USAID is the world's premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. USAID works to help lift lives, build communities, and advance democracy. USAID's work advances U.S. national security and economic prosperity; demonstrates American generosity; and promotes a path to recipient self-reliance and resilience. We operate in five regions of the world: Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe and Eurasia.
USAID is the world's premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. USAID works to help lift lives, build communities, and advance democracy. USAID's work advances U.S. national security and economic prosperity; demonstrates American generosity; and promotes a path to recipient self-reliance and resilience. We operate in five regions of the world: Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe and Eurasia.
Serves as a technical leader and expert in strategic planning exercises and the design of programs that maximize environmental benefits to achieve optimal economic and social development.
Translates strategies, analyses, and program concepts into functional statements of work (including budget estimates) for award of contracts, cooperative agreements, grants and inter-agency agreements that deliver environmentally sound technical services to local governments, civil society organizations, and other USAID development partners.
Manages assistance instruments, and contracts to achieve development objectives of the program while providing effective financial oversight and environmental soundness.
Serves as a liaison with host-country government and non-government counterparts, other USAID offices, bilateral and multilateral donors, other USG agencies, NGOs, and the private sector to coordinate and communicate environmental program or project activities in furtherance of USG foreign assistance goals.
Leads or oversees the development of appropriate environmental impact assessments and their monitoring and mitigation plans. Provides expert advice to non-environmental officers and managers in USAID and its partner agencies and organizations who are undertaking and implementing such assessments.
Develops and implements performance monitoring systems and indicators at the strategic, sector, and activity levels for environmental programs.
Negotiates with host country and US government officials, community organizations, universities, NGOs, and other USAID partners on what needs to be done and how best to accomplish it within a limited budget, and within the framework of the US foreign assistance program and the context of American foreign policy.
Conducts assessments and evaluations of programs to determine development impact and return on investment.
Provides reports and communication to Washington to assist the Agency in reporting on annual performance and telling the story of the results of USAID’s environmental programs.
Environmental Management – Knowledge and experience in integrating environmental soundness to economic and social development in developing countries.
Environmental Law, Regulation, & Compliance – Knowledge and application of laws, regulations, statutes, and conventions that control and reduce the impact of human activity on the environment.
Climate Change & Clean Energy – Identifying drivers of and adapting to changes in the climate system and developing solutions for clean and sustainable energy use that reduce climate impact.
Sustainable Water Management - The management of water resources that address current and future needs and take into account political, economic, social, technological, and environmental influences and considerations.
Forestry and Biodiversity - Creating, managing, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals while developing and maintaining healthy and diverse ecosystems.
Sustainable Urban Development - The technical and political knowledge and skills to provide environmental services in urban areas, such as the design, preservation, and control of land and other resources.
Education & Experience:
FS-05, $56,728.00 (with Washington D.C. locality) to $90,342.00: Applicant must have at least one environment graduate degree at either the Master's, Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctorate (Ph.D. or S.J.D.), or Doctor (M.D. or D.V.M.) level, plus at least three (3) years of relevant professional experience that includes a minimum of one (1) year overseas or diverse working environment experience. Both the advanced degree and the experience must be in an environmental functional area directly related to the position.
FS-04, $70,009.00 (with Washington D.C. locality) to $111,493.00: Applicant must have at least one environment graduate degree at the Master's or Juris Doctor (J.D.) level plus at least five (5) years of relevant professional experience that includes a minimum of four (4) years overseas or diverse working environment experience OR at least one environment graduate degree at the Doctorate (Ph.D. or S.J.D.) or Doctor (M.D. or D.V.M.) level plus at least four (4) years of relevant professional experience that includes a minimum of three (3) years overseas or diverse working environment experience. Both the advanced degree and the experience must be in an environmental functional area directly related to the position.
Relevant diverse experience includes: (1) working and living in a foreign country, nation, territory, or tribe or (2) working and living in an economically disadvantaged community in the United States. The experience in (1) and (2) above must have been achieved by the close of the announcement date. The experience must be for a minimum of one year. The applicant will need to demonstrate the diverse experience is relevant to the Environment Officer's duties as stated in this announcement. The applicant should consider stating whether the experience required the learning or using of a foreign language; whether the experience resulted in the applicant encountering new and or different cultures and practices; and whether the applicant coordinated and engaged with external partners and local counterparts or conducted public outreach and communications."
