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Program Analyst

Smithsonian Institution

Washington, DCFull-time$85–111K/yrPosted 5 days ago

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At a glance

Compensation
$85–111K/yr
Location
Washington, DC
Schedule
Full-time
Work Authorization
Not specified

Olive lists jobs from US employers, including remote roles you can work from the United States.

Job overview

The Program Analyst is located in the Office of Visitor and Guest Services at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The role analyzes visitor services programs and operations, recommends improvements, and supports planning, implementation, and evaluation of initiatives. It also assesses training and operational readiness, maintains information systems and tools, coordinates projects, and researches emerging practices and technologies for possible application.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

Program Data AnalysisTraining DevelopmentOperational Readiness AssessmentInformation Systems ManagementProject CoordinationResearch

Qualifications

One Year Specialized ExperienceThree Years Graduate Education or Doctorate

Benefits

Paid Time Off
Medical Insurance
401(k) Match

Full job description

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 the Office of Visitor and Guest Services, National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), under Secretary for Museums and Culture, Smithsonian Institution (SI).

Duties

This position serves as a Program Analyst and is responsible for analyzing Office of Visitor and Guest Services (OVGSs) programs and operations, developing recommendations for improvement, and supporting the planning, implementation, and evaluation for visitor service programs and initiatives. Typical duties include: Reviewing and analyzing OVGS programs, operational practices, procedures, workflows, and service delivery methods to identify opportunities to improve effectiveness, efficiency, consistency, and the visitor experience. Assessing OVGS training and operational readiness needs and developing, reviewing, coordinating, and continuously improving training materials, standard operating procedures, onboarding resources, refresher training, and other operational guidance. Developing, implementing, and maintaining systems and tools for organizing, documenting, analyzing, and communicating OVGS program and operational information, including procedures, schedules, briefing materials, reports, and other resources. Evaluating the effectiveness of these tools and recommending improvements. Coordinating assigned OVGS projects and initiatives from planning through implementation, including establishing milestones, coordinating with internal and external stakeholders, tracking progress, analyzing implementation challenges, recommending corrective actions, and reporting results. Researching emerging practices, technologies, and approaches within visitor services and related fields and evaluating opportunities for application within OVGS. Requirements

Conditions of Employment Qualification requirements, including one year time-in-grade at the next lower grade level for promotion candidates, must be met within 30 days of the job announcement closing date. See the 'Required Documents' section for additional information. For information on qualification requirements, see Qualification Standards Handbook for General Schedule Positions viewable on OPM Website. Qualifications

Experience: You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-9 level in the Federal Service. For this position, specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience collecting, organizing, and analyzing quantitative and qualitative information related to visitor services programs and operations; reviewing, and improving training materials, standard operating procedures, and other operational guidance; and implementing and maintaining systems and tools for organizing, documenting, and communicating program information. 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. Or Education: Three full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree related to the position may be substituted to meet the experience requirements. Or a Combination: Education and experience may be combined to meet the basic qualifications. For a full explanation of this option please see the Qualification Standards. Special Instructions for Foreign Education: If you are qualifying by education and/or you have education completed in a foreign college/university described above, it is your responsibility to provide transcripts and proof of U.S. accreditation for foreign study. For instructions on where to fax these documents, see the "Required Documents" section of this announcement. Time-in-Grade Requirements: Under competitive merit promotion procedures, any individual who is currently holding, or who has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under a non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet "time-in-grade" requirements (have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade of the grade for which you are applying).

Education

This position has no basic education requirement. How You Will Be Evaluated

Your application will be evaluated first for the basic qualifications described above. The applications that meet the basic qualifications will be evaluated further against the following criteria: Ability to review and analyze program data to improve effectiveness, efficiency, and consistency, and the visitor experience. Ability to assess training and operational readiness needs and develop, review, coordinate, and improve training materials. Skills in developing, implementing, and maintaining systems and tools for organizing, documenting, analyzing, and communicating programs and operational information. Ability to coordinate projects and initiatives from planning through implementation. Skills in researching emerging practices, technologies, and approaches. Important Note: Your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses to the occupational questionnaire or other assessment tool for consistency. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your resume, you will be assigned a rating commensurate to your described experience. Your resume should provide detailed information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed. You may preview questions for this vacancy. Benefits

The Smithsonian offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, vacation and sick leave, holidays, health/life insurance, accident insurance, and excellent retirement program options. Please see Benefits at https://www.si.edu/OHR/benefits for a complete description. Flexible Spending Accounts - https://www.fsafeds.com/ Health Insurance - http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/index.asp Leave - http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/index.asp Life Insurance - http://www.opm.gov/insure/life/index.asp Long Term Care Insurance - http://www.ltcfeds.com Retirement Program - https://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/ Other Information

This position is included in the bargaining unit. Recruitment Incentive: Recruitment incentive(s) may be authorized for this position. However, approval for incentives are contingent upon various availability. If authorized, certain incentives will require the incumbent to sign a service agreement to remain in the Federal government for a certain time period. Note: This statement does not imply nor guarantee an incentive will be offered and paid. Selections may be made for vacancies across the Smithsonian Institution (SI). By applying to this position, you agree to allow your application and other personal information to be shared with one or more SI hiring officials for employment consideration for same/similar positions within the location(s) identified in this announcement. ATTENTION: Due to the large number of qualified applicants for positions of this type, this job announcement will close at 11:59 pm Eastern Time on either: (A) The closing date listed above or (B) The date that 50 applications are received; whichever occurs first. If the announcement closes on the date that 50 applications are received, all applications submitted by 11:59 pm that day will be given consideration, including those in excess of 50. We encourage applicants to apply as soon as possible to ensure their applications are submitted before the announcement closes. We will not consider applications which are late due to the announcement closing once the above number of applicants is reached.

How this job compares

Set against the 999 open Program Analyst jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 4, 2026.

Pay
  • This posting$85–111K/yr
  • Washington, D.C. median$106–158K/yr80 salary ranges
  • US median$92–138K/yr616 salary ranges

This range's midpoint, $98K, is 28% below the Washington, D.C. median midpoint ($136K) — in the lowest quarter of Program Analyst salary ranges in Washington, D.C..

Openings
Olive Jobs lists 115 open Program Analyst jobs in Washington, D.C. and 999 across the US. 2% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
Hiring the most in Washington, D.C.
Experience
This posting asks for at least 1 year of experience; Program Analyst postings that state a minimum ask for 3 years at the median (897 postings).
Education
284 of the 999 open Program Analyst jobs (28%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.

Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 4, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.

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