Summary
The John S. McCain Strategic Defense Fellowship Program is a 1-year Department of Defense (DoD) development program for recent advanced degree program graduates from across multiple academic disciplines. This program provides the DoD Components with the ability to recruit and develop future leaders from across the United States. Fellows are provided with challenging developmental opportunities and flourish into problem solvers, strategic thinkers, and future leaders.
This job is open to
Clarification from the agency
This position is open to U.S. Citizens, U.S. Nationals and lawful permanent residents who have completed a graduate degree (or higher) from an accredited institution of higher education in the U.S. no earlier than two (2) years prior to the acceptance into the program; or must earn their graduate degree from an accredited institution of higher education in the U.S. within six (6) months of acceptance into the program. Acceptance into the program is defined as the Fellow's Entry on Duty date.
Duties
KEY INFORMATION FOR APPLICANTS:
Participation in the Fellowship Program is open to U.S. Citizens, U.S. Nationals and lawful permanent residents who have completed a graduate degree (or higher) from an accredited institution of higher education in the U.S. no earlier than two (2) years prior to the acceptance into the program; or must earn their graduate degree from an accredited institution of higher education in the U.S. within six (6) months of acceptance into the program. Acceptance into the program is defined as the Fellow's Entry on Duty (EOD) date. The EOD date for Cohort 5 McCain Fellows is projected to be between October and December 2024. The Fellow's EOD date is contingent upon their successful completion of all pre-employment and onboarding requirements.
The McCain Fellowship Program is designed to acquire high performing and talented individuals with advanced degrees located throughout the United States who will gain experience and develop their leadership capabilities through challenging opportunities to flourish into problem solvers, strategic thinkers and future leaders.
Assignments during the fellows program are to an excepted service position either in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, an Office of the Secretary of a Military Department, or other Defense Components.
You will represent high caliber graduates and will be expected to possess a personal commitment to excellence, a strong capacity for leadership, exceptional ability evidenced through achievement, and a demonstrated commitment to a public service career.
The positions may be filled at the GS-10 through GS-12 grade level and the occupations to be filled are:
Foreign Affairs Specialist - 0130
Human Resources Specialist - 0201
Management Analyst - 0343
Logistics Management Specialist - 0346
Financial Analyst - 0501
Operations Research Analyst - 1515
Information Technology Specialist - 2210
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
- Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see https://www.sss.gov/Home/Registration)
- May be required to successfully complete a probationary/trial period
- Must be determined suitable for federal employment
- Required to participate in the direct deposit program
- This position is subject to pre-employment and random drug testing
- This position requires you to obtain and maintain a Secret or Top Secret/SCI security clearance.
- You may be required to work other than normal duty hours, which may include evenings, weekends, and/or holidays and/or mandatory overtime.
- This position may require occasional travel away from your normal duty station for official business on military or commercial aircraft.
- Relocation incentive may be authorized in accordance with regulatory requirements.
Qualifications
YOU ARE REQUIRED TO DOCUMENT IN YOUR APPLICATION PACKAGE EVIDENCE THAT SUPPORTS YOUR ELIGIBILITY AND QUALIFICATION CLAIMS.
For qualifications determinations, it is recommended that applicants include their months and hours worked per week for each employment listed on their resume. If a determination is not able to be made about the length of your creditable experience for qualification requirements, you will be removed from consideration.
Read more about what should I include in my federal resume at: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/faq/application/documents/resume/what-to-include/
You may qualify at the GS-12 level, if you fulfill the following qualification requirement:
One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service (experience may have been gained in the private sector) that demonstrates your ability in: 1) researching and analyzing a wide variety of issues and formulating solutions; 2) applying law, policy, regulations, and methodology to respond to ensure compliance; and 3) oral and written communication to develop and deliver briefings and correspondence/reports to higher-level managers.
You may qualify at the GS-11 level, if you fulfill the following qualification requirement:
One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the Federal service (experience may have been gained in the private sector) that demonstrates your ability in: 1) researching and analyzing a wide variety of issues and formulating solutions; and 2) oral and written communication to develop and deliver briefings and correspondence/reports to higher-level managers.
OR
Have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related from an accredited college or university in the U.S.. (Note: You must attach a copy of your transcripts for verification).
OR
I have a combination of specialized experience and education.
You may qualify at the GS-10 level, if you fulfill the following qualification requirement:
One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the Federal service (experience may have been gained in the private sector) that demonstrates your ability in: 1) researching and analyzing a wide variety of issues and formulate solutions.
OR
Have a master's degree or equivalent graduate degree or 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree. Education must have been completed in a college or university in the U.S. (Note: You must attach a copy of your transcripts for verification).
OR
Have some specialized experience but less than one year, and have some graduate education but less than 1 year.
All qualifications and time-in-grade requirements must be met for the grade levels you are applying for by the closing date of this announcement and clearly documented in your resume.
