Photographer
What you'd do
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 the National Air and Space Museum (NASM), Archives Division. NASM collects, preserves, studies, and exhibits objects and materials related to the history, culture and science of aviation, spaceflight and the study of the universe.
Major duties
The Photographer is responsible for the planning, logistics, photographing, and processing of visual images used by the institution to enhance displays, graphics, and exhibits. In this position, you will: Perform the full range of supervisory responsibilities, including planning and assigning work to staff based on priorities and schedules, balancing workload and adjusting schedules and duty assignments as necessary among, photographers and any contract personnel that require instructions on functions and activities that need to be carried out. Engage with customers to evaluate their photographic needs, technical requirements, schedules, and subject matter, in order to plan and execute assignments that best accomplish customer specifications and project objectives. Apply established and unique photographic techniques to images, graphics, and photos; oversees the production of publication- and archive-quality digital images that support the photographic documentation of Museum collections, research, exhibitions, public events, educational programming, facilities, and personnel. Capture photographs that promote and preserve the visual history of the people, artifacts, exhibits and events of the NASM and the SI by creating and providing professional-quality digital photography for the Museum of its collections, exhibitions, public events, educational programming, projects, facilities, and personnel as requested by customers within and external to NASM and other Smithsonian Institution units for a variety of outputs.
What you need to qualify
GS-12 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 or comparable pay band system related to the work of this position. For this position, specialized experience is defined as: Digitizing and maintaining photographic collections Cataloguing and formatting photographic collections in digital asset management systems Conducting archival photographic research to validate, update, and correct existing collections data 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.
Before you apply
Federal applications are different: your resume should be 3–5 pages and mirror the language of this announcement. Read our federal resume guide first — it's the #1 reason qualified people get screened out.
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