DIRECTOR OF ENGAGEMENT Job in Fort McNair, DC

Vacancy No. DSCA-25-12608470-EN Department Defense Security Cooperation Agency
Salary $140,288.00 to $155,860.00 Grade 4 to 4
Perm/Temp Temporary FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 11/15/2024 Close Date 12/6/2024
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Fort McNair, DC


Summary

The Africa Center is the pre-eminent Department of Defense institution for strategic security studies, research, and outreach in Africa. The Africa Center engages African partner states and institutions through rigorous academic and outreach programs that build strategic capacity and foster long-term, collaborative relationships.

This is a Title 10 Excepted Service Appointment. Appointment is not to exceed 3 years with the possibility for extension.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

All U.S. Citizens.

Duties

The Director of Engagement leads the five-person Community and Alumni Affairs (CAA) Section. The Community and Alumni Affairs section conducts participant recruitment and registration, manages alumni relations, manages the alumni database, prepares and compiles course evaluations, and conducts key stakeholder outreach for the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. He/She works closely with the ACSS alumni to create and catalyze alumni chapters and communities of interest as dynamic vehicles for ongoing professional education, peer-to-peer engagements, and security sector governance norms reinforcement. He/She serves as a member of the Leadership Team of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies and as such represents and interfaces with members of the diplomatic community, colleagues and students at the National Defense University, and other key stakeholders in the U.S. Government and elsewhere.

  • The incumbent supervises the CAA team to recruit and manage participants for all academic and outreach programs, maintain participant and alumni databases, sustain alumni relationships, support alumni community chapters, and build networks with US Embassies and US government stakeholders necessary to manage the Africa Center's participant affairs. Develops internal operating procedures, checklists, milestones, and metrics for the CAA section to effectively plan and coordinate across Africa Center sections to execute program requirements. Works closely with faculty to develop recruiting strategies and profiles to promote diverse, engaged participants who are, or will be, leaders in African security sector institutions. Oversees the development and implementation of alumni and outreach programs. Manages the CAA section to accomplish all assigned tasks in support of the Africa Center's mission and vision.
  • He/She develops and executes engagement strategies to interact (both virtually and in person) with alumni, partners, and stakeholders. This includes designing and executing events and engagements for alumni and key stakeholder audiences such as the African diplomatic community in Washington, D.C., U.S. government interagency and congressional colleagues working on Africa, and the National Defense University community. He/She will leverage the ACSS alumni network to create and enhance alumni chapters and communities of interest to be force multipliers in strengthening security sector institutions on the continent.
  • He/She provides guidance and direction for conducting program evaluations to include the evaluation content and questions, compilation of responses, and analysis of responses. He/she contributes to strategic planning and assessing ACSS mission impact through timely analysis and reports on enrollment, participation trends, and changes in stakeholder interests and priorities. Proposes and develops innovative approaches and tools to enhance engagement, recruitment of participants, and sustainment of relationships.
  • He/She is a member of the Leadership Team for the Africa Center. He/she represents the Africa Center at external events as requested by the Director. He/She may moderate sessions and serve as a subject matter expert speaker or panelist during Africa Center programs, and may serve as a facilitator for small group discussions.
  • Performs other duties as assigned.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen
  • Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered or be exempt from Selective Service (see http://www.ssa.gov/)
  • Direct Deposit: All federal employees are required to have direct deposit
  • The position is governed by 10 USC 1595 and NDUI 1416.0l dated March 2017.
  • Must be able and willing to travel both domestically and internationally. Travel is seldom required. 20-30% of the time.
  • The incumbent must be able to successfully obtain and maintain a Secret clearance.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, you must:
  • Possesses an earned Master's degree in International Relations, Public Policy, African Studies or a related field.
  • Experience as a leader and supervisor with at least 10 years experience managing a team of at least 5 or more subordinates.
  • Supervisory experience administering and conducting performance counseling, career counseling and professional development for team members, and preparing performance appraisals.
  • A minimum of 10 years professional experience working on African political, security, or development issues.
  • Extensive knowledge of U.S.-Africa policy.
  • Experience living and working on the African continent.
  • Possess excellent oral and written communications skills in the English language with a demonstrated ability to express clear, concise concepts and findings.
Preferred qualifications include:
  • Possesses a PhD in International Relations, Public Policy, African Studies or a related field.
  • Established network of professional contacts, especially with African security sector institutions, think tanks, universities, NGOs, strategic centers, diplomatic community.
  • Fluency in French or Portuguese.

Volunteer Experience: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional, philanthropic, religious, spiritual, community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills, and can provide valuable training and experience that translates to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Education

Education Requirement: Must possess an earned Master's degree in International Relations, Public Policy, African Studies, or related field.

Official Transcripts: Official transcripts are not required at the time of application; however, if the position has a positive degree requirement, qualifying based on education alone or in combination with experience, transcripts must be verified PRIOR to appointment, if selected for the role.
* An accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education must accredit education. Click here to check accreditation.

FOREIGN EDUCATION: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the requirements. You must show proof the education credentials have been deemed to be at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. education program. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence PRIOR to appointment.

    • Qualifying education from colleges and universities in foreign countries must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part in foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree. You must provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation upon request. Failure to provide such documentation when requested will result in lost consideration.
    • For more information regarding evaluation of foreign education for federal employment, please visit the U.S. Department of Education.

Additional information

NDU has a comprehensive benefits package that includes retirement, social security, and thrift savings; health, life, and long term care insurance; paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays. NDU employees enjoy flexible work schedules, transit subsidy, and the opportunity to telecommute.

Background or Security Investigation: This is a Non-critical Sensitive position which requires a background investigation. The individual selected for this position is required to obtain and maintain a Secret security determination to occupy a Non-critical Sensitive position within the agency as a condition of employment.

