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Foreign Affairs Officer

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

Summary

Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Office of Conservation and Water (OES/ECW) and contributes to the development and implementation of U.S. foreign policy in security, including water and sanitation, water resources management, and transboundary water issues.  This position analyzes and evaluates international and multilateral negotiations relating to water policy.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
05/12/2022 to 05/25/2022
Salary
$74,950 to - $116,788 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 11 - 12
Location
Washington, DC
1 vacancy
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
25% or less - Overseas and/or domestic travel may be required around 5% of the time.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
13
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Secret
Drug test
Yes
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
Announcement number
HRSC/OES-2022-0009
Control number
653734700

Duties

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  • Monitors global, regional or national advancements and trends affecting water policy and evaluates their impact on scientific and foreign policy issues of interest to the office/bureau.
  • Monitors and reviews scientific, economic, social, technological, and other significant developments and trends relating to water policy and assist senior officers with formulating coherent policy approaches and recommendations for the office.
  • Analyzes scientific, economic, and other reporting from U.S. missions, non-governmental organizations, and academia regarding Water Resources for implications for U.S. interests.
  • Represents the office when serving on interagency working groups and meetings to define U .S. positions, resolve disagreements, and ensure U.S. Governement consensus.
  • Drafts and clears an array of complex written documents for Department principals that accurately reflect U.S. Government policies, initiatives, and approaches to difficult environmental, conservation, and/or sustainability policies and programs.
  • At the GS-12 level, the incumbent performs essentially the same duties as outlined below however, the scope and complexity of assignments are of less responsibility and independence and receives closer than normal supervision than the GS-13 level.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship is required.
  • Incumbent will be subject to random drug testing.
  • Must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance.
  • Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit: www.dhs.gov/E-Verify/

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all the qualification requirements 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.)

Applying at the GS-11 level:

IN ADDITION to meeting one of the basic entry qualifications requirements listed above, applicants applying for the GS-11 MUST also meet one of the requirements listed below:

Have at least 1 year of specialized experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. This experience must be related to the work of the position and equivalent to at least the GS-09 level in the Federal service. Qualifying specialized experience must demonstrate the following:

  • Experience analyzing and evaluating factors and variables pertaining to water resources policy.
  • Experience preparing and presenting analyses to decision-makers to provide guidance, solicit information, present proposals and build consensus.

OR Have 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree OR Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities to do the work of the position to be filled.

OR Have a combination of graduate level education and specialized experience which is equivalent to the work of the position and equivalent to the GS0-9 level in the Federal service. This education and experience must meet 100% of the qualification requirements for this position.

Applying at the GS-12 level:

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:

  • Experience analyzing and evaluating factors pertaining to water resources and providing advice and recommendation to senior level staff. 
  • Experience liaising throughout the foreign policy and/or scientific communities to exchange information and advance objectives relating to water resources policy.

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.

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. For a list of accredited organizations recognized as specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials, visit: www.naces.org/members.php.

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 OAA@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.
  • Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.  If eligible, applicants to this announcement may be referred to other similar positions in other Bureaus/Offices in the Department for up to 240 days.  Telework eligibility and security clearance requirements may vary for such similar positions. 

How you will be evaluated

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

Once the application process is complete, a review of your resume will be conducted and compared against your responses to the assessment questions to determine if you are qualified for this job.  Note:  Responses to questions that are not fully supported by the information in your resume may result in adjustments to your rating. 

Applicants who meet the minimum qualification requirements, as described in the “Qualifications” section of this announcement, will be assigned to one of three quality categories:

  1. Qualified - In addition to meeting minimum qualifications, applicants must demonstrate a basic level of the required competencies (knowledge, skills and abilities) for the position.
  2. Well Qualified - In addition to meeting minimum qualifications, applicants must demonstrate proficiency in some but not all of the required competencies (knowledge, skills, and abilities) for the position.
  3. Highly Qualified - In addition to meeting minimum qualifications, applicants must fully demonstrate proficiency in all of the required competencies (knowledge, skills and abilities) for the position.

Highly Qualified applicants may be referred to the hiring manager for further consideration and possible interview.  The category assignment is a measure of the degree in which your background matches the competencies (knowledge, skills, and abilities) required for this position. Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies:

  • Ability to analyze and evaluate information derived from a variety of sources.
  • Ability to research information on issues of sustainable development.
  • Knowledge of water resource processes.
  • Ability to defend and negotiate positions.
  • Ability to liaison with others.

Veterans: Qualified veterans who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10% are listed in the Highly Qualified category [,except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level, or higher. This position is considered scientific/professional. REMOVE THIS TEXT IF THE POSITION IS NOT SCIENTIFIC OR PROFESSIONAL].  Other 10-point preference eligible and veterans with 5-point preference who meet the eligibility and qualification requirements are placed above non-preference eligible applicants within the category in which they qualify.  View information on veterans' preference on OPM’s Fed Hire Vets website.

Agency and Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP and ICTAP) Eligibles: If you have never been a Federal employee, you are not CTAP or ICTAP eligible. View information about CTAP and ICTAP eligibility on OPM's Career Transition Resources website. You must be rated in the Well-Qualified category for this position and submit the supporting documents listed under the required documents section of this job announcement to receive consideration for selection priority. 


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