Duties

Summary

USAID is the world's premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. USAID works to help lift lives, build communities, and advance democracy. USAID's work advances U.S. national security and economic prosperity; demonstrates American generosity; and promotes a path to recipient self-reliance and resilience. We operate in five regions of the world: Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe and Eurasia.

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Responsibilities

Serves as a technical leader and expert in strategic planning exercises and the design of programs that maximize environmental benefits to achieve optimal economic and social development.

Translates strategies, analyses, and program concepts into functional statements of work (including budget estimates) for award of contracts, cooperative agreements, grants and inter-agency agreements that deliver environmentally sound technical services to local governments, civil society organizations, and other USAID development partners.

Manages assistance instruments, and contracts to achieve development objectives of the program while providing effective financial oversight and environmental soundness.

Serves as a liaison with host-country government and non-government counterparts, other USAID offices, bilateral and multilateral donors, other USG agencies, NGOs, and the private sector to coordinate and communicate environmental program or project activities in furtherance of USG foreign assistance goals.

Leads or oversees the development of appropriate environmental impact assessments and their monitoring and mitigation plans. Provides expert advice to non-environmental officers and managers in USAID and its partner agencies and organizations who are undertaking and implementing such assessments.

Develops and implements performance monitoring systems and indicators at the strategic, sector, and activity levels for environmental programs.

Negotiates with host country and US government officials, community organizations, universities, NGOs, and other USAID partners on what needs to be done and how best to accomplish it within a limited budget, and within the framework of the US foreign assistance program and the context of American foreign policy.

Conducts assessments and evaluations of programs to determine development impact and return on investment.

Provides reports and communication to Washington to assist the Agency in reporting on annual performance and telling the story of the results of USAID's environmental programs.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - A Foreign Service Officer generally spends the majority of their career assigned to the Agency's overseas missions and works in assigned developing countries with a variety of challenges (civil war, political unrest, lack of modern conveniences).

Supervisory status
Yes

Promotion Potential
SFS - Advancement to Senior Foreign Service on a merit basis is possible for employees who secure tenure and satisfy the requirements of promotion boards.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Must be a U.S. citizen.
• Must have worldwide availability.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a TS security clearance.
• Must be between 18 and 59 years old at time of application.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered with the Selective Service.
• Must meet all requirements of this announcement.

Environmental Management - Knowledge and experience in integrating environmental soundness to economic and social development in developing countries.

Environmental Law, Regulation, & Compliance - Knowledge and application of laws, regulations, statutes, and conventions that control and reduce the impact of human activity on the environment.

Climate Change & Clean Energy - Identifying drivers of and adapting to changes in the climate system and developing solutions for clean and sustainable energy use that reduce climate impact.

Sustainable Water Management - The management of water resources that address current and future needs and take into account political, economic, social, technological, and environmental influences and considerations.

Forestry and Biodiversity - Creating, managing, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals while developing and maintaining healthy and diverse ecosystems.

Sustainable Urban Development - The technical and political knowledge and skills to provide environmental services in urban areas, such as the design, preservation, and control of land and other resources.

Qualifications

Education & Experience:

FS-05, $56,728.00 (with Washington D.C. locality) to $90,342.00: Applicant must have at least one environment graduate degree at either the Master's, Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctorate (Ph.D. or S.J.D.), or Doctor (M.D. or D.V.M.) level, plus at least three (3) years of relevant professional experience that includes a minimum of one (1) year overseas or diverse working environment experience. Both the advanced degree and the experience must be in an environmental functional area directly related to the position.

FS-04, $70,009.00 (with Washington D.C. locality) to $111,493.00: Applicant must have at least one environment graduate degree at the Master's or Juris Doctor (J.D.) level plus at least five (5) years of relevant professional experience that includes a minimum of four (4) years overseas or diverse working environment experience OR at least one environment graduate degree at the Doctorate (Ph.D. or S.J.D.) or Doctor (M.D. or D.V.M.) level plus at least four (4) years of relevant professional experience that includes a minimum of three (3) years overseas or diverse working environment experience. Both the advanced degree and the experience must be in an environmental functional area directly related to the position.

Relevant diverse experience includes: (1) working and living in a foreign country, nation, territory, or tribe or (2) working and living in an economically disadvantaged community in the United States. The experience in (1) and (2) above must have been achieved by the close of the announcement date. The experience must be for a minimum of one year. The applicant will need to demonstrate the diverse experience is relevant to the Environment Officer's duties as stated in this announcement. The applicant should consider stating whether the experience required the learning or using of a foreign language; whether the experience resulted in the applicant encountering new and or different cultures and practices; and whether the applicant coordinated and engaged with external partners and local counterparts or conducted public outreach and communications."

