Foreign Affairs Officer

Department of State (Agency Wide)

$90K — $120K *
Education, Government & Non-Profit
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's or graduate degree in international law, relations, political science, or related field.
  • 12 semester hours in international law combined with statistics or relevant coursework equivalency.
  • 4 years of experience in international organizations or foreign affairs-related positions.
  • Specialized experience equivalent to GS-13 level in policy analysis, negotiation, and collaboration.
  • Experience briefing senior officials and developing policies affecting U.S. national interests.

Responsibilities

  • Serve as the senior action officer on foreign missions operations in the U.S.
  • Develop policies for reciprocal treatment of U.S. government employees abroad.
  • Ensure fair diplomatic relations with foreign governments while safeguarding U.S. interests.
  • Advise on Department policies impacting foreign missions and their operations.
  • Represent the Office of Foreign Missions in various meetings and negotiations.

Benefits

  • Opportunities for situational telework with supervisory approval.
  • Potential for multiple hires from this announcement.
  • Access to the Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP & ICTAP) for eligible candidates.
  • Support for reasonable accommodations during the assessment process.
  • Review of comprehensive federal employment benefits including health, retirement, and flexible work arrangements.
Full Job Description
Summary

This position is in the Department of State's Office of Foreign Missions, Policy and Reciprocity Office (OFM/PR). The incumbent is a senior Foreign Affairs Officer providing authoritative advice and guidance to senior policy-making officials in the Bureau and the Department on a range of matters affecting national security and foreign policy objectives that impact foreign missions, domestic and abroad.

Duties

Help

  • Serves as the senior action officer on a broad range of subjects related to the operation of foreign missions in the United States.
  • Develops policies relative to the 2,600 foreign missions in the U.S. to ensure that there is reciprocal treatment of USG employees serving overseas and to advance national interests.
  • Ensures fair, reciprocal treatment between the United States and foreign governments regarding diplomatic missions while safeguarding U.S. interests.
  • Serves as an expert advisor regarding Department policies and procedures impacting a variety of foreign missions lead by OFM, exercises judgment to interpret and introduce changes in program
    requirements and procedures as needed.
  • Represents OFM at Department, interagency, public, or international meetings and interacts with other agency staff and other Federal agencies.


Requirements

Help

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 bachelor's 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 bachelor's 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-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 analyzing, assessing, and developing policies related to laws, regulations, and bilateral agreements to advance U.S. national interests.
  • Experience briefing senior government officials, negotiating, and justifying Department positions on issues of reciprocity.
  • Experience collaborating with U.S. government agencies, foreign governments, and international organizations to advance U.S. foreign policy objectives.


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.

Education

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

Additional information

  • To request a reasonable accommodation for additional time on the timed sections of the assessment, please submit your request using the "Request a Reasonable Accommodation" button within the Assessment Application.

    For all other reasonable accommodations at the U.S. Department of State, please contact the Office of Accessibility and Accommodations (OAA) at [email protected].

    OAA is responsible for reviewing and adjudicating reasonable accommodation (RA) requests for the Assessment Battery being used for this announcement. The following applies to all RA requests:

    • RA requests cover additional time on timed sections only.


    • Applicants submitting a RA request MUST attach supporting medical documentation signed by a licensed, treating medical provider. The documentation should describe the nature, severity, and expected duration of the condition, identify the relevant medical condition or diagnosis, and explain the basis for the requested extension. RA requests that do not contain supporting medical documentation attachments at the time of initial request may be subject to further review.


    • Note: the following documents do not, on their own, qualify for automatic approval of the RA request: Schedule A letters, VA benefits letters, or SSA letters.


    • Applicants MUST submit their application before the vacancy closes, even if pending an accommodation decision.


    • 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 is adjudicated to complete the assessment battery. Scores generated after the allotted timeframe will not be admissible and the applicant will not be considered further for the vacancy.


  • 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 other Bureaus/Offices in the Department 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 OPM's CTAP & ICTAP eligibility website 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 consideration. To be considered Well-Qualified applicants must: score an 85 or above, meet Minimum Qualifications, and demonstrate proficiency in some, but not all major aspects of the position.


Expand Hide additional information

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.

Benefits

Help

Review our benefits

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at Department of State (Agency Wide)

  • Foreign Affairs Officer
    $90K — $120K *
    Washington, DC 20011 (District Of Columbia County)
    Education, Government & Non-Profit
    In-Person
  • DEPUTY SPECIAL ENVOY
    $120K — $150K *
    Washington, DC 20011 (District Of Columbia County)
    Education, Government & Non-Profit
    In-Person
  • Lead Visa Specialist
    $75K — $95K *
    Washington, DC 20011 (District Of Columbia County)
    Education, Government & Non-Profit
    In-Person
  • PROGRAM MANAGER
    $90K — $120K *
    Charleston, SC 29412 (Charleston County)
    Education, Government & Non-Profit
    In-Person
  • Foreign Affairs Officer
    $80K — $120K *
    Washington, DC 20011 (District Of Columbia County)
    Education, Government & Non-Profit
    In-Person

More Education, Government & Non-Profit Jobs

Find similar Foreign Affairs Officer jobs: