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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 Crisis Management and Strategy within the Office of the Secretary, Executive Secretariat Operations Center (S/ES-O). The Operations Center is open 24/7 and serves as the Secretary's and the Department's communications/crisis management center. As Crisis Management Support (CMS), you will monitor and analyze global events and incidents to anticipate potential hot spots and recommend actions to reduce risk and prepare our diplomatic missions to face any crisis.  

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
12/18/2024 to 12/26/2024
Salary
$117,962 - $153,354 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 13
Location
Washington, DC
2 vacancies
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—Situational telework only.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Travel required 25% or less 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
Sensitive Compartmented Information
Drug test
Yes
Position sensitivity and risk
Special-Sensitive (SS)/High Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
S/ES-2025-0032
Control number
824953700

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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  • Applies new analytical developments and methodologies, and research to findings to broad public policy issues to analyze political, economic, and other reporting from a wide variety of sources that include U.S. missions.
  • Prepares and delivers written and oral briefings to senior officials and facilitates the flow of information on late-breaking issues within the Department, both domestically and abroad, and between the Department and the rest of the interagency.
  • Serves as the initial point of contact for all incoming requests to the Operations Center (Ops) and uses knowledge of the Department and interagency to appropriately triage and, when necessary, redirect these requests.
  • Exercises knowledge of the Department’s various bureaus and offices’ equities to review and distribute all interagency materials for Principal and Deputies committee meetings.
  • Serves as the Ops Watch’s representative to a Department Task Force, when convened, and coordinates the flow of information between the Watch and the Task Force.

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.
  • Obtain/maintain eligibility to access Sensitive Compartmented Information.
  • This position requires shift work.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all the required 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.   

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 5CFR 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 monitoring global political, national security, international affairs, geographic or military developments;
  • Experience preparing written policy recommendations from foreign policy analysis; AND 
  • Experience serving in an advisory capacity to senior level leadership on complex, sensitive, and controversial matters.

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.
  • 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 a score between 70 and 100.  The assessment is used to measure 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:

  • Knowledge of foreign policy / international policy.

  • Ability to provide advice, guidance, and consultation based on results of analyses.

  • Ability to plan, initiate, organize, and coordinate activities within and outside the organization.

  • Ability to negotiate complex issues in a variety of settings.

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.

Agency Career and Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP and 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.


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Department of State - Agency Wide

The U.S. Department of State, our country’s lead foreign policy agency, provides employees with a dynamic international career whether at home or abroad and unique professional development opportunities.  Each day, our employees make a difference as they advance the interests of the American people, their safety and economic prosperity, through diplomacy, advocacy, and assistance.  We embrace diversity and inclusion and our talented workforce reflects the personal, professional, and educational strengths and diversity of our country.

Named one of America’s Best Employers by Forbes, we offer a workplace that values and rewards leadership, collaboration, innovation, and personal and professional development. Visit careers.state.gov to learn more about what it's like to work at the U.S. Department of State, what the agency does, the wide range of careers this agency offers, and the benefits available to employees.

Agency contact information

Michael Hunt
Phone
202-485-2690
Fax
000-000-0000
Email
YoungSP@state.gov
Address
U.S. Department of State
US Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Attn: S/ES-HR, Suite 7519
Washington, District of Columbia 20520
United States

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