Initial Probationary Period: You will be required to serve an initial probationary period of 18 months.

Supervisory Probationary Period: You will be required to serve an supervisory probationary period of one year if one has not already been completed.

Reemployed Annuitants: Department of Defense has the authority to hire annuitants without reduction in pay. For more information, go to: http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/1400.25-V300.pdf

All applicants are encouraged to apply electronically. If you are unable to apply on-line, you may contact 317-212-4434 for assistance.

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.

To qualify, you must meet the education and experience requirements described in the qualifications and education sections. A screening panel will review your resume and narrative answers to the hiring criteria to evaluate your qualifications for the position. ACSS uses a multi-tier selection process for academic positions.

The following questions will be reviewed by the DSCA - ACSS screening panel. You must upload a cover letter separate from your resume addressing the following hiring criteria:

  1. Describe your experience conducting academic programs and/or executive-level outreach events, and related experience building and cultivating networks of communities of interest and other key stakeholders.
  2. Describe your experience managing a team and your experience developing internal operating procedures, checklists, milestones, and metrics to effectively plan, program, execute and oversee tasks and requirements.
  3. Describe your experience with U.S. - Africa policy, and your experience working and interacting with African policymakers, security sector professionals, scholars, practitioners, civil society actors. and various international, government and non-governmental agencies.
  4. Describe your experiences living and working on the African continent.
  5. Describe your experience acting as academic contributor, moderating and/or participating on panels, delivering guest lectures, and facilitating discussion groups in senior-level forums.
  6. Describe your experience with strategic planning and any experience in developing and implementing an assessment, monitoring and evaluation framework for an organization.
  7. Describe your language ability in Portuguese and/or French.

Required Documents

You must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

  1. Résumé: The latest resume submitted will be used to determine qualifications. All conferred degrees and certifications should be included in your resume for full consideration
  2. Complete Assessment Questionnaire
  3. Cover letter with narrative responses answering hiring criteria questions listed in the "How you will be evaluated" section of this announcement. Failure to submit will result in an ineligible rating.
  4. Other Supporting Documents - Refer to the eligibilities section for documents to submit.
NOTE: Transcripts are not required at time of application submission. Your resume and narrative answers to the hiring criteria will be reviewed by the NDU screening panel to evaluate your qualifications for the position. If selected for an interview, official transcripts will be requested at that time to verify educational requirements are met.

Eligibilities Information: The following supporting documents are REQUIRED to verify your individual eligibility status. Not all will apply for each applicant. They MUST be received by the closing date of the announcement.
  1. SF-50 - (If applicable) Notification of Personnel Action for current or former federal employees- with the exception of current permanent NDU employees, please provide your most recent SF50 or the SF50 reflecting Career/Career-Conditional tenure and the highest grade held on a permanent basis.
  2. If you claim Veteran's Preference:
    - You must submit a copy of your DD Form-214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty", showing the dates of active duty service, type of discharge and the character of service. Alternatively, If you are a current military member in active duty service and do not have a copy of your DD Form-214, you must submit a written documentation (certification) from your branch of service certifying that you are expected to be discharged or released from active duty under honorable conditions no later than 120 days after the date the certification is submitted with your application for this position. The certification should also include your rank, dates of active duty service and what they condition of discharge is thought to be.
    - If claiming 10-point preference and/or are a 30% or more Disabled Veteran, you must submit both a DD Form-214 or expected discharge documentation as described above AND a copy of a letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) or your branch of service certifying the presence of service-connected disability and indicating the percentage of disability
    - If you are claiming eligibility based on 10-point derived veterans' preference (i.e. a spouse, widow/widower, or parent of a veteran claiming veterans' preference when the veteran is unable to use it), you must also submit a Standard Form 15 (SF-15) "Application for 10-Point Veteran's Preference" and any required documents indicated on the SF-15 to substantiate the claimed preference.
  3. Other documents identified in the announcement.
WARNING: Failure to submit a complete application package including any required documentation by the closing date of the announcement at 11:59 EST, or at the time of application for announcements with an extended closing date, may result in an ineligible rating and loss of consideration. To verify that your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account, select Application Status and More Information. The Details page will display the status of your application.

It is the applicant's responsibility to verify that information entered or uploaded is received, legible and accurate. HR will not modify answers submitted by an applicant.

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 apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package. See required documents below.

Click 'Apply Online' to create an account or log in to your existing USAJOBS account.
1. Follow the prompts to complete the assessment questionnaire and upload required documents.
2. Please ensure you click the Submit My Answers button to submit your application.
3. Check application status by logging into your USAJOBS account, clicking Application Status, then More Information for this position. Return to an incomplete application by logging into your USAJOBS account and clicking Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.

Agency contact information

HR Customer Care Center
Address
DSCA - DEFENSE SECURITY COOPERATION AGENCY
Apply Online
Indianapolis, IN 46249
US
Learn more about this agency

Next steps

Once the online questionnaire is received you will receive an acknowledgement email that your submission was successful. The questionnaire will assess your qualifications for the job. ALL eligible applicants will be referred to NDU which will convene a board to review all of the applicants. NDU will contact the applicants directly they would like to interview. We will notify you of the outcome after each of these steps has been completed. After making a tentative job offer, we will conduct a suitability/security background investigation.

You will no longer need to call the HR Office to determine your application status. USAJOBS has added an alert setting to their system to drive status updates notification for applicants. You can elect to activate the proactive notification from your USAJOBS profile at any point during the application process to sign-up for automatic alerts when there are status changes for jobs to which you have applied.


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


© 2006-2024, exclusive of U. S. government job opportunity announcements