What are the responsibilities and job description for the Program Specialist position at National Endowment for the Humanities?

Summary

NEH is an independent grant-making agency of the government dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities.

The Program Specialist is responsible for the performance of a wide range of technical, analytical, and administrative work. The Office of Digital Humanities is designed to strengthen sustained, thoughtful study of the humanities at all levels of education through grants to educational institutions.

This job is open to

The public

U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.

Clarification from the agency

United States Citizens

Duties

Multiple selections can be made from this announcement.

Advising Scholars. Speaks by email or telephone with scholars, librarians, and scientists (typically from universities) about highly-technical digital humanities projects. Provides guidance and disseminates program and agency-related information. The incumbent provides guidance to individuals and institutions regarding the aims and objectives of the agency's grant programs, the details of applying to them; and provides detailed information to applicants about application decisions.

Evaluating projects and programs. The incumbent reads and evaluates final grant reports and other grant data to create evaluative quantitative and qualitative reports about specific projects, sub-programs, and programs of the Office; develops and maintains aggregate and longitudinal statistics about the work of the Office; and monitors program budgets, allocations, and obligations.

Participates in the administration of grant applications. This includes screening applications for the adequacy and accuracy of submitted materials and determining the eligibility of applicants. The incumbent checks the proposals for the sufficiency of information provided; replies to inquiries about applications; participates with the senior program officers in the evaluation of proposals; gives advice to applicants regarding agency and program policies; assists in processing applications for review; performs administrative tasks for setting up panel meetings; and takes notes in panel meetings as assigned.

Writes Articles for the NEH Website and ODH Newsletter. The incumbent will write short articles for publication on the NEH website and the Office of Digital Humanities newsletter about particular NEH-funded humanities research projects or trends in the field.

Provides assistance to Program Officers and managers in other administrative / technical areas. The incumbent assists in the preparation of the Committee Book and other required materials for meetings of the National Council; develops and / or gathers information on various aspects of the program of the Office for press releases and for use in responding to Congressional inquiries; disseminates program information to appropriate sources; serves at the primary liaison for the annual project directors meeting hosted by the Office of Digital Humanities. As a GS-11 Program Specialist, represents the ODH in agency-wide committees or inter-agency committees that are relevant to the work of the office.

Participates in daily administration of grants. The incumbent evaluates expenditure reports; assists the Humanities Administrators in analyzing and responding to interim and final reports; assesses progress as described in final reports from current grantees and in evaluating special requests from current grantees for revisions in project scope, workplan, and budget in order to recommend and draft responses for the consideration and approval of Humanities Administrators.

Performs other duties as assigned. As assigned the incumbent carries out other assignments, sometimes on his / her own initiative, to help ensure that the work of the Office is performed in a timely manner and in accordance with established deadlines.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

U.S. Citizen

Relevant experience and / or education

Favorable background investigation

Males born after 12 / 31 / 1959 must be registered with the Selective Service

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, your resume must state sufficient experience and / or education, to perform the duties of the specific position for which you are applying.

As part of the online application process you will need to respond to a series of questions designed to assess your possession of the following knowledge, skills, abilities, and / or competencies :

Administration and Management

Grants Management

Interpersonal Skills

Oral Communication

Project Management

Writing

At the GS-11 level Qualified candidates must possess :

1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-09 level or equivalent experience or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related.

Specialized experience is experience which is directly related to the line of work of the position to be filled and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position, for example : experience in administration of higher education, digital humanities, and cultural heritage grants or programs; screening grant applications and proposals; providing technical guidance on grants laws and regulations; Utilizing databases to prepare reports and statistical data; assisting in the evaluation of humanities related projects, programs, and administrative problems; and writing articles and newsletters for website publications.

Education

A Bachelor's degree in a discipline of the humanities is required (a Ph.D. is preferred).

Additional information

1. Veterans' preference rules does not apply to this position however, veterans who are deemed best qualified will receive consideration amongt other candidates. If you are a preference eligible veteran, you must attach a copy of your DD-214 (Member-4 copy) or other proof of eligibility. If you are a 10-point (CP or CPS) veteran, you must attach an SF-15, "Application for 10-Point Veterans' Preference" plus the proof required by that form.

2. If you are the spouse of a member of the armed forces on active duty, the spouse of a 100 percent disabled member of the armed forces, or the spouse of a deceased member of the armed forces, you may apply for consideration through the Military Spouse Noncompetitive Appointing Authority. You must meet certain criteria for each of these eligibility categories. Learn more about hiring options available to military spouses. Your eligibility does not entitle you to a job within the federal government. You must still apply and meet qualification standards and additional requirements, such as a background investigation.

