Foreign Affairs Specialist Job in Washington, DC

Vacancy No. AWP-AVS-25-BLW1319-93258 Department Federal Aviation Administration
Salary $82,764.00 to $107,590.00 Grade 11 to 11
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 11/18/2024 Close Date 12/9/2024
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Status Candidates
Locations:
Washington, DC


Summary

This position serves as a Foreign Affairs Specialist in the Office of Safety Standards.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

Open to current permanent AVS and AMA-200 employees.

Duties

Serves as point of contact for activities in a geographic region. In this capacity, the incumbent coordinates the activities of individual countries in a region and makes recommendations to the AFS-50 Division Management Team, the Director of Flight Standards (AFS-1), the Executive Director Flight Standards Service (AFX-1), the Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety (AVS-1), the Assistant Administrator for International Aviation (API), and other senior managers on the course of action for technical assistance, international training, bilateral agreements, ICAO initiatives, aviation technologies, and other activities.

Incumbent provides familiarity with the governing policies, procedures, and regulations. The management and/or program functions and studies in which the incumbent provides assistance include, but are not limited to, program planning documentation and reporting.

Incumbent is responsible for assisting in creating a long-term strategic plan for the assigned region, as requested by management. Coordinates the development of an annual technical assistance action plan for the region, whose primary goal is to strengthen the safety oversight organization of the civil aviation authorities. Acts as focal point for monitoring progress on the annual action plan and prepares monthly reports to management. Formulates any required budget requests to ensure completion of the action plan activities.

Incumbent monitors, gathers, extracts, and assembles management and/or program information and data and enters data in proper format ensuring milestones are met. Recommends changes to and/or solutions to identified problems.

Incumbent compiles, cross checks, and consolidates tables, exhibits, schedules, and other management and/or program data and information in preparation of internal and external reports. Assures externally and internally generated actions are assigned and properly logged.

Develops and provides international policy guidance to FAA regional and field office personnel participating in safety oversight activities involving the countries in the region.

Besides having responsibility for a geographic region of the world, the incumbent also acts as principal coordinator for any one of the following functional areas: International training, technical assistance, bilateral agreements, ICAO, aviation technologies, or other areas as assigned. In this capacity, the incumbent is responsible for developing, maintaining, or modifying the established office procedures for the assigned functional area and ensures consistency and standardization within the Division.

Performs other international special projects as assigned by the AFS-50 Management Team.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • US Citizenship is required.
  • Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
  • Must submit an SF50 (See Required Documents).
  • Designated or Random Drug Testing required.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements

Degree: major or equivalent, 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

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 the degree section above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

OR

Experience: four years of appropriate experience in one or more of the fields listed in the degree section above in work associated with international organizations, problems, or other aspects of foreign affairs.

In addition to the above basic requirements, to qualify at the FG-11 level applicants must demonstrate in their application that you possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-9/FG-9/FV-F level. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position.

Specialized experience for the FG-11: experience contributing to draft presentations, briefing papers, issue papers, reports, speeches and other correspondence on a variety of international activities that summarize technical international issues for management review.

In addition to the minimum qualifications, the following has been determined to be a selective placement factor for this position. This means possession of this criterion is part of the minimum qualifications and is essential to perform the duties and responsibilities of this position. Applicants who do not possess this criterion are ineligible for further consideration.

Selective Placement Factor: experience in coordination and implementation of technical issues affecting international aviation. Such as coordinating training, international events, updating technical documents relating to international affairs/events.

Eligible applicants meeting the minimum qualification requirements and selective placement factor(s), if applicable, may be further evaluated on the Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA) listed in the announcement. Based on this evaluation, applicants will be placed in one of the following categories: score order, category grouping, or alphabetical and referred to the selecting official for consideration.

You should include relevant examples of the specialized experience and the selective placement factor in your work history. Errors or omissions may impact your rating or may result in you not being considered.

All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this vacancy announcement.

This position may be filled at the FG-11, FG-12, FG-13 or FG-14 level. Identification of promotion in the vacancy announcement does not constitute a commitment or an obligation on the part of management to promote the employee selected at some future date. Promotion will depend upon the selectee meeting training, qualification requirements, higher level work be available and recommendation by the supervisor.

Education

Applicants who are not currently in or who have not previously served in the 130 occupational series (Foreign Affairs Specialist) in the Federal Government and wish to qualify based on education, must provide a copy of an unofficial or official transcript with their application to receive further consideration for this vacancy.

Schools must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Accreditation may be verified at the following website: www.ed.gov/accreditation.

Foreign education must be evaluated by a private professional organization specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials or an accredited U.S. educational institution in terms of equivalence to a degree acquired at an American college or university. A copy of the evaluation results must be included, otherwise your foreign education will not be considered.

Upon selection, if qualified based on education, you will be required to submit an official transcript prior to appointment. If you do not have an official transcript (original, with the raised seal), you should contact your school immediately to request it.

Foreign Education: For additional information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Preview Job Questionnaire

Make sure your resume includes detailed information to support your qualifications and answers to the job questionnaire.

