Democracy Specialist (Sr. Capacity Strengthening Advisor), GS-0301-14 (All U. S. Citizens)
JOB DETAIL
Summary
You are encouraged to read the entire announcement before you submit your application package. Your application may not receive full consideration if you do not follow the instructions as outlined.
This position is in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC, in the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DRG),at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Duties
- Delivers technical assistance to USAID Missions and other operating units, applying diagnostic tools and approaches to design strategies, projects, and activities to strengthen independent journalism and press freedom in USAID partner countries.
- Coordinates and engages with a broad range of USAID, interagency, executive branch, and external stakeholders on critical and emerging issues and policy related to strengthening independent journalism and press freedom in USAID partner countries.
- Designs and manages international development projects to strengthen press freedom and independent journalism, including those that build evidence to improve programs. Encourages learning and innovation to address intractable and emerging issues.
- Works to improve and increase the knowledge and skills of USAID staff on independent journalism capacity strengthening and promoting an enabling environment for press freedom in USAID partner countries through training, coaching, and other means.
- Generates and disseminates information on current trends and best practices in press freedom and independent journalism capacity strengthening in USAID partner countries. Develops guidance and resources on policy, strategy, and programming.
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 one-year probationary period.
- These are Testing Designated Positions (TDP’s) under the Agency’s approved Drug-Free Workplace Program. All applicants selected for this position will be subject to random drug testing once they begin working for the Agency.
Qualifications
ALL QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS MUST BE MET BY THE CLOSING DATE OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.
Your resume must include detailed information as it relates to the responsibilities and specialized experience for this position. Evidence of copying and pasting directly from the vacancy announcement without clearly documenting supplemental information to describe your experience will result in an ineligible rating. This will prevent you from receiving further consideration.
Specialized Experience:
GS-14: One year of specialized experience is required equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the GS-13 level in the Federal service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. Examples of qualifying specialized experience at the next lower level for this position include: Designing, managing, and evaluating international development programming that aims to: (a) strengthen skills of independent journalists; (b) promote a legal and regulatory enabling environment for press freedom; (c) strengthen the financial viability of independent news organizations; and (d) improve legal, digital, mental health, and/or physical safety and security protections for journalists.
Note: Relevant experience must be documented in the applicant’s resume. Highly qualified applicants who are selected for an interview will also be required to complete a writing test and provide references.
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, relevant to the duties of the position to be filled, including volunteer experience.
CTAP/ICTAP candidates will be referred to the selecting official if they are found well qualified. Well-qualified means an eligible employee who possesses the knowledge, skills, and abilities which clearly exceed the minimum requirements of the position. A well-qualified employee must meet the qualification and eligibility requirements of the position, including any medical qualifications, suitability, and minimum education and experience requirements, meet all selective factors (where applicable); meet quality ranking factors and are assigned to the Silver Category or higher Category; be physically qualified with reasonable accommodation to perform the essential duties of the position; meet any special qualifying U.S. OPM-approved conditions; AND be able to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position upon entry without additional training.
A well-qualified candidate will not necessarily meet the definition of highly or best qualified when evaluated against other candidates who apply for a particular position. In the absence of selective and quality ranking factors, selecting officials will document the job-related reason(s) for qualification determinations.
Education
This position does not have a positive education requirement. Therefore, no transcripts are required.
Additional information
This vacancy may be used to fill multiple vacancies depending on the needs of the Agency.
USAID is an independent Federal Government agency that receives overall foreign policy guidance from the Secretary of State. With headquarters in the District of Columbia, we operate in more than 100 countries worldwide, playing an active and critical role in the promotion of U.S. foreign policy interests. When crisis strikes, when rights are repressed, when hunger, disease, and poverty rob people of opportunity, USAID acts on behalf of the American people to help expand the reach of prosperity and dignity to the world’s most vulnerable people. USAID employees and contractors must commit to maintaining a workplace free of sexual misconduct, including harassment, exploitation, and abuse, and adhere to USAID’s Counter-Trafficking in Persons Code of Conduct. For information on the effort to counter all forms of human trafficking, including the procurement of commercial sex acts and the use of forced labor, visit http://www.state.gov/g/tip. For more information about USAID, visit http://www.usaid.gov.
These are Testing Designated Positions (TDP’s) under the Agency’s approved Drug-Free Work Place Program. All applicants selected for this position will be subject to random drug testing once they begin working for the Agency.
Direct Deposit/Electronic Funds Transfer is required.
Moving and relocation expenses are not authorized.
Mythbuster on Federal Hiring Policies: https://hru.gov/Studio_Recruitment/tools/Mythbuster_on_Federal_Hiring_Policies.pdf.
EEO Policy: EEO Policy Statement.
Veterans’ Information: Veterans Information.
Telework: https://www.telework.gov/.
Selective Service Registration: http://www.sss.gov/.
Reasonable Accommodation Policy:
USAID is committed to equal employment opportunity; therefore, reasonable accommodations are available to applicants and employees with disabilities. If you need an accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the Reasonable Accommodation Division in the Office of Civil Rights at reasonableaccommodations@usaid.gov. Reasonable accommodation decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. To learn more about the Reasonable Accommodation Division, please visit our website at: https://www.usaid.gov/careers/reasonableaccommodations.It is the Government’s policy not to deny employment simply because an individual has been unemployed or has had financial difficulties that have arisen through no fault of the individual. USAID will use information about an individual’s employment experience only to determine their qualifications and assess their relative level of knowledge, skills, and abilities. Although an individual’s conduct may be relevant in any employment decision, including behavior during periods of unemployment or evidence of dishonesty in handling financial matters, financial difficulty that has arisen through no fault of the individual will generally not be the basis of an unfavorable suitability or fitness determination.
