Museum Curator

National Park Service•Flagstaff, AZ

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Museum Curator serves with the National Park Service Intermountain Region, Flagstaff Area National Monuments Division of Resource Management in Flagstaff, Arizona. This is a full-time Career/Career-Conditional appointment. The curator oversees museum operations and collections across disciplines that may include archeology, ethnology, history, archives, biology, geology, and paleontology. The role establishes program priorities, ensures compliance with National Park Service and professional standards, and acts on behalf of the superintendent on museum-related matters. The position develops and implements museum plans and programs, provides consultation to park divisions and cultural groups, and supports compliance with preservation laws and policies. It manages acquisitions, accessioning, cataloging, inventories, collections records, archives, research access, loans, and reference services. The curator also conducts research, supports interpretation and education, develops training, and manages projects, agreements, budgets, and reports. Work is primarily in an office, storage, or laboratory facility, with visits to park facilities, occasional backcountry field trips, and travel to other museums, facilities, training, and professional meetings. Telework may be permitted with supervisor approval.

Requirements

Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
Appointment is subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
Males born after December 31, 1959, must be registered for Selective Service.
Must participate in Direct Deposit and successfully pass E-Verify employment verification.
Must wear a uniform and comply with uniform standards.
Must obtain a government charge card for travel; may be required to maintain a government credit card with travel and purchase authority.
May be required to complete training and travel overnight away from home.
May be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime, and shift work.
May be required to serve a one-year probationary period.
Must meet the basic educational requirement and specialized experience requirements for the occupational series.
Must meet the individual occupational requirement through a degree in museum work or an applicable subject-matter field; a combination of relevant coursework and experience or additional education; or four years of qualifying experience providing knowledge comparable to a four-year course of study.
For GS-11 qualification, must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-09, such as accessioning and cataloging objects, conducting annual inventories, recommending long-term preservation or acquisitions, or maintaining a collections management database; alternatively, qualifying graduate education or a combination of education and experience may be used.
Applicants must provide transcripts when relying on education and include hours worked per week for experience as specified in the announcement.
Competitive candidates must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements.

Responsibilities

Oversee museum operations, establish program priorities, and ensure activities comply with National Park Service and professional standards.
Act on behalf of the superintendent on museum-related matters and maintain relationships with groups, agencies, individuals, and the public.
Participate in professional and management events to exchange information and promote park stewardship.
Consult with park divisions and, when appropriate, cultural groups such as tribes on applicable laws, policies, and preservation requirements.
Develop and implement museum programs and plans consistent with NPS accountability requirements and relevant guidance.
Collaborate with cultural and natural resource personnel on compliance and preservation issues involving historic structures, archeological sites, and natural resources.
Contribute to documentation and planning under the National Historic Preservation Act, NAGPRA, NEPA, and related NPS policies.
Conduct collections research as needed; review staff projects, recommend approvals to park managers, and assist other units with collections management.
Negotiate cooperative and interagency agreements and serve as Contracting Officer's Technical Representative for related projects.
Develop plans, schedules, project statements, scopes of work, cost estimates, and funding proposals; track expenditures and prepare accomplishment reports.
Recommend acquisitions consistent with the scope of collections statement and available funding, encourage donations, and deaccession unneeded holdings in accordance with NPS policy.
Accession and catalog objects, verify collection records, conduct annual inventories, and maintain required documentation.
Maintain collections data in Service-wide systems, prepare reports, provide reference services, and analyze inventory and monitoring information.
Oversee collection use for research, loans, and reference services; enforce policies and evaluate research requests.
Work with the records manager to classify official and unofficial records and direct management of park archives.
Conduct scholarly, technical, and applied research and produce materials such as articles, reports, exhibits, labels, publications, and responses to public inquiries.
Research museum objects to establish identification, authenticity, catalog information, dates, provenance, historical and scientific data, legal information, and preservation requirements.
Support visitor services and develop interpretive and educational programs using museum collections.
Support curatorial training programs, develop and teach courses, and participate in professional meetings and seminars related to museums and historic preservation.