Volunteer experience. 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 completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the education requirements. Transcripts from any and all foreign educational institutions must be accompanied by an official Evaluation of Educational Credentials in order to be considered for the position. It is your responsibility to provide evidence that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States when applying. If you are qualifying based on foreign education, you must submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. Click on the following link for a list of accredited organizations ( https://www.naces.org/members ) recognized as specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials. More information may be found at https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html

Unofficial transcripts must be uploaded as part of the application. Failure to do so will result in the application being eliminated from consideration. If we are unable to determine that you meet the required education, you will be found ineligible for further consideration. If you proceed past the initial application phase, official transcripts must be received by USAID from your university/institution during the final selection process.

Education

Graduate degree at either the Master's, Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctorate (Ph.D. or S.J.D.), or Doctor (M.D. or D.V.M.) in environmental sciences; environmental management; climate change; natural resources management (such as forestry, wildlife, wild lands or parks management, marine fisheries, coastal resources management); clean energy; water resources management; biology or ecology; environmental law and regulation; environmental engineering; environmental medicine or health; wildlife veterinary medicine; environmental economics; or sustainable urban or regional planning. Other technical or general degrees with some environmental course work are not acceptable - the degree must be one of the above listed disciplines or equivalent. The applicant's advanced degree in one of these disciplines must have been awarded prior to the required minimum professional level relevant work experience integrating environment into sustainable economic and social development programs.

Additional information

Applicants who previously applied for this position and were interviewed will not be invited for another interview within a 12 month period from the closing date of the announcement.

SELECTIVE SERVICE. As a condition of employment, all male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must have registered for the selective service. If selected for this position, the applicant must sign a statement certifying his registration, or the applicant must demonstrate exempt status under the Selective Service Law.

Career appointments in the Foreign Service are covered by the Foreign Service Act of 1980, as amended, which requires an applicant to be 18 years old at time of application and which directs mandatory retirement at age 65. Given this mandatory retirement age and the fact that five years must be allowed to achieve tenure in the agency, there is an upper age limit of 59 at time of appointment to the Foreign Service.

Veteran's preference. Qualified veterans will be considered consistent with the requirements of the Foreign Service Act.

These are Testing Designated Positions (TDPs) 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.

Medical Clearance. A medical clearance or waiver for the applicant is required prior to being hired for this position. FS members must be able to serve at any overseas post or receive a waiver. Many facilities are remote, unhealthy, or have limited medical support. Therefore, each applicant must meet medical fitness standards or receive a waiver. Prior to being appointed to the Foreign Service, applicants must have a thorough medical examination and must be able to receive a medical clearance for worldwide availability or a waiver.

Foreign Language Ability. Foreign language ability has no effect on whether or not you are selected for an interview. However, to reach required tenured status, you must be able to achieve minimum proficiency levels in a USAID tenuring languag e. Candidates who demonstrate a predefined level of proficiency will be given the opportunity to test for bonus points that will be added to their final interview score. Testing will be conducted via telephone and/or in person.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

BASIS OF RATING: Qualified applicants receive a score of 70 to 100 before veteran's preference points are applied (if applicable). You will be rated based on your qualifications for this position as evidenced by the education, experience, and training you report relative to this position that show the degree to which you possess the required competencies listed on this vacancy announcement. USAID must be able to conduct reference checks as part of its assessment process. Applicants who do not permit reference checks from previous employers may be disqualified.

IMPORTANT: If you are found to have rated your self assessment higher than the information in your on-line application, supporting documentation narratives, and/or any other relevant part of your application package; including attachments, a score will manually be determined that reflects your documented experience. This may result in a lowered score and may also eliminate you from the best qualified list, or it could result in a raised score that could move you to the next stage for consideration - depending on the analysis of your documented qualifications.
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Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Top Secret

Drug test required
Yes

Required Documents

NOTE: We are aware some applicants are being directed during the application process to submit redundant documents. You are only required to submit the "Vacancy Level" documents: Resume, Transcript, SF-15 (if applicable), DD-214 (if applicable), and Miscellaneous (for any document you'd like to submit that doesn't fall under the category of the first four). The second request for "Registration Level" documents is the result of a technical error and can be ignored.

The following documents will be required for verification of eligibility before employment is offered:

• Proof of United States Citizenship (birth certificate, passport, or other acceptable documentation), these are not required to be submitted as part of the initial application.
• Official copy of college transcript of education used to qualify you for this position. For the initial application, only a copy of unofficial transcript is required.
• If claiming veteran's preference you must provide acceptable documentation of your preference or appointment eligibility. Acceptable documentation may be: a copy of your DD-214, "Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty," which shows dates of service and discharge under honorable conditions; a "certification" that is a written document from the armed forces that certifies the service member is expected to be discharged or released from active duty service in the armed forces under honorable conditions not later than 120 days after the date the certification is signed; OR a Standard Form 15 Application for 10-point Veterans' Preference. If you are claiming 10 point preference, you will need to submit a SF 15. You may obtain a letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs reflecting your level of disability for preference eligibility by visiting a VA Regional Office, contacting a VA call center or online. For more information on veteran's preference and eligibility, visit https://www.fedshirevets.gov/job-seekers/veterans-preference/#content

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.