Clarification from the agency

All U.S. Citizens

A Program Analyst demonstrates professional judgment and complies with the standards of the position. The incumbent will provide subject matter expertise on the functions and relationships of Defense, Joint, and Service organizations, systems, and processes involved in the planning and execution of military overseas operations and on the interconnection of diplomatic and humanitarian authorities, responsibilities, activities and funding of the Department of State, the United States Agency for International Development and other U.S. agencies engaged in or supporting overseas operations. The incumbent will gather information, perform research and analysis of military operations, security cooperation, and other activities related to U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) plans, strategies, programs and operations, funding, acquisition and end use monitoring for Operation Atlantic Resolve (OAR) for other overseas contingency operations (OCO), including Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) and Operation Enduring Sentinel (OES).

Duties include:

• Serves as a political/military subject matter expert; prepares and coordinates well-formulated, accurate, and timely analysis, questions, summaries, briefings, reports, and official correspondence that reflect a thorough understanding of the topic or matters of significance related to overseas military operations for clearance and consideration by the Director, prior to submission to the Deputy Inspector General for Overseas Contingency Operations (DIG OCO);
• Supports ODIG OCO, Lead IG data call, quarterly reporting, and oversight planning, review and improvement functions by providing research, data mining, subject matter expertise, context reviews and substantive suggestions, edits and recommendations; provides and justifies recommendations and documents conclusions; identifies corrective actions and defends or coordinates recommendations as required.
• Plans and conducts outreach events for stakeholders associated with OAR, including Ukraine assistance, OIR, OES or other overseas contingency operations; prepares and coordinates senior level engagements that support information collection; plans, supports and conducts or leads site visits to overseas contingency operation locations including in the U.S. European Command and the U.S. Central Command Areas of Responsibility. May be assigned up to 180 days to OCO locations:
• Build and maintain professional relationships with departmental and interagency contacts to ensure effective, factual and timely exchange of information;
• Assist the Director with routine or ad hoc management and administrative tasks; coordinates support, orientation, training, administrative preparation and addresses ad hoc issues for ODIG OCO deploying and deployed personnel;

Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S Citizen or National
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered or be exempt from Selective Service (see http://www.sss.gov).
• Suitable for federal employment
• This national security position, which may require access to classified information, requires a favorable suitability review and security clearance as a condition of employment. Failure to maintain security eligibility may result in termination.
• Incumbent is required to submit to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment, and is subject to random drug testing for the duration of service with DoD OIG.
• The incumbent must adhere to the DoD Standards of Conduct.

Qualifications

One year of specialized experience equivalent in level of difficulty and responsibility to that of the next lower grade (GS-13) within the federal service, which demonstrates the ability to perform the duties of the position, is required. Specialized experience is defined as:

Specialized experience is defined as: Knowledge of or experience with representing government positions in official meetings; providing expert level analysis and recommendations about military operations and foreign relations issues to high-level officials and policymakers; knowledge of strategies to advance U.S. Government objectives and promote American interests overseas.

• Possess a comprehensive understanding of defense strategy, planning and operations including Security Cooperation and Security Assistance missions. Understanding of the relationships between the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Staff, Combatant Commands, military services, and operational joint task forces. In particular, understanding how DoD offices staff requests for information and other action items.
• Understanding of Department of Defense, Department of State, USAID, NATO operations, programs, funding related to OIR, OES and Operation Atlantic Resolve and USG assistance to Ukraine;
• Knowledge of history, culture and relationships countries impacted by/related to OCOs, and of Congressional interests in OCOs.
• Knowledge of defense strategy and plans and the ability to objectively analyze current/emerging threats and the strategic environment as a whole.
• Uses qualitative techniques to evaluate complex issues.
• Demonstrated skill in clear written and oral presentations is essential to the proper conduct of duties. Ability to coordinate the review and analysis of completed projects for technical quality, appropriate levels of coordination, consistency, logic, soundness of recommendations, and compliance with established objectives, with minimal supervision.
• Ability to effectively lead projects and teams; work independently in remote locations; interpersonal skills to meet and deal effectively with others at all levels of authority and exert a positive influence.
• Highly desired, regional subject matter expertise involving military operations include counter-terrorism/couter-insurgencies, Afghanistan, Russia/Ukraine/NATO, and the EUCOM and CENTCOM Areas of Responsibility.
• Specialized experience is defined as: Knowledge of or experience with representing government positions in official meetings; providing expert level analysis and recommendations about military operations and foreign relations issues to high-level officials and policymakers; knowledge of strategies to advance U.S. Government objectives and promote American interests overseas.

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 to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience.

Only experience obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered.

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. Eligible candidates will then be placed for selection consideration into 3 categories as described below:

1. Best Qualified Category - Exceeds the minimum qualification requirements and demonstrates a high level of proficiency in the job related competencies based on the answers to the occupational questionnaire.
2. Highly Qualified Category - Exceeds the minimum qualification requirements and demonstrates proficiency in some of the job-related competencies based on the answers to the occupational questionnaire.
3. Qualified Category - Meets the minimum qualifications as described in the Qualifications section of this announcement.