Grade: GS-0343-14
Type of Appointment: Excepted Service (Time Limit) Appointment
Length of Appointment: Up to 5 years
Area of Consideration: All Sources
Opening Date of Announcement: (1 month)
Closing Date of Announcement: 12-06-12
You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position and be able to be security cleared for assignment. This is an excepted service appointment not to exceed 5 years.
The individual selected for this position will be administratively assigned to the Rural Development and Natural Resources Branch (RDNR) of the Development Resources and Disaster Assistance Division (DRDA), Office of Capacity Building and Development (OCBD), Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (FAS/OCBD/DRDA/RDNR). The incumbent will be located in and work directly with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), at their headquarters offices located in Washington, D.C. Job posting can also be found here: http://www.fas.usda.gov/icd/drd/icdjobs.html
This position will be based in USAID’s Water Office within the Economic Growth, Education and Environment Bureau (E3). The incumbent will work closely with other offices within E3, other pillar bureaus, the regional bureaus, and the Missions. E3’s mission is, in part, to stimulate economic growth and trade; promote good governance; address global climate change; and promote sustainable natural resource use, including the protection of biodiversity, land, and water resources.
The incumbent serves as Program Analyst and Budget Specialist for the Water Office and is a member of the office’s Senior Management Team. At the Water Office s/he has a critical leadership role in strategy development, monitoring and evaluation, budgeting of resources, as well as communications and outreach. S/he coordinates Water Office activities and all results monitoring and reporting actions, including the identification and tracking of performance results indicators. S/he coordinates and supports new activity design, procurements, and ongoing implementation actions of the Water Office, including facilitating cross-team collaboration within E3 and with other Bureaus. S/he leads all office work in the analysis and presentation of budget plans and programs. S/he leads drafting of all program-cycle budget documentation including, but not limited to, the annual report, the Bureau program budget submission, the annual operating plan, portfolio reviews, program performance reports, Congressional Notifications and Congressionally mandated reports, and all funding obligations. S/he coordinates all necessary actions for the office related to audits and administrative controls. S/he evaluates policy, instructions, and legislative directives affecting operations and specific budgetary submissions to assure adherence to USAID policy and directives, as found in the Automated Directives System (ADS).
The incumbent Water Office Program Analyst duties will include but are not limited to:
· Providing advice to senior-level USAID officials, including the Water Office Director and other E3 Office Directors as necessary, on program strategy development, implementation, and monitoring;
· Coordinating Water Office input on Country Development Cooperation Strategies (CDCS) being developed by USAID missions;
· Coordinating Water Office completion of the Performance Management Matrix, required data quality assessments, and both current and future evaluation studies.
· Coordinating the annual program performance report preparation, review and approval process for the Water Office;
· Coordinating Water Office work on Bureau portfolio reviews and portfolio database completion;
· Serving as Contract Officer’s Representative (COR) for Water Office contracts and agreements as assigned;
· Coordinating the Water Office Operating Year Budget development for program and operating expense (OE) account resources;
· Managing Water Office preparation of the Bureau Program Budget Submission/Operational Plan;
· Drafting and obtaining clearances for the Water Office’s Congressional Notifications and coordinating the preparation of congressionally mandated reports;
· Coordinating all Water Office funds obligations and accruals, including tracking program spending under the water earmark;
· Coordinating preparation of briefing memoranda and position papers for the E3 Bureau and the Water Office as requested;
· Coordinating cross-office collaboration on Bureau priorities, strategies, and directives;
· Liaising with Water Office partners, including multi-lateral banks, bilateral donors, NGOs, foundations, associations, think tanks, the private sector, and others working in the area;
· Coordinating Water Office work on Mission strategy reviews, E3 Field Support tracking and monitoring, Regional Bureau coordination, staff meeting agenda topics, and intra-office communication.
· Managing internal processes such as records management, conference hosting and attendance approvals, as well as COR/AOR certification;
Basic Qualification Requirements:
Must have 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level in the Federal Service that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled.
Required Qualifications and Skills:
· Extensive experience in the area of development studies or related field, with firm grasp of strategy and program development, and of budget planning and management processes.
· Experience in international development program design, monitoring, and evaluation, and preferably within the water and/or natural resources management sector.
· The ability to deal effectively with a wide diversity of people at technical, senior management, political and other levels of government on a broad range of complex, often conflictive, multidisciplinary issues.
· A strong ability to communicate about natural resources management and environmental technical and policy issues both in writing and orally to both technical experts and development generalists.
· A demonstrated ability to work effectively, both independently and as a member of a team, with a wide variety of individuals, groups, institutions, and technical organizations. S/he must be able to work effectively under pressure to carry out specific, results-orientated tasks given constraints in time, information, and logistical support.
· Knowledge preferred of USDA and USAID legislation, program and administrative procedures, processes and policies.
The position is located in Washington, DC, but will require the ability to conduct occasional travel, including to developing countries, sometimes under strenuous conditions in remote locations.
To Apply: please send a) a current resume and b) a supplemental statement that addresses individually your experience and qualifications in each of the Required Skill Areas listed below to: FAS-SCHB-APPLIC@wdc.usda.gov with the subject: FAS-OCBD-13-007
Attachments should be limited to a total of 5 MB or less, as e-mails with large attachments may be blocked by the USDA e-mail firewall.
NOTE: Applications that do not include a cover letter that directly and individually addresses the required skills will not be considered.
Qualified, interested FAS staff should contact the listed Program Officer to express interest/be considered for a listed “new reimbursable or Schedule B assignments.”
Direct all inquiries to:
Program Officer: Virginia Wolf
Branch: USDA/FAS/OCBD/DRDA/RDNR
Telephone: (202) 690-1941
NOTE: A career status employee that is outside of FAS that accepts this position will be appointed to a Schedule B, Excepