Telework eligibleFederal

Supervisory Registrar

Smithsonian Institution · Other Agencies and Independent Organizations

Museum Specialist And Technician

Salary
$121,785–$158,322/year
Grade
13
Work location
Telework eligible · Washington, District of Columbia
Schedule
Full-Time, Permanent
Posted
Sep 25, 2026
Apply by
Oct 9, 2026
Category
Museum Specialist And Technician

Apply on USAJOBS →

Source: USAJOBS. Applications happen on the original posting, not on this site.

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 in Registration, Collections Management Services, Museum Collections and Operations, National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), Under Secretary for Museums and Culture (USMC), Smithsonian Institution. (SI)

Duties

The Supervisory Registrar is responsible for accountability of the Museum's permanent collections which include objects, paper archives, photographic archives and media archives through the establishment and maintenance of accession records and inventory processes. In this position, you will: Oversee the inventory and movements of the collections. Coordinate an annual cyclical inventory of randomly selected items to verify the location and documentation of an appropriate subset of NMAI's collections and reports results to the NMAI senior and executive management and the Smithsonian's National Collections Office. Manage the acquisition of gifts and donations to the collection, de-accessions, and disposals and serve as funds manager for federal and trust resources used for acquisitions. Oversee receipt of all incoming offers and collection items to NMAI for consideration as acquisitions and is responsible for their subsequent disposition. Ensure accurate and appropriate documentation for the cataloguing of collections lots and as needed, individual items, within NMAI's collections information system. Oversee an extremely active incoming and outgoing loan program in accordance with SI and NMAI approval processes, requirements, and policies. Responsible for NMAI's loan policies, compiles and presents loan documentation, findings, and recommendations for loans and loan renewals to NMAI's Curatorial Council. Provide overall direction and management to registration staff to include the establishment of work priorities, goals, assignments and schedules to meet NMAI goals.

Requirements

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.

Education

Education cannot be substituted at this grade level.

How you will be evaluated

Applicants for this position may be evaluated in multiple stages. The first stage is an evaluation of your responses to the online multiple-choice questions that assess your experience, education, and/or training for the job related competencies below: Knowledge of effective strategies and processes for implementing collections inventories and collections moves to facilitate museum operations, recover misplaced items, or identify the history of unexpected items found in the collections. Knowledge of the legal and ethical requirements of establishing ownership or title to gifts and donations and knowledge of museum practices for acquisition, accession, de-acquisition, and deaccession procedures and the information, documents, and protective environments for these resources. Knowledge of museum information resources, skill in documenting museum collections to professional practices, and the ability to apply computer technologies to museum information to gather, input, analyze information, and produce reports—such as an object condition report drawing upon knowledge of collections conservation concerns. Ability to implement established museum practices to negotiate appropriate terms and conditions for loans, insurance requirements, local, national and international shipping methods and bills of lading, standards for crates and crate storage, applicable regulations and conventions, and packing and display methods to ensure the security and physical safety of collections items. Ability to supervise and manage staff, set work expectations and schedules, ensure a culture of a safe work environment and safe work practices, assess and improve workflows and processes and evaluate and report on results in the federal government environment. Applicants who meet or exceed minimum qualifications will be assigned to one of three category groups based on job-related criteria: Best Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements and excels in most of the job-related competencies above. Better Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements and satisfies most of the job-related competencies above. Good Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements but does not satisfy most of the job-related competencies above to a substantive degree. This category rating process does not add veterans' preference points or apply the "rule of three", but protects the rights of veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each category. A selecting official may make selections from the highest quality category (Best Category) provided no preference eligible in that category is passed over to select a non-preference eligible in that category unless the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 3317(b) or 3318(b) are satisfied. Preference eligibles who meet minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent must be listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-9 grade level or higher. Applicants who have not submitted a resume in the USAjobs system and/or have not answered all of the vacancy questions will not be considered for this position. You may preview questions for this vacancy.

About this listing

Smithsonian Institution has 24 open listings on the site: 1 fully remote and 23 telework eligible. This one is telework eligible, based in Washington, District of Columbia. See all Smithsonian Institution listings, or read what fully remote and telework eligible mean.

Advertised pay is $121,785 to $158,322 a year. That covers GS-13 on the General Schedule, where pay also depends on step and locality; how GS pay works.

This announcement is open for 14 days, from Sep 25, 2026 to Oct 9, 2026. Among currently open federal postings, the typical advertised window is about 13 days. As of Oct 6, 2026, it closes in 3 days.

Who can apply: the public (U.S. citizens). The announcement's "This job is open to" section has the exact eligibility rules.

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