Crisis Operations Specialist Job in Washington, DC

Vacancy No. 25-COS-HRC0499018-SC Department U.S. Agency for International Development
Salary $82,764.00 to $128,956.00 Grade 11 to 12
Perm/Temp Temporary FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 12/17/2024 Close Date 12/27/2024
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Washington, DC


Summary

These vacancies are in the Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Stabilization, Office of Transition Initiatives (CPS/OTI) at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). These vacancies will fill Program or Operations Specialist openings.

CPS is USAID's technical and analytical lead on peace-building, conflict, violence prevention, and implementation of political transition and stabilization programs in high priority countries and informs related U.S. Government policy.

Duties

  • Contributing to advice and guidance for colleagues on communications, training, and/or budget requirements for international crisis operations.
  • Contributing to analysis of effectiveness of existing policies, programs, and operational processes and systems for international crisis operations in order to make recommendations for improvements.
  • Conducting research and analysis of industry best practices to provide input, develop strategies, and propose solutions for international crisis operations programs, policies, and procedures.
  • Developing and maintaining positive working relationships with stakeholders in the international crisis operations community, confers with agency partners and other governmental agency representatives.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • United States Citizenship is required.
  • Relevant experience (see Qualifications below).
  • Must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret Security clearance.
  • Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered with the Selective Service.
  • You may be required to serve a two-year probationary period if selected.
  • Direct Deposit/Electronic Funds Transfer is required

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

1. Degree: or a combination of courses totaling 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 12 semester hours in one of the above disciplines and 12 semester hours in statistics/quantitative methods

OR

2. Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major, or a combination of related courses totaling at least 24 semester hours, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

OR

3. Experience: four 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.

Specialized Experience:

GS-11: You need at least one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-9 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience refers to full-time work, while part-time roles are considered on a prorated basis. Qualifying specialized experience includes:
  1. (a) Assisting in implementation of programming and/or operations with a focus on communications, training and/or budget management.
  2. (b) Assessing the effectiveness of processes and suggesting improvements to implement comprehensive strategies;
  3. (c) Collaborating with colleagues and stakeholders to understand and communicate organizational, project and/or team goals.

OR

Education: Ph.D or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: [insert applicable field(s) of study].

OR

Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the second year (total graduate semester hours minus 36) by 18. Add the two percentages.


GS-12: You need at least one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-11 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience refers to full-time work, while part-time roles are considered on a prorated basis. Qualifying specialized experience includes:
  1. (a) Leveraging experience to conduct research and provide technical guidance related to international assistance programs and/or operations;
  2. (b) Evaluating the impact of processes and suggesting improvements to implement comprehensive strategies in support of crisis programs or operations in a variety of settings;
  3. (c) Coordinating with internal and external stakeholders to support international crisis operations(a) Assisting in implementation of programming and/or operations with a focus on communications, training and/or budget management.

Please note that qualifying specialized work experience may have been gained through a variety of activities, including residence, study, teaching, business or commercial activities, military service, newspaper work, military or civil government activities, missionary or international relief work, or other foreign work experience. Make sure to document your experience thoroughly in your resume.

Experience includes both paid and unpaid activities, such as volunteer work through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional, philanthropic, religious, spiritual, community, student, social). Volunteer work provides training and experience that can translate directly to paid employment. Qualifying experience, including volunteer experience, that aligns with the duties of this position will be considered.

Education

Review the Basic Requirements of this vacancy announcement for education requirements. Unofficial transcripts are required at the point of submission since these positions do have a minimum education requirement.

If you have received your education at a foreign college or university, you may use it to meet the education requirements as long as you can demonstrate that the foreign education is similar to that you would have received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. You must provide such evidence with your application. Find a list of accredited organizations recognized for interpreting foreign education credentials at www.naces.org/members.php.

Additional information

USAID is an independent agency that provides foreign policy guidance to the Secretary of State. With headquarters in the District of Columbia, we operate in more than 100 countries worldwide to help support and promote U.S. foreign policy interests. USAID's mission is to help vulnerable populations worldwide by providing aid when crises occur, rights are repressed, and hunger, disease, and poverty limit opportunities. We maintain a commitment to providing a safe and respectful workplace, free from sexual misconduct, harassment, exploitation, and abuse. For more information about USAID, you can visit our website at http://www.usaid.gov. If you want to know more about human trafficking or ways to address it, visit http://www.state.gov/g/tip.

Electronic fund transfer is required for selected candidates. We do not cover moving or relocation expenses.

Equal Employment Opportunity: USAID is an equal opportunity employer, providing reasonable accommodations for applicants or employees with disabilities. For help with reasonable accommodations, please contact the Reasonable Accommodation Division in the Office of Civil Rights at reasonableaccommodations@usaid.gov.

Telework is allowed, see https://www.telework.gov/ for more information.

Selective Service Registration may be required, visit http://www.sss.gov/ to learn more.

Benefits

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

The two-phase assessment process of your application starts with determining whether or not you possess the necessary qualifications, followed by determining if you rate amongst our most qualified applicants. We must emphasize including related experience in the first five pages of your resume; while longer resumes will not be removed from consideration, they will not be given any preferential treatment either. The Subject Matter Expert (SME) reviews this section alone when making their decision regarding an applicant's level of competitiveness.

In the first phase, an SME will review your application against the specialized experience statement for the grade level(s) for which you choose to apply. Only applicants who clearly document experience equivalent to the specialized experience requirements in their resume will move to the second phase. Please note that applicants who copy and paste the specialized experience statements in their resume will be removed from further consideration.

In the second phase, our SME will assess your application against the following competencies to find out which of our three categories (Gold, Silver, or Bronze) you fall into. If considered a Gold category candidate, then you will be referred to an interview panel for further consideration. The competencies are:

  • Technical Competence
  • Planning and Evaluating
  • Problem Solving
  • Strategic Thinking
  • Partnering

In accordance with OPM regulations for professional and scientific occupations, eligible veterans will receive preference over non-veterans within their respective rating category (i.e., Gold, Silver, Bronze).

Please keep in mind that SMEs can only base their evaluations on what is documented in your resume and cannot guess on your level of experience or quality of skillset mentioned. To limit any potential bias during this process, we highly encourage all applicants to carefully review the requirements noted in the announcement prior to submitting applications so they can thoroughly list any related skills or experiences that satisfy the specialized experience requirements as well as competencies listed.

Required Documents

To apply for this position, you need to prepare a complete Application Package including:

  1. Resume: Your resume should detail your name, work schedule, dates of employment (month/year), hours worked per week, and duties performed. Review "What should I include in my federal resume?" for guidance on developing an outstanding federal resume.
  2. Supporting Documents: Your application package must include:
    • Cover Letter (optional)
    • Veterans Preference Documentation (if applicable)
    • Schedule A Eligibility Letter (if you are applying as a Schedule A candidate)

Agencies must obtain prior approval from OPM for current or recent political appointees to be appointed to competitive or non-political excepted service positions at any level under title 5, United States Code. If you have served as a Schedule A, Schedule C, or Non-career SES employee in the executive branch within the last five years, you must disclose it to the Human Resources Office and submit an SF-50 if you are currently or were formerly a political appointee.

To be considered for this position, make sure to submit all required documents when you apply. Missing documents will make your application incomplete and you won't be considered for the job. Please double-check that you've included everything before you hit the submit button, as you won't be able to update your application once you've submitted it.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

How to Apply

To ensure you are successful, follow the below steps to submit your application:

  1. Review the vacancy announcement to ensure that you meet all the necessary qualifications and requirements. Pay close attention to the Major Duties and Requirements sections of the announcement, where you will see the areas upon which an Subject Matter Expert will evaluate your application.
  2. Create or upload your resume on USAJOBS. You can also create and save multiple versions of your resume to apply to different jobs.
  3. Click the "Apply" button on the vacancy announcement to apply online. You'll be redirected to our USAID Applicant Tracking System.
  4. Answer some eligibility questions online. Make sure to read and answer the questions carefully, so you don't miss anything important.
  5. Upload any required supporting documents, such as transcripts, licenses, or certifications, to your application.
  6. Before submitting, double-check that all required fields are completed and all necessary documents are included.

Make sure to submit your application by 11:59 pm (EST) on the closing date of the announcement. If you need help submitting your application or you have an issue, please contact our human resources office at least two business days before the closing date. If we approve your request for an alternative application method, we'll let you know. Please note that we cannot accept alternative requests after the closing date.

Agency contact information

USAID HR Help Desk
Address
Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Stabilization
1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20523
US
Learn more about this agency

Next steps

Thank you for submitting your application for the open positions. After the cutoff dates below, all applications received up to that date will be reviewed. The most highly qualified candidates will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration.

If your application is referred, the hiring manager will review your application and determine whether to invite you for an interview. If you are not selected, your application will remain on file for possible consideration for future vacancies for up to four months.

Note that due to the large volume of applications we receive, only candidates who meet the minimum qualifications and are highly qualified will be contacted. We appreciate your interest in this position and thank you for considering a career with us.


Note: We cannot accept applications on behalf of Federal Agencies. Application instructions are listed within the Job Description.


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