Duties

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 located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center , 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC, Bureau for Resilience and Food Security (RFS), Center for Resilience.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

As a Climate Change Specialist, you will:

• Develop and manage projects and activities that accelerate and facilitate missions' and partner countries' efforts and abilities to achieve resilience outcomes, including through climate change adaptation.
  
• Include application of earth observations information and geospatial platforms to support improved decision making.
  
• Oversee work of partners, including reviewing and approving work plans, budgets, reports, and other deliverables submitted by partners.
  
• Communicate Bureau and Agency objectives to implementing partners, ensuring relevance of activities.
  
• Define objectives of activity and metrics for success, analyzes progress and performance, and collaborates with partner to adapt as necessary to improve outcomes.
  
• Present on behalf of the Center and Bureau at local, regional, and international partner meetings, conferences, workshops and other events to advance Agency objectives.
  
• Analyze quantitative and qualitative data, assessing program performance, discerning lessons learned, and making recommendations for improved outcomes.
  
• Develop new ways to resolve problems in meeting established goals, measures, and objectives for program effectiveness. Makes recommendations that often serve as the basis for new or revised programs.
  
• Develop long-range program plans for adaptation to climate change, goals, objectives, and milestones for evaluating and measuring the effectiveness of major agency climate change programs.
  
• Consider factors such as cost-effectiveness, attainment of program goals and objectives, sustainability and compliance with pertinent legal and regulatory guidelines.
  
  

Travel Required

25% or less - Travel may vary depending on the needs of the office but will not exceed 25% of the incumbent's time.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
14 - This position is at full performance level.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• United States Citizenship is required.
• Relevant experience (see Qualifications below).
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a security clearance.
• Time in grade must be met by the closing date of the vacancy announcement.
• Males born after 12/31/1959, must be registered with the Selective Service.
• Most recent SF-50 showing tenure code "1" or "2" (see Required Documents).

Time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date. This means that you must have served at least 52 weeks at the next grade level (or equivalent) below the grade advertised on this vacancy announcement.

Qualifications

Announcement AID-20-0307-CRC is open concurrently with this announcement and has an area of consideration of US Citizens . You must apply separately to be considered under both announcements.

Selective Placement Factor: You must have technical experience facilitating strategic planning to advance climate change adaptation issues in the field of international development.

GS-14: In addition to the Selective Placement Factor, you must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent 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 includes: (1) ability to assess and improve program management processes and systems applied to the emerging and dynamic challenge of development assistance to changing climate; (2) knowledge of the importance of the private sector's role in adaptation to climate change and technology diffusion, especially with respect to climate change project preparation and financing; (3) understanding of the technical aspects of climate change science and impacts, including familiarity with emerging and complementary approaches for the advancement of resilience and adaptation to urban and rural populations.

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 a score of 85 or higher; 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

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 around the world, 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.

This announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

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.

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 .

Reasonable Accommodation Policy: Reasonable Accommodation Policy Statement .

Veterans' Information: Veterans Information .

Telework: https://www.telework.gov/ .

Selective Service Registration: http://www.sss.gov/ .

It is the policy of the Government 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. Information about an individual's employment experience will be used only to determine the person's qualifications and to assess his or her relative level of knowledge, skills, and abilities. Although an individual's personal conduct may be relevant in any employment decision, including conduct 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 itself be the basis of an unfavorable suitability or fitness determination.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

We will review your application package to ensure you meet the job and eligibility requirements, including the education and/or experience required for this position. If you meet the minimum qualifications stated in the vacancy announcement, we will compare your resume, optional cover letter and supporting documentation to your responses on the scored occupational questionnaire (True/False, Yes/ No, Multiple Choice questions) to determine if your answers to the assessment questionnaire are supported in your resume. If your answers to the online assessment questionnaire are not supported in the resume it will affect your eligibility for further consideration. You may be found "not qualified" if you do not possess the minimum competencies required for the position. If your application is incomplete, we will rate you as ineligible. Candidates that are rated as Highly Qualified will be referred to the hiring manager and may be invited for an interview.

The scored occupational questionnaire will evaluate you on the following competencies:

• Vision
  
• Organizational Awareness
  
• Oral Communication
  
• Planning and Evaluating
  
• Manages and Organizes Information
  

To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Secret

Drug test required
Yes

Position sensitivity and risk
Noncritical-Sensitive (NCS)/Moderate Risk

Trust determination process
National security

Required Documents

• Resume - For each job on your resume, provide the exact dates you held each job (from month/year to month/year) and/or number of hours per week you worked (if part time)
• CTAP ; ICTAP Eligibles: Must submit a copy of the appropriate documentation such as a reduction-in-force (RIF) separation notice, a SF-50 reflecting your RIF separation, or a notice of proposed removal for declining a direct reassign or transfer of function to another commuting area.
• Most recent copy of your SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action); your document must reflect grade, step, tenure code "1" (Career) or "2" (Career-Conditional), and type of position occupied.
• If requesting consideration under Veterans Employment Opportunities Act , please provide veterans' documentation (copy of your Certificate of Release or Discharge From Active Duty, DD-214 that shows the dates of your active duty service. If selected, a DD-214 showing your type of discharge (member 4 copy) will be required prior to appointment).
• If seeking eligibility based on any other special hiring authority (e.g. disabled veteran, Schedule A, special hiring programs ).
• Peace Corps letter

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.