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Foreign Affairs Officer

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

Summary

This position is located in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs (EAP/CM). EAP/CM is responsible for managing relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC) across the entire spectrum of political, economic, environmental, energy, science and other issues. The office works with all U.S. government departments and agencies engaged in activities involving the PRC.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
12/09/2021 to 12/22/2021
Salary
$103,690 to - $134,798 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 13
Location
Washington, DC
1 vacancy
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Occasional travel may be required.
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
Position sensitivity and risk
Critical-Sensitive (CS)/High Risk
Announcement number
HRSC/EAP-2022-0004
Control number
625931200

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

U.S. Department of State career or career conditional status employees in the competitive service; employees who are on temporary or other non-status appointments who have reinstatement or non-competitive eligibility for a competitive service appointment (e.g., tenured Foreign Service employees, employees on an excepted service appointment at the USUN who have previous career status, etc.); and CTAP

Duties

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  • Implements the U.S. policy goal of preventing People’s Republic of China access to emerging critical technologies that the PRC seeks to obtain in furtherance of its military-civil fusion strategy.
  • Serves as EAP/CM’s primary liaison to law enforcement agencies on MCF-related issues including outreach to domestic audiences.
  • Monitors trends and recommends policy responses related to PRC attempts to gain access to emerging critical technologies for military modernization under its MCF strategy.
  • Drafts memoranda, reports, press guidance, talking points, and other papers on related topics in preparation for interagency, international, or public meetings by high-level Department and other officials.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Incumbent will be subject to random drug testing.
  • U.S. Citizenship is required.
  • One year probationary period, unless excepted by regulation.
  • 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.

NOTE: Applicants must meet time-in-grade and time after competitive appointment requirements, by the closing date of this announcement.

Time-In-Grade Requirements: Federal applicants must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade to satisfy time-in-grade restrictions, per 5 CFR 300, Subpart F.

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.)

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.

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:

  • Experience advising senior management on Chinese policy and global activities.
  • Experience developing policy recommendations on controversial and politically sensitive Chinese policy issues that are consistent with U.S. foreign policy objectives.
  • Experience negotiating internationally to advance U.S. interests and goals related to Chinese relations and Chinese policy issues. 

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.

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.

If eligible, telework and remote work agreements may be permitted with supervisory approval. Please note that any approved remote work arrangement is subject to the locality pay area of the alternative telework worksite.

 If eligible, applicants to this announcement may be referred to other positions in other Bureaus/Offices in the Department that may require a higher security clearance.

Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination for Federal Employees:

 As required by Executive Order 14043, Federal employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 regardless of the employee’s duty location or work arrangement (e.g., telework, remote work, etc.), subject to such exceptions as required by law. If selected, you will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination by November 22, 2021, or before appointment or onboarding with the Department of State, if after November 22. The Department of State will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request of the agency a legally required exception from this requirement.

How you will be evaluated

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

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: (List a maximum of six (6) KSAs/competencies that will be used to evaluate candidates here in list format. The KSAs and competencies listed must be relative to the specialized experience and correlate to the questions covered in the assessment tool. - DELETE THIS TEXT).

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.

Qualified candidates are assigned a score between 70 and 100. Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) candidates must be rated "Well Qualified" for the position and earn a score of at least 85 (when applicants are rated in a range of 70 to 100) to receive consideration for selection priority. If, after reviewing your resume and self-assessment questionnaire responses and a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience, a score will be manually determined that reflects your documented experience. This may result in a lower score, which may also eliminate you from consideration for this position.

Applicants must meet all the qualification requirements and submit any required supporting documentation by the closing date of this job opportunity. 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. Qualified non-competitive candidates must be deemed best qualified based on the applicant assessment in order to be referred to the hiring official for further consideration and possible interview.

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 Asia, its politics, economics and society, and U.S. foreign policy toward the region.
  • Knowledge of, and experience in, the realm of Foreign policy / international affairs.
  • Ability to communicate orally and in writing.
  • Knowledge of conventional military forces, combat systems and security trends in China.
  • Ability to negotiate complex issues in a variety of settings.
  • Knowledge of political issues, economics, societies, and US foreign policy in China.

To preview questions please click here.

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