3. If you are a male applicant who was born after 12 / 31 / 59 and are required to register under the Military Selective Service Act, the Defense Authorization Act of 1986 requires that you be registered or you are not eligible for appointment in this agency.

4. All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review in our office, in other Federal agency personnel offices, and on OPM's web site at

5. This position may require completion of a 1-year trial period.

6. The salary range above reflects the Washington DC Locality pay, salary may be adjusted based on the negotiated location upon selection.

7. This position may qualify for membership in the NEH American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 3403.

Benefits

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

We will review your résumé and supporting documentation and compare this information to your responses on the occupational questionnaire to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for this position. You will be further evaluated by one or more Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) working either independently or as a panel to evaluate applicants' qualifications against job-related criteria and placed in one of three pre-defined categories :

Best Category - Meets the basic qualification requirements for the vacancy announcement and has successful experience in the same or similar job that has demonstrated outstanding proficiency in applying knowledge, skill, and ability in the critical competencies for this position.

Better Category - Meets the basic qualification requirements for the vacancy announcement and demonstrates proficiency in the critical competencies for this position.

Qualified Category - Meets the specialized experience outlined in the minimum qualifications requirements section of the vacancy announcement.

Any exaggeration of an applicant's experience, false statements, or attempts to conceal information may be grounds for rating an applicant ineligible, not hiring the applicant, or for termination after he / she begins work. If a determination is made that in responding to the competency-based question an applicant has rated themselves higher than is evident in their resume, experience, and / or education, the applicant's score may be manually adjusted by a Human Resource Specialist.

INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS will receive a rating of IFM (ineligible due to missing forms). Requests for reconsideration will not be considered for applicants who fail to submit a complete application package. We cannot be held responsible for incompatible software, fax transmissions, etc.

Only send documentation as requested / required by this announcement and that directly supports your qualifications for this position.

Benefits

Review our benefits

Required Documents

As a new or existing federal employee, you and your family may have access to a range of benefits. Your benefits depend on the type of position you have - whether you're a permanent, part-time, temporary or an intermittent employee. You may be eligible for the following benefits, however, check with your agency to make sure you're eligible under their policies.

All applicants are required to submit the following supporting document type(s) :

Resume

Transcript

Your resume must thoroughly describe how your skills and experiences align to the criteria defined in the "Qualifications" section of this announcement and it must support your responses to the assessment questionnaire. We cannot assume you have performed the necessary experience required for this position regardless of your employment history or academic career.

To ensure all of the essential information is in your resume, we encourage you to use the USAJOBS online Resume Builder . If you choose to use your own resume, you must ensure it contains all of the required information and you organize it so we can associate the following information for each experience / position :

Job title

Name of employer

Start and end dates (including the month and year)

Hours worked per week. We will assume full-time unless otherwise stated. We will prorate part-time employment in crediting experience.

The level and amount of experience-for instance, whether you served as a project manager or a team member helps to illustrate your level of experience.

Examples of relevant experiences and accomplishments that prove you can perform the tasks at the level required for the job as stated in the job announcement. Your experience needs to address every required qualification.

Series and grade or equivalent (if a federal position)

If the position has an education requirement you must include relevant transcripts. If you are qualifying on the basis of education, you must list your education history including the type of degree and your major of study and provide the relevant transcript. If the position requires a certain number of credit hours, you are strongly encouraged to list the relevant courses in your resume. Detailed information regarding resume formats can be found at USAJobs HelpCenter.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements :

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and / or degrees from

schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

How to Apply

To apply for this position, you must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below.

The complete application package must be submitted by 11 : 59 PM (EST) on 01 / 15 / 2025 to receive consideration.

To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and / or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.

Click the Submit My Answers button to submit your application package.

It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.

To verify your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account, ,

select the Application Status link and then select the more information link for this position. The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.

To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and / or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.

Questionnaire items can be previewed here

Agency contact information

NEH Human Resources

Phone

2026068415

humanresources@neh.gov

Address

National Endowment for the Humanities

400 7th Street SW

Washington, DC 20506

Next steps

Once the online questionnaire is received you will receive an acknowledgement email that your submission was successful. After a review of your complete application is made you will be notified of your rating and / or referral to the hiring official. If you are selected for an interview you will be contacted by the selecting official.

Fair and Transparent

The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.

Criminal history inquiries

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy

Financial suitability

New employee probationary period

Privacy Act

Reasonable accommodation policy

Selective Service

Signature and false statements

Social security number request

Required Documents

All applicants are required to submit the following supporting document type(s) :

Resume