Job Description

Summary

The position is in the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs (SPEHA). Supervisory Foreign Affairs Officer (FAO) who serves as the full Deputy to the Special
Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs (Deputy SPEHA) and shares fully with the SPEHA in providing theoverall direction management and policy guidance for all the functions and activities of the Office.

Duties

• Develops policies and provides analysis advice and assistance on a wide range of policy issues primarily dealing with hostage taking and wrongful detention.
• Serves as a technical authority and subject matter expert within the USG on policy issues related to diplomatic efforts to secure the release of Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad.
• Represents S/SPEHA and the Department at National Security Council chaired interagency meetings on the full range of national security hostage and wrongful detention policy issues.
• Directs and oversees the work of a team of full-time federal Foreign and Civil Service professional and administrative employees.
• Gives advice guidance and instruction to employees on both technical and administrative matters.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship is required.
• Incumbent will be subject to random drug testing.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance.
• Obtain/maintain eligibility to access Sensitive Compartmented Information

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all the required qualification requirements described below by the closing date of this announcement. If you are qualifying based on education OR if there are mandatory education requirements listed below you MUST submit a copy of your college transcript with your application.

NOTE: Applicants must meet time-in-grade and time after competitive appointment requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Time-In-Grade Requirements: Federal applicants must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade to satisfy time-in-grade restrictions per 5CFR 300 Subpart F.

Applicants must have the required experience or education as described below and meet any selective factors when specified.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS: Have a bachelors or graduate degree from an accredited college or university in international law international relations political science economics history sociology geography social or cultural anthropology law statistics or in the humanities;

OR Have a bachelors or graduate degree from an accredited college or university that included a combination of courses with 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 Have 12 semester hours in one of the above disciplines and 12 semester hours in statistics / quantitative methods.

OR Have a combination of education and experience where your coursework was equivalent to a major or a combination of related courses totaling at least 24 semester hours (as shown above) PLUS appropriate relevant experience OR additional education.

OR Have completed at least 4 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. (NOTE: qualifying work experience may have been gained through residence study teaching business or commercial activities military service newspaper work military or civil government activities missionary or international relief work or other experience in foreign countries.)

Note: If you are qualifying based on education you MUST submit transcripts as verification of educational requirement by the closing date of this announcement. If you fail to provide requested information or the information you submit is insufficient to verify your eligibility you WILL lose consideration for this position.

IN ADDITION to the basic requirements this position requires one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-14 level in the Federal service which provided the applicant with the particular knowledge skills and abilities to perform the duties of the position.

Qualifying specialized experience must demonstrate the following:

• Experience developing policies and providing analysis advice and recommendations on complex national security hostage affairs and wrongful detention issues.
• Experience advising senior officials and coordinating with the Department of State the National Security Council the Intelligence Community and other U.S. Government agencies to develop and execute diplomatic policy.
• Experience representing an organization in senior-level interagency meetings bilateral consultations multilateral forums and negotiations with foreign governments on sensitive foreign policy issues.
• Experience serving as a technical authority and subject matter expert by evaluating policy options developing strategic recommendations and advancing U.S. foreign policy objectives.
• Experience supervising professional staff managing resources and directing mission-critical programs involving sensitive or classified information.

In addition applicants experience must also demonstrate that the candidate possesses the following qualities:

• Ability to assign review and supervise the work of others;
• Objectivity and fairness in judging people on their ability and situations on the facts and circumstances;
• Ability to adjust to change work pressures or difficult situations without undue stress;
• Willingness to consider new ideas or divergent points of view; and
• Capacity to see the job through.

Education

See the qualifications section of this vacancy announcement for education requirements.

Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. For a list of accredited organizations recognized as specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials visit: information

• To request a reasonable accommodation foradditionaltime on thetimed sections of theassessment pleasesubmityour request using the Request a Reasonable Accommodation button within theAssessment Application.

  Forall otherreasonable accommodationsat the U.S. Department of State please contact the Office of Accessibility and Accommodations(OAA)at .

  OAAis responsible forreviewing andadjudicatingreasonable accommodation(RA)requests for the Assessment Battery being usedfor this following applies to all RA requests:

  • RA requestscoveradditionaltime on timed sections only.

  • Applicantssubmittinga RA request MUST attach supporting medical documentation signed by a licensed treatingmedical provider. The documentation should describe the nature severity and expected duration of the conditionidentifythe relevant medical condition or diagnosis and explain the basis for the requested extension. RA requests that do notcontainsupporting medical documentation attachmentsatthetime ofinitialrequest may be subject to further review.

  • Note:the following documents do not on their own qualify for automatic approval oftheRA request:Schedule A letters VA benefits lettersorSSA letters.

  • Applicants MUSTsubmittheir application before the vacancy closes even if pending anaccommodationdecision.

  • Applicants are encouraged to carefully follow instructions related to medical documentation provided in the vacancy announcement prior to beginning the RA process.

  • Applicants will have 48 hours after their RA request isadjudicatedto complete the assessment generated after the allottedtimeframewill not be admissible and the applicant will not be considered further for the vacancy.

  • If a different type of RA is needed please contact OAA directly at .

• If eligible situational telework agreements may be permitted with supervisory approval.
• Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement. If eligible applicants to this announcement may be referred to other similar positions in this Bureau for up to 240 days and may require a higher or lower security clearance. Telework eligibility and security clearance requirements may vary for such similar positions.
• Agency & Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP & ICTAP):View OPMs CTAP & ICTAP eligibilitywebsite for more information. You must be rated in the Well-Qualified category and submit supporting documents under the required documents section of this announcement to receive selection priority be considered Well-Qualified applicants must: score an85 or above meet Minimum Qualifications and demonstrateproficiencyin some but notall major aspects of the position.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government passionate about the ideals of our American republic and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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