Foreign Affairs Officer

Full Job Description

This position is in the Office of Security Negotiations and Agreements (SNA) in the Bureau of Political Military Affairs (PM).

SNA develops and manages policy and leads negotiations for international security agreements related to the presence and operation of U.S. military forces abroad.

SNA is the primary organization for interagency coordination of such agreements with U.S.

embassies, bureaus within the Department, Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, and Combatant Commands.

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-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 advising on the formulation and implementation of security cooperation policies or programs.

Experience leading negotiations relative to international security and defense relations with partner countries. Experience making recommendations for U.S. defense planning.

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." To be considered well-qualified, in addition to meeting minimum qualifications, candidates must demonstrate proficiency in some, but not all of the major aspects of the position.

Major Duties:

• Advises on the development, negotiation, and implementation processes of binding and non-binding international security agreements.
• Directs administrative and technical aspects of ongoing negotiations.
• Represents the Office to the interagency on matters specific to security multilateral coordination as well as defense cooperation agreements and strategy.
• Represents the Office in bilateral and multilateral consultations, negotiations, and other policy-informing and decision-making processes on defense policy.
• Exercises the full range of supervisory and managerial authorities and responsibilities required to accomplish the functions assigned to the Office.