Volunteer 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.
Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the education requirements. Transcripts from any and all foreign educational institutions must be accompanied by an official Evaluation of Educational Credentials in order to be considered for the position. It is your responsibility to provide evidence that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States when applying. If you are qualifying based on foreign education, you must submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. Click on the following link for a list of accredited organizations (https://www.naces.org/members) recognized as specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials. More information may be found at https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html
Unofficial transcripts must be uploaded as part of the application. Failure to do so will result in the application being eliminated from consideration. If we are unable to determine that you meet the required education, you will be found ineligible for further consideration. If you proceed past the initial application phase, official transcripts must be received by USAID from your university/institution during the final selection process.
Graduate degree at either the Master's, Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctorate (Ph.D. or S.J.D.), or Doctor (M.D. or D.V.M.) in environmental sciences; environmental management; climate change; natural resources management (such as forestry, wildlife, wild lands or parks management, marine fisheries, coastal resources management); clean energy; water resources management; biology or ecology; environmental law and regulation; environmental engineering; environmental medicine or health; wildlife veterinary medicine; environmental economics; or sustainable urban or regional planning. Other technical or general degrees with some environmental course work are not acceptable - the degree must be one of the above listed disciplines or equivalent. The applicant's advanced degree in one of these disciplines must have been awarded prior to the required minimum professional level relevant work experience integrating environment into sustainable economic and social development programs.
USAID offers generous federal benefits that include health and life insurance; annual, sick and home leave; contributory government pension system; assistance with repayment of student loans; and while serving overseas, government-provided housing, shipment of household effects, education allowances, country specific incentive pay and allowances, and other support.
If selected and hired at the FS-05 level, an administrative promotion from FS-05 to FS-04 occurs after one year of service.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
BASIS OF RATING: Qualified applicants receive a score of 70 to 100 before veteran's preference points are applied (if applicable). You will be rated based on your qualifications for this position as evidenced by the education, experience, and training you report relative to this position that show the degree to which you possess the required competencies listed on this vacancy announcement. USAID must be able to conduct reference checks as part of its assessment process. Applicants who do not permit reference checks from previous employers may be disqualified.
IMPORTANT: If you are found to have rated your self assessment higher than the information in your on-line application, supporting documentation narratives, and/or any other relevant part of your application package; including attachments, a score will manually be determined that reflects your documented experience. This may result in a lowered score and may also eliminate you from the best qualified list, or it could result in a raised score that could move you to the next stage for consideration – depending on the analysis of your documented qualifications.
To preview questions please click here.
USAID offers generous federal benefits that include health and life insurance; annual, sick and home leave; contributory government pension system; assistance with repayment of student loans; and while serving overseas, government-provided housing, shipment of household effects, education allowances, country specific incentive pay and allowances, and other support.
If selected and hired at the FS-05 level, an administrative promotion from FS-05 to FS-04 occurs after one year of service.
NOTE: We are aware some applicants are being directed during the application process to submit redundant documents. You are only required to submit the "Vacancy Level" documents: Resume, Transcript, SF-15 (if applicable), DD-214 (if applicable), and Miscellaneous (for any document you'd like to submit that doesn't fall under the category of the first four). The second request for "Registration Level" documents is the result of a technical error and can be ignored.
The following documents will be required for verification of eligibility before employment is offered:
• Proof of United States Citizenship (birth certificate, passport, or other acceptable documentation), these are not required to be submitted as part of the initial application.
• Official copy of college transcript of education used to qualify you for this position. For the initial application, only a copy of unofficial transcript is required.
• If claiming veteran’s preference you must provide acceptable documentation of your preference or appointment eligibility. Acceptable documentation may be: a copy of your DD-214, "Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty," which shows dates of service and discharge under honorable conditions; a "certification" that is a written document from the armed forces that certifies the service member is expected to be discharged or released from active duty service in the armed forces under honorable conditions not later than 120 days after the date the certification is signed; OR a Standard Form 15 Application for 10-point Veterans' Preference. If you are claiming 10 point preference, you will need to submit a SF 15. You may obtain a letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs reflecting your level of disability for preference eligibility by visiting a VA Regional Office, contacting a VA call center or online. For more information on veteran’s preference and eligibility, visit https://www.fedshirevets.gov/job-seekers/veterans-preference/#content
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.
Please carefully read all the instructions before you begin the application process.
Applications for this position are being processed through an on-line applicant assessment system that has been specifically configured for US Agency for International Development applicants. To begin the application process, please click on the "Apply Online" button to the right. If you do not already have an account with USAjobs.gov you will be prompted to create one. Only applications received through USAjobs.gov will be processed and reviewed. All applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, marital status, political affiliation, age, sex, sexual orientation, physical disabilities, membership in an employee organization, or any other non-merit factors.
The following instructions outline our application process. You must complete this application process and submit any required documents by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Monday - Friday).
How to contact USAJOBS
Once you submit the form, USAJOBS will get back to you within one business day.
USAJOBS does not provide direct phone support. The contact us form will send an email to the Help Desk where you can ask for assistance by phone or email.
Step 1 - Create, or upload, a resume with USAJOBS (www.usajobs.gov) - We suggest you go to the end of the Qualifications & Evaluation section of the job announcement to preview the online questions that you will answer in Step 3. You may need to customize your resume to ensure that it supports your responses to these questions. - You may create a resume in USAJOBS, or upload a resume or CV.
Step 2 - Apply Online. Click the "Apply Online" link of this announcement and then select the resume you wish to submit with your application. You will be redirected to the USAID's CareerConnector website to complete the application process.
Step 3 - Answer the Online Questions and Submit Your Online Application. If this is your first time on USAID's CareerConnector website, you will be prompted to register by answering questions related to your eligibility for Federal employment. The system will save these responses and take you back to the main screen so that you can answer the job-specific questions. Select "Take me to the assessment" and click on the "Continue" button to answer the job-specific questions. You must answer all the questions and click the "Finished" button.
Step 4 - Review and Confirm Your Submission. You will upload a document. Once you click "Done," you will see a summary of your application for your review. You may also print a copy for your records. When you click "Finished" at the bottom of the page, you will then be directed back to USAJOBS where you can confirm that your application has been submitted and track your application status.
Step 5 - Submit Required Documents. You can submit any required documents (discussed below) by document upload. Please include the job announcement number with your documents. To protect your privacy, we encourage you to remove your SSN from any documents that you submit.
You may upload supporting documents in one of two ways:
1. Once you finish answering the questions in the job announcement, you will be prompted to upload your document(s) to your application. You will be given the choice to either upload the document as part of the application process or you can select a document that you've already loaded on USAJOBS. Or
2. You can upload a document to an existing application by logging into your USAJOBS account profile. Click on "My Applications" and search for the vacancy. Once you have located the vacancy, click on the vacancy and select "Apply Online." Move through your existing application to the Documents page and select Upload in order to add a document to your application.
Be certain to review your complete application for confirmation that the document uploaded. In the Application Review section, you may verify acceptance of your documents in CareerConnector if you see them listed on the "Vacancy Documents" screen. Then, click on "Finished" to be returned to USAJOBS.
Applications will be reviewed periodically and candidates selected per the Agency's staffing needs. You will be rated based on your qualifications for this position as evidenced by the education, experience and training you report relative to this position which show that you possess the knowledge, skills and abilities required. Paid or unpaid experience will be considered and references will be checked.
Steps to become a Foreign Service officer with USAID:
1. Candidates complete application
2. Highly qualified applications are referred to the Technical Review Panel (TRP)
3. TRP reviews applications and selects applicants to be invited for the interview.
4. Technical Selection Panel (TSP) interviews candidates.
5. Reference checks are conducted of TSP recommended candidates.
6. Successful completion of pre-employment process consisting of Security Clearance investigation, Medical clearance, receipt of official transcripts and acceptance of salary offer.
Reminders:
1. Ensure you meet all requirements.
2. If qualifying based on foreign education, you must submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency when applying.
3. Submit an unofficial copy of your transcript.
4. Verify that application is completed and submitted.
5. Contact the help desk for technical assistance before the closing date of the announcement.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
