Duties

Summary

The incumbent is the Special Assistant to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Passport Services (DAS) Directorate, Bureau of Consular Affairs, CA/PPT. The incumbent serves in an advisory and facilitative role to help plan and execute the Directorate's mission, vision, goals and objectives.

The Directorate focuses on coordinating policy and operational improvements to enable the U.S. Government (USG) to achieve effective and timely passport issuance, with document integrity assured.

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Responsibilities

• Coordinates with the responsible headquarters and field offices to review and revise management policies and associated guidance to field offices, acceptancefacilities, consular sections at overseas posts issuing passports and contract providers.
• Advises the Managing Directors and DAS of obstacles to achieving timely, successful implementation of approved/announced program services/changes and plans/options to overcome those obstacles.
• Prepares policy and program options; coordinates timely inputs from headquarters and field offices, analyzes them and makes recommendations for major initiatives.
• Develops, coordinates and prepares correspondence, cables, briefing and planning documents, policy papers, and reports that reflect statuses of major issues and initiatives and keep key audiences informed.
• Leads and performs projects and assists with assignments that cut across lines of authority within the Directorate and ensures coordination and follow-up to achieve closure.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - Occasional Travel Required

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
14

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Incumbent will be subject to random drug testing.
• U.S. Citizenship is required.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance.
• One year probationary period, unless excepted by regulation.
• Annual Confidential Financial Disclosure required within first 30 days.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all the required qualification requirements, including education, and any selective placement factors 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 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 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 in performing extensive coordination and policy analysis in support of senior government officials and programs;
• Experience assessing programs and policies for their consistency and efficiency across multiple levels of an organization;
• Experience in the strategic planning and coordination of projects and activities that affect management and operations, and liaising with senior government officials on important issues to discern their interests, goals and intended courses of action; and
• Experience in drafting, editing and clearing remarks, memoranda, policy and planning documents and reports, briefing materials, congressional testimony and outreach materials for senior government officials.

There is no substitute of education for specialized experience for the GS-14 position.

Education

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

Additional information

For reasonable accommodation at the U.S. Department of State, please contact the Office of Accessibility and Accommodations at (202) 663-3474 or ReasonableAccommodations@state.gov .

If eligible, applicants to this announcement may be referred to other positions in other Bureaus/Offices in the Department.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs) and other characteristics that are relevant to the duties of this position and must be fully supported by information in your resume:

• Knowledge of treaties, laws, regulations, policies and procedures concerning the services provided by consular officers to U.S. citizens involved in American citizen services.
• Knowledge of U.S. foreign policy objectives and programs.
• Ability to establish and maintain liaison with officials throughout the foreign affairs community.
• Ability to negotiate complex issues in a variety of settings.
• Ability to work effectively with staff, senior officials, congress, foreign and domestic news media and public.
• Ability to plan, initiate, organize and coordinate activities within and outside the government.

Your resume serves as the basis for qualification determinations and must highlight your most relevant and significant work experience and education (if applicable) as it relates to this job opportunity. 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). Your resume should include the dates of all qualifying experience (from month/year to month/year) and the number of hours worked/volunteered per week. For assistance with creating a resume, please click
here .

Qualified candidates are assigned a score between 70 and 100. Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) candidates must be rated "Well Qualified" for the position and earn a score of at least 85 (when applicants are rated in a range of 70 to 100) to receive consideration for special priority.

If, after reviewing your resume and self-assessment questionnaire responses and a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience, a score will be manually determined that reflects your documented experience. This may result in a lower score, which may also eliminate you from consideration for this position.

Applicants must meet all the qualification requirements and submit any required supporting documentation by the closing date of this job opportunity. Your application package must contain sufficient information to make a valid determination that you fully meet the basic/specialized experience requirements as stated in this job opportunity announcement for each grade level(s) for which you are applying. Applicants found to be among the top qualified candidates will be referred to the hiring official for further consideration and possible interview.

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Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Top Secret

Drug test required
Yes

Position sensitivity and risk
High Risk (HR)

Trust determination process

Required Documents

All required documents listed below, that are applicable to you, must be submitted to our automated system "Gateway to State" by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement.

1. Resume - your resume or any other written format you choose should contain the required information as specified in the "How You Will Be Evaluated" section. Insufficient information will result in an ineligible rating.

2. A completed online job specific self-assessment questionnaire through the Department's automated system "Gateway to State".

3. Transcripts - if applicable, see the Qualifications section of the announcement. If selected, an official/sealed college transcript(s) will be required to verify education prior to employment.

4. If you are qualifying based on other criteria listed under the Qualification Section of this announcement, you must submit the required supporting documentation (certificates, certifications, etc.) with your application by the closing date.

5. Current eligible DOS employees (per 3 FAM 2315) including non-competitive applicants must submit a SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action) that shows the effective date, position title, series, grade, salary, tenure, position occupied, full promotion potential, AND submit a copy of your most recent completed annual performance appraisal that includes the final rating. If a performance appraisal does not exist, is incomplete or unavailable, a Form DS-1812 (Applicant Appraisal) or equivalent form from another agency signed by the current supervisor is acceptable. Mid-year progress reviews will not be accepted.

6. CTAP eligibles must submit a copy of the appropriate documentation with their application. See link below:

CTAP Considerations