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Foreign Affairs Officer - Direct Hire Authority

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

Summary

This position is in the Immediate Office of the Assistant Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretaries in the Bureau of Political Military Affairs (PM) and oversees the Office of Congressional and Public Affairs (CPA) staff.

PM provides policy direction in the areas of international security, security assistance, military operations, defense strategy and plans, and defense trade. CPA is responsible for managing the PM’s congressional affairs, public affairs, and public diplomacy functions.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
07/26/2024 to 08/01/2024
Salary
$163,964 to - $191,900 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 15
Location
Washington, DC
1 vacancy
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
25% or less - May require domestic and/or international travel.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
15
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
Yes
Security clearance
Top Secret
Drug test
Yes
Position sensitivity and risk
Critical-Sensitive (CS)/High Risk
Announcement number
HRSC/T/PM-2024-0049
Control number
801621900

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

This serves as public notice for the use of an Agency-specific Direct Hire Authority. Applicants will be forwarded to the selecting official for consideration. We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies.

Duties

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  • Develops and advises on U.S. policies and programs to leverage U.S. funding and assistance in foreign military finance, arms transfers, and other security assistance and security cooperation programs to support U.S. national security objectives.
  • Represents the Bureau (PM) at Department meetings, the Department at interagency meetings, and the United States government at international meetings pertaining to security assistance and security programs.
  • Leads PM's efforts in preparing reports for Congress, coordinating Congressional correspondence, and preparing participants for formal Congressional hearings.
  • Oversees the formulation and implementation of relevant policies, and chairs working-level interagency meetings to formulate new policies and initiatives as needed.
  • Executes supervisory personnel responsibilities for the staff members in the Office of Congressional and Public Affairs.

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 Top 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 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 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-14 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 evaluating international security assistance and security cooperation policies and programs.
  • Experience advising on strategic planning processes to achieve U.S. foreign policy objectives.
  • Experience liaising with Congressional stakeholders to advance U.S. security assistance and security cooperation programs.

In addition, applicant's experience must also demonstrate that the candidate possesses the following qualities:

  • Ability to assign, review, and supervise the work of others;
  • Objectivity and fairness in judging people on their ability, and situations on the facts and circumstances;
  • Ability to adjust to change, work pressures, or difficult situations without undue stress;
  • Willingness to consider new ideas or divergent points of view; and
  • Capacity to "see the job through."

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 agreements may be permitted with supervisory approval. 

·        Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.  If eligible, applicants to this announcement may be referred to similar positions in any Bureau/Office listed on this announcement for approximately 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.

This position is being filled through the Department of State’s direct hire authority for Foreign Affairs positions. Under the provisions of the Direct-Hire Authority, veterans’ preference and traditional rating and ranking of applications does not apply. For this announcement, all applicants will be forwarded to the selecting official for further consideration, and you may be subject to assessments during the selection process (e.g., technical writing sample or other work sample, structured interview, etc.). If you are selected, we will review your resume and required documents to determine if you meet the qualifications for this position, specifically the education, specialized experience, and knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) necessary to perform the work of the position.

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.

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following 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 U.S. foreign affairs information sources, processes, and organizations.
  • Ability to advise on the development and evaluation of current U.S. foreign policy objectives and programs related to security assistance and security cooperation.
  • Skill in strategic planning.
  • Ability to liaise and build consensus among internal and external stakeholder groups.
  • Skill in leading teams to achieve common objectives.
  • Skill in performance management.

Agency and Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP and ICTAP) candidates must be well qualified for the position to receive consideration for selection priority. Candidates are considered well qualified if their knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) exceed the minimum qualifications described in the announcement.


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