Clarification from the agency

Open to all qualified candidates eligible to work in the United States.

The incumbent serves as a clerical and administrative assistant for the Africa Program Director and is responsible for administrative and logistical, and research planning and support for the Director’s schedule of activities, presentations, and travel.  As such, the incumbent:

• Manages the Director’s daily and long-term calendar to include the Director’s schedule and appointments, responding to meeting and engagement requests, and calendaring blocks of time for the Director to complete program activities.
• Serves as the point of contact and source of information for the Program Director’s office coordinating communications with both internal and external sources.
• Maintains and updates the Program Director’s contact database.
• Provides outreach, liaison, and administrative support for the Director on program management, to include event coordination and funder/fundraising outreach.
• Drafts and sends invitations for Director’s Office virtual and in-person meetings, arranges for meeting room and A/V availability, and organizes all background materials, folders, and other necessary arrangements to ensure overall success of the meetings.
• Prepares agendas, meeting goals and outcomes, talking points (as needed), and agendas for meeting participants and the Director.
• Drafts and prepares a variety of letters and correspondence for the Program Director’s signature.
• Coordinates program timelines and deliverables with the Africa Program team and the Director’s office.
• Tracks and reports on Program Director’s activities.
• Supports coordination and engagement with Africa Program stakeholders, including new and existing funders and the Advisory Council.
• Makes and coordinates the Director’s domestic and international travel arrangements, and reconciles and closes-out the Director’s international and domestic travel.
• Organizes, maintains, and regularly updates Director’s Office files, and records for meetings and potential or ongoing projects and funding sources.
• Maintains records for all Director’s office expenditures, including honoraria, travel reimbursements, and preparing annual financial disclosure forms.
• Supports the processing and organization of financial contributions.
• Supports proofreading of documents prepared by the Program Director.
• Assists with the coordinating and finalizing of briefing notes, reports, and grant proposals.
• Assists with the recruitment of interns, and coordinates the work of interns assigned to the Director’s office.
• Drafts and prepares a variety reports, forms, and other materials related to program projects, as needed.
• Serves as the primary point of contact for the Advisory Council and funders during events.

Conditions of employment

• May be required to serve a one-year probationary period
• Pre- appointment background investigation
• Must participate in Direct Deposit/Electronic Funds for salary payment
• Must meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males.

Qualifications

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you meet the required specialized experience, or education as described, for the respective grade level in which you are applying:

IS-7: 

To qualify you must have at least one (1) year of specialized work experience equivalent to the IS-6 grade level in the Federal service (obtained either in the private or public sectors) performing most of the following types of duties:

• Arranging international and domestic travel for staff and visitors;

• Planning, implementing and closing-out organization sponsored events;

• Using a variety of software packages, especially Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint, and financial tracking software to perform/automate office work;

• Demonstrating proficiency in grammar, punctuation, and spelling, including the ability to proofread in order to draft a variety of documents, reports, and summaries for a general audience.

• Verbally communicating in cross-cultural professional environments;

• Understanding of basic accounting, grant management, and budgetary processes;

• Cultivating partnerships with internal and external partners.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s).

For more information on the qualifications for this position, link to OPM Qualification Standards

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.

You must include months, years and hours per week worked to receive credit for your work and/or volunteer experience. One year of specialized experience is equivalent to 12 months at 40 hours per week. Part-time hours are prorated. You will not receive any credit for experience that does not indicate exact hours per week or is listed as "varies".

How you will be evaluated

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

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

Once the announcement has closed, a review of your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) will be used to determine whether you meet the qualification requirements listed on this announcement. If you are minimally qualified, your résumé and supporting documentation will be compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine your level of experience. If, after reviewing your résumé and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully when applying, errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

Your application will be evaluated in accordance with Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Delegated Examining Procedures using category rating. 

Your application will then be placed in one of three categories:

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics):

• Research and Analysis
• Oral Communication
• Administrative
• Written Communication

In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.