Foreign Affairs Officer

Full Job Description

This position is located in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Security Assistance (PM/SA), responsible for direction and management of over $6 billion in U.S.

military grant assistance and providing guidance for annual budget allocations of the Foreign Military Financing (FMF), International Military Education and Training (IMET), and the Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) accounts.

PM/SA coordinates DoS concurrence with over $3 billion in DoW-managed security cooperation.

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.) IN ADDITION to the basic requirements, this position requires one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-13 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 managing grants, contracts, and/or interagency agreements.

Experience navigating interagency relationships, including through joint formulation of Title 10 security cooperation.

Experience managing in-region diplomatic and security cooperation policy (Africa and/or the Middle East).

Experience managing Foreign Military Financing (FMF), International Military Education and Training (IMET), and/or Peacekeeping Operations (PKO).

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. Major Duties:

• Formulates policy implementation proposals on global political military activities and provides policy and fiscal oversight for U.S security assistance and security cooperation programs and budgets.
• Advises on the legal and policy implications of security assistance, security cooperation, and political military issues related to Bureau regional and/or functional programs.
• Assesses information from overseas posts, international sources, and the Intelligence Community to determine individual countries' capability and willingness to contribute to the achievement of U.S. Government (USG) foreign policy objectives.
• Develops and maintains bilateral, regional, and functional relationships through military assistance and security cooperation programs by ensuring funds are used in accordance with national policy and U.S. laws.
• Drafts requisite Congressional Notifications, program allocation, apportionment memoranda.