, processing, and maintenance of archival and museum preservation digitization of the photographic, moving image and oral history archival collections.

Provides technical oversight and support for special funded projects completed by contract or financial assistance awards.

May supervise seasonal, temporary, permanent, VIP, and other personnel, but less than 25% of the time.

Any individual who is currently holding, or has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet time-in-grade requirements (must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent in the Federal service); with few exceptions as outlined in 5 CFR 300.603(b).

Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal civilian employees applying for reinstatement who have had a break in service of less than one year, as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointments.

Time-in-grade does not apply to new excepted service appointments. Time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.