Additional information

We may use this vacancy to fill other similar vacant positions.
Position may be subject to a background investigation.
A one-year probationary period may be required.

The U.S. Department of Transportation strives to ensure that equity, transparency, accountability, collaboration, and communication permeate all that we do for the betterment of the Department, the traveling public, and our nation. As such, DOT values a highly diverse workforce of persons who promote a culture of belonging by respecting the personal dignity and worth of each individual and fostering a positive environment where all feel safe and welcome. If these commitments coincide with your personal ideals and professional aspirations, please consider joining the DOT family.

This position is covered by the Department of Transportation's Drug and Alcohol Testing Program. Any applicant tentatively selected for this position will be subject to pre-employment or pre-appointment drug screening. Persons occupying a "testing designated position (TDP)" will be subject to random drug and/or alcohol testing.

As a part of the Federal-Wide Hiring Reform Initiative (streamlining the hiring process), the FAA is committed to eliminating the use of Knowledge, Skills and Ability (KSA) narratives from the initial application in the hiring process for all announcements. Therefore, as an applicant, you are NOT required to provide a narrative response in the text box listed below each KSA.

In lieu of providing a KSA narrative response in the text box listed below each KSA section, in your work history, please include information that provides specific examples of how you meet the response level or answer you chose for each KSA. Your work history examples should be specific and clearly reflect the highest level of ability. Your KSA answers will be evaluated further to validate whether the level that you selected is appropriate based on the work history and experience you provided. Your answers may be adjusted by a human resource specialist as appropriate.

Concurrent consideration is being given to all candidates applying under Vacancy Announcements: AWP-AVS-25-BLW1354-93259, AWP-AVS-25-BLW1374-93260 and AWP-AVS-25-BLW1412-93261.

If the Agency decides to interview any qualified employee on the selection list, then all on the list who are qualified must be interviewed.

Links to Important Information: Locality Pay, COLA

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.



IMPORTANT: Applicants may be rated on the extent and quality of experience, education, and training relevant to the duties of the position(s). All answers provided in the on-line process must be substantiated. Ensure that your application package/resume supports your responses.

Required Documents

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If you are an FAA employee, you MUST provide a copy of your SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action) containing information in Blocks 15, 17, 18, 19, 22, and 24 so it can be used to verify your position title, series, grade, tenure, and organization of record by the closing date of the announcement. You may fax your SF-50 or upload it into the on-line application. If faxing the SF-50, please ensure you include the vacancy announcement number on the faxed copy.

If you are an FAA employee, you can access and print your SF-50 from the eOPF system https://eopf.opm.gov/dot/.



Forms:
  • SF-15  : Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference

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

You must apply online to receive consideration. Your application must be submitted by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on the Close Date for it to be accepted. If you are applying for positions associated with FAA registers, your application must be submitted at the time a referral list is created in order to receive consideration for positions associated with a register.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR WORK EXPERIENCE AND/OR EDUCATION, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE OR EDUCATION.

We strongly encourage applicants to utilize the USAJOBS resume builder in the creation of resumes.

Please ensure EACH work history includes ALL of the following information:

  • Job Title (include series and grade if Federal Job)

  • Duties (be specific in describing your duties)

  • Employer's name and address

  • Supervisor name and phone number

  • Start and end dates including month and year (e.g. June 2007 to April 2008)

  • Full-time or part-time status (include hours worked per week)

  • Salary (optional)


Determining length of General or Specialized Experience is dependent on the above information and failure to provide ALL of this information may result in a finding of ineligible.

You may upload completed documents to your USAJOBS Account. This will provide you the opportunity to utilize the uploaded information again when applying for future vacancies. Please see this guide, Document Upload Guide, for more information on uploading and re-using the documents in your applications.

Agency contact information

Louis Walker
Phone
1 (424) 405-7354
Fax
1 (424) 405-7365
Email
Louis.c.walker@faa.gov
Address
Federal Aviation Administration
AWP Regional HR Services Branch
777 S. Aviation Blvd. - Suite 150
AHF-S110
El Segundo, CA 90245
US
Learn more about this agency

Next steps

Once we receive your complete application, the Human Resources Office will conduct an evaluation of your qualifications. Eligible and qualified candidates will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration. You will be contacted directly if selected for an interview.

For instructions on how to check the status of your application, please go to: USAJOBS Help Guide.

Important - If you make any changes to your application, you must resubmit it. If you make changes to your application and do not resubmit it, your changes will not be considered part of your application package, and only your previously submitted application will be evaluated.

All qualified applicants will be considered regardless of political affiliation, race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, age, disability, or other non-merit factors. DOT provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency contact listed in the Agency Contact Information section of this announcement or the hiring manager. An employee with a disability must notify the decision-maker of the accommodation request. Job applicants and employees are required to follow up oral requests in writing. Decisions on granting reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis. Additional information on reasonable accommodations procedures or on EEO Programs is available on Office of Civil Rights (ACR) or by contacting the local FAA Civil Rights Office.


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