Historian/Writer

XLA is looking for a Historian/Writer to work at the DEA Headquarters in Arlington, VA (metro accessible) and will report to the DEA Museum Executive Director. 

DEA Museum’s Historian/Writer, records, preserves, and shares stories from DEA’s past and the history of drug use in the United States. Contractor is the content expert on DEA history, as well as the history of drugs and drug policy in America.  They are knowledgeable on drug use and misuse, drug properties, and drug prevention, working collaboratively across DEA.  Writes exhibit text, captions, educational materials, web and social media copy, and conduct research on topics, ingoing.  Manages the Museum’s website, researches Museum exhibits and updates, plans online exhibits, writes a variety of Museum materials for internal and external use, and works collaboratively with the Museum Director and staff.  This work supports DEA’s mission by preserving and disseminating accurate, accessible, and polished information to DEA employees and the public.

Responsibilities

• Adding titles to a shared bibliography on the history of drug use, misuse, and law enforcement that staff can use to support research and other projects.
• Depositing DEA announcements (e.g., letters from the Administrator, etc.) into an email folder for historical preservation.
• Acting as primary fact checker for museum work, as needed, and fact checker for DEA history, drug history, laws and enforcement, and other topics.
• Serving as final editor for Museum materials.
• Reviewing DEA Today, DEA News, and other agency announcements for operations and milestones to include on a timeline that will inform updates to the 50^th anniversary history book and other printed publications both online, in exhibits and in book format.
• Copyedits and proofreads materials written by Museum staff as received (e.g., program scripts, exhibit updates, mass-distributed emails, marketing materials, press releases. reports, etc.).
• Working with Collections staff, researches and writes scripts for video series, Stories from the Collection. Works with AV staff to produce the series and post on the Museum’s website and DEA Today.
• Maintaining the Museum’s website by updating information, writing and editing content as needed (e.g., news stories, events, etc.), and reviewing website analytics. These duties also include collaboration with Public Affairs’ Digital Communications Team.
• Developing new ways to share DEA Museum’s collections, content and history, both internally and externally.
• Collaborating with Collection Manager and Museum Technician to assemble, write, and edit artifact spotlights for the Museum’s website. All descriptions are also uploaded to Past Perfect to improve and polish collections records.
• Researching, writes and manages the Museum’s newsletter. Works with Gov delivery/Granicus creating monthly email to mailing list.
• Coordinating and editing social media analytics campaigns, and requests Museum web content to feature on other DEA sites. Improves social media for the Museum.  Works to obtain post content from DEA Museum staff members; original writing for posts as needed. Monitor metrics.
• Wall of Honor research to document any edits and accumulate materials for future histories, blogs, web content, and other projects.
• Collaborating with Curator of Education to update exhibit labels, write and edit content to support educational programming or exhibits as needed.
• Is highly involved in printed materials related to DEA’s memorial service, as well as special temporary and permanent traveling exhibits.  This involves serving as a team member for exhibit planning, content development, editing, and project management.
• Attending Museum professional development training and builds knowledge on best practices for museums, museum education, collections, and museum communication.
• Acting as a team member of a small museum; conducting occasional tours and greeting visitors, occasionally.

• Shared bibliography on the history of drug use, misuse, and law enforcement currently has 297 primary and secondary source citations.

Requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree in History, Museum Studies, or related field is required along with four (4) years of experience. A Master's Degree is a plus.
• At least three years’ experience researching and writing in a history field, knowledge about federal agencies, law enforcement, drug use and misuse, and related topics, a plus.

Clearance Requirements: Ability to obtain Agency Clearance.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): XLA is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, XLA will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations in the hiring process. We encourage qualified individuals with disabilities to apply. If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process or to perform essential job functions, please contact our HR team by phone at 703-584-8317 or via email at humanresources@xla.com.  For persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, deafblind, or deaf-disabled, XLA will provide an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter where needed as a reasonable accommodation for the hiring processes.