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Foreign Affairs Specialist

Department of State
Department of State - Agency Wide
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located in the Bureau of Counterterrorism, Office of Programs (CT/P).  The Bureau exercises policy and budget oversight for all Department counterterrorism programs, including training, and works closely with the regional bureaus. The incumbent provides program planning, implementation, and performance oversight.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
08/23/2019 to 08/30/2019
Salary
$83,398 to - $128,920 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 12 - 13
Location
Washington, DC
1 vacancy
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Up to 20% Domestic and Overseas travel is required for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-Time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
13
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Top Secret
Drug test
Yes
Announcement number
HR/SS/DC-2019-0013
Control number
543658600

Duties

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  • Duties at the GS-12 level are similar to those at the GS-13, with increased supervision. Duties include, but are not limited to:
  • Serves as Program Officer to assigned countries/geographic region(s); monitoring political situations/issues impacting the USG in implementing CT assistance and/or capacity building programs.
  • Manages issue areas pertinent to the country or region, maintaining currency on legislative and policy developments affecting the USG's stance and reaction.
  • Monitors political, economic, social, military and other significant developments and trends in the assigned area(s) in order to gauge the effectiveness of, and facilitate, efforts to achieve U.S. foreign policy objectives in the assigned countries.
  • Performs duties as Contracts/Grants/Agreements Officer Representative for contracts, grants and interagency agreements on behalf of CT for an assigned countries or geographic region portfolio.
  • Participates in interagency working groups and meetings and makes recommendations to these bodies and to Department management on new programmatic approaches or activities that will assist in achieving policy objectives.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship is required.
  • Incumbent will be subject to random drug testing.
  • One year probationary period, unless excepted by regulation.
  • Verification of employment eligibility in the United States is required.
  • Must be able to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance.
  • Statement of Employment & Financial Interest required prior to appointment.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all the required qualification requirements, including education and any selective placement factors described below by the closing date of this announcement.

If you are qualifying based on education OR if there are mandatory education requirements listed below, you MUST submit a copy of your college transcript with your application.

Applicants must have the required experience or education as described below and meet any selective factors, when specified.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS:

Have a bachelor's or graduate degree from an accredited college or university in international law, international relations, political science, economics, history, sociology, geography, social or cultural anthropology, law, statistics, or in the humanities;

OR

Have a bachelor's or graduate degree from an accredited college or university that included a combination of courses, with at least 24 semester hours in international law and international relations, political science, economics, history, sociology, geography, social or cultural anthropology, law, statistics, or in the humanities;

OR

Have 12 semester hours in one of the above disciplines and 12 semester hours in statistics / quantitative methods.

OR

Have a combination of education and experience where your coursework was equivalent to a major, or a combination of related courses totaling at least 24 semester hours, (as shown above), PLUS appropriate relevant experience OR additional education.

OR

Have completed at least 4 years of appropriate experience in one OR more of the fields listed above in work associated with international organizations, problems, or other aspects of foreign affairs. (NOTE: qualifying work experience may have been gained through residence, study, teaching, business or commercial activities, military service, newspaper work, military or civil government activities, missionary or international relief work, or other experience in foreign countries.)
 If you are applying to the GS-12:

  • Assisting in the designing or implementing programs in multiple (three or more) countries to build the capacity of foreign police and judicial institutions to investigate, prosecute, and adjudicate terrorism crimes;
  • Assisting in the designing or implementing programs to enhance border security of foreign law enforcement partners, such as the use of technologies to detect and deter terrorist activity;
  • Analyzing and evaluating civilian criminal justice programming for the review, development, and submission of recommendations by senior Program Officers; and
  • Assisting in the management or implementing of grants and performance monitoring plans.

IN ADDITION to the basic requirements, this position requires one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 level in the Federal service which provided the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the duties of the position.  Qualifying specialized experience must demonstrate the following:

If you are applying to the GS-13:


IN ADDITION to the basic requirements, this position requires one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-12 level in the Federal service which provided the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the duties of the position.  Qualifying specialized experience must demonstrate the following:

  • Designing or implementing programs in multiple (three or more) countries to build the capacity of foreign police and judicial institutions to investigate, prosecute, and adjudicate terrorism crimes;
  • Designing or implementing programs to enhance border security of foreign law enforcement partners, such as the use of technologies to detect and deter terrorist activity;
  • Providing recommendations on civilian criminal justice programming, both in writing and orally, to high level officials within the organization; and
  • Managing or implementing grants and performance monitoring plans.



Note:  If you are qualifying based on education, you MUST submit transcripts as verification of educational requirement by the closing date of this announcement.  If you fail to provide requested information, or the information you submit is insufficient to verify your eligibility, you WILL lose consideration for this position.

Education

See the qualifications section of this vacancy announcement for education requirements, if applicable.

Additional information

For reasonable accommodation at the U.S. Department of State, please contact the Office of Accessibility and Accommodations at (202) 663-3474 or ReasonableAccommodations@state.gov.

EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION PROGRAM (E-Verify) – U.S. law requires organizations to employ only individuals who may legally work in the United States - either U.S. citizens, or foreign citizens who have the necessary authorization. This agency utilizes E-Verify to compare information from the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to data from U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration (SSA) records to confirm employment eligibility. If the employee’s information does not match DHS and/or SSA records, the employee is given an opportunity to resolve the problem. If eligibility cannot be verified, employment will be terminated.

How you will be evaluated

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

Your application will be evaluated and rated under the Category Rating and Selection procedures.  Based on your responses to the job-specific self-assessment questions, eligible candidates are placed for selection consideration into one of three pre-defined quality categories as described below:

Highly-qualified Category - In addition to meeting minimum qualifications for the position, candidates must fully demonstrate proficiency in all major aspects of the position.  

Well Qualified Category - In addition to meeting minimum qualifications, candidates must demonstrate proficiency in some, but not all of the major aspects of the position.

Qualified Category - In addition to meeting minimum qualifications, applicants must demonstrate a basic level of knowledge, skill and ability of the position.

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs) and other characteristics that are relevant to the duties of this position and must be fully supported by information in your resume:

  • Knowledge of the theories and principles of counterterrorism, analyzing, coordinating and/or negotiating program and/or public policy issues pertaining to multiple countries.
  • Ability to analyze and evaluate information derived from a variety of sources; review, evaluate and make recommendations for procurement; to coordinate inter-agency processes; and  to communicate orally and in writing.

Your resume serves as the basis for qualification determinations and must highlight your most relevant and significant work experience and education (if applicable) as it relates to this job opportunity. 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). Your resume should include the dates of all qualifying experience (from month/year to month/year) and the number of hours worked/volunteered per week. For assistance with creating a resume, please click here.

Application of Veterans Preference: The Category Rating Method 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 pre-defined quality category. Preference eligibles who meet minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent (i.e., CPS and CP) must be listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher.

Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) candidates must be rated "Well Qualified" for the position to receive consideration for special priority.

Applicants must meet all the qualification requirements and submit any required supporting documentation by the closing date of this announcement. Your application package must contain sufficient information to make a valid determination that you fully meet the basic/specialized experience requirements as stated in this job opportunity announcement for each grade level(s) for which you are applying. Applicants found to be among the top qualified candidates will be referred to the hiring official for further consideration and possible interview.


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