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Staff Assistant

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

Summary

This position is located in the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN), Office of the Assistant Secretary, which is under the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Affairs (T).  Serves as one of several Staff Assistants with primary responsibility for managing and coordinating the large volume of information that come into and out of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for International Security and Nonproliferation.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
07/23/2020 to 08/05/2020
Salary
$59,534 to - $77,396 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 09
Location
Washington, DC
1 vacancy
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
25% or less - Occasional travel may be required.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-Time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
12
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Top Secret
Drug test
Yes
Announcement number
HRSC/T/ISN-2020-0033
Control number
574204600

Duties

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  • Tracks and monitors the status of memoranda and correspondence within the Bureau. Reviews all outgoing documents for proper format, consistency, grammatical accuracy, etc, and makes necessary corrections or returns to the originator for changes.
  • Prepares daily activity reports for the ISN Bureau and weekly activity reports on ISN for the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Affairs.
  • Collects all sensitive incoming cables, mail, and documents from sources outside the Bureau. Reviews for content in order to assign appropriate action/distribution within the Bureau.
  • Responds to inquiries from both in and out of the ISN Bureau concerning the status, location, subject matter, deadlines, and effective and efficient processing procedures of documents and taskers.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

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

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 applying for the GS-09 grade level must meet one of the following requirements:

A. Have at least 1 full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level in the Federal service which provided you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the duties of the position. Qualifying specialized experience must demonstrate the following:

  • Experience identifying gaps and maintaining quality control.
  • Experience prioritizing and tasking all incoming papers and projects.

OR B. Have a master's or equivalent graduate degree, OR 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, OR LL.B or J.D. from an accredited college or university. This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities to do the work of the position to be filled;

OR C. Have a combination of graduate level education and specialized experience (as described above), which is equivalent to the GS-07 level in the Federal Service. This experience and education together meets 100% of the qualification requirements for this position. Combination of Experience and Education: When an applicant has less than one year of specialized experience as described in the announcement, he or she may combine successfully completed graduate-level education with experience to meet the total qualification requirements. Generally, 18 graduate semester hours is equivalent to 1 full-time year of graduate study (your school and department determine what constitutes 1 full time year of graduate study). The percentage of specialized work experience and the percentage of graduate study must total at least 100%.

Note: All applicants WILL BE required to submit transcripts as verification of educational requirement. If you fail to provide requested information, or the information you submit is insufficient to verify your eligibility, you may lose consideration for this position.

Education

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

Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. Click on the link for a list of accredited organizations recognized as specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials.

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: 

  • Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.
  • Ability to provide effective customer service.
  • Skills in Staff Assistant - Executive Operations.
  • Skills in Executive Assistant.
  • Skills in Office Management.

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 selection 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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