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 directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
Education
THIS FELLOWSHIP HAS AN EDUCATION REQUIREMENT. You MUST have a graduate degree (or higher) from an accredited institution of higher education in the United States, in any field of study, that was earned no earlier than two (2) years prior to the acceptance into the program; OR will have earned a graduate degree from an accredited institution of higher education in the United States, in any field of study, within six (6) months of acceptance into the program. Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Acceptance into the program is defined as the Fellow's Entry on Duty (EOD) date. The EOD date for Cohort 5 McCain Fellows is projected to be between October and December 2024. The Fellow's EOD date is contingent upon their successful completion of all pre-employment and onboarding requirements.
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.
Your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) will be used to determine your eligibility, qualifications, and quality ranking for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.
Your responses to the questionnaire may be compared to the documents you submit. The documents you submit must support your responses to the online questionnaire. If your application contradicts or does not support your questionnaire responses, you will receive a rating of "not qualified" or "insufficient information" and you will not receive further consideration for this job.
Applicants who disqualify themselves will not be evaluated further.
Required Documents
YOU ARE REQUIRED TO DOCUMENT IN YOUR APPLICATION PACKAGE EVIDENCE THAT SUPPORTS YOUR ELIGIBILITY AND QUALIFICATION CLAIMS. You MUST upload the applicable documents with your application package. If you fail to provide these documents, you will be marked as having an incomplete application package and you will not be considered any further.
List of required documents:
- Complete Resume.
- Two letters of recommendation from previous employers, professors, coaches, internship supervisors, volunteer activity leads or work colleagues addressing work ethic, academic ability and any extra-curricular activities.
- An endorsement letter or recommendation letter from the applicant's graduate institution (i.e., academic advisor, career counselor, guidance counselor, university dean or professor) addressing the applicant's academic history and overall character (i.e., no record of honor investigations, plagiarism, accusations, suspension, misconduct, etc.)
- Unofficial transcripts of educational achievement at the undergraduate level and graduate level. To be eligible, applicants must have either completed their graduate degree at the time of acceptance into the program; OR, applicants who will complete their graduate degree within six months after acceptance into the program. If selected, applicants must arrange to have their official conferred undergraduate and graduate transcripts sent to the Program Office.
- Provide an academic writing sample (i.e., published articles, dissertation, thesis, etc.)
- Provide compelling narratives to one or more of the following prompts:
- Career goals. Describe your career goals and areas of interest and how the McCain Fellows Program will help you achieve those goals.
- Accomplishments. Describe and provide examples/evidence of any learning, professional, leadership and work accomplishments.
- Benefits for Department of Defense. Describe how your selection benefits the DoD and your motivation for service in the Department.
- Essay: Describe what you want to accomplish and achieve during the fellowship.
- Most recent SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action" showing you are/were in the competitive service and the highest grade held (if applying as a status candidate with current or former Federal Service).
Your application must include all required supporting documents at the time of application to be considered complete.
How to Apply
To apply for this position, you must complete the online application and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below.
A complete application package must be received by 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) on the closing date of this announcement (July 1st, 2024) to receive consideration.
- To begin, click Apply to access the online application. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account to apply. If you do not have a USAJOBS account, you will need to create one before beginning the application.
- Follow the prompts to select your resume and/or other supporting documents to be included with your application package. You will have the opportunity to upload additional documents to include in your application before it is submitted. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
- After acknowledging you have reviewed your application package, complete the Include Personal Information section as you deem appropriate and click to continue with the application process.
- You will be taken to the online application which you must complete in order to apply for the position. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation is included with your application package, and submit the application.
To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account ( https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login) all of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/.
You are encouraged to apply online. Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application.
Do not email or send hard copy resumes/applications to the Contact Information or Agency Information listed in this vacancy announcement. All resumes/applications received at the addresses listed in the Contact Information or Agency Information will be destroyed and will not be considered for this vacancy announcement.
It is the applicant's responsibility to verify that all information in their resume and documents are legible and accurate. HR will not modify answers/documents submitted by an applicant.
Washington Headquarters Services provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. Your requests for reasonable accommodation will be addressed on a case-by-case basis. Please visit the following link for more information http://http://www.esd.whs.mil/Directives/issuances/admin_inst/
Failure to submit a complete application package will result in an ineligible rating and loss of consideration.
A tentative offer of employment will be rescinded if the selectee fails to meet the pre-employment requirements, including failure to report to any of the scheduled appointments.
Next steps
Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. Your application will be evaluated by the Human Resources Office to determine your eligibility for the position. After the evaluation is complete, you will receive another notification regarding the status of your application.
Stay informed of changes to your application status by signing up for automatic email alerts at: https://www.usajobs.gov/Applicant/Application/ListApplications?
Washington Headquarters Services is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.
Washington Headquarters Services uses E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit: http://www.dhs.gov/E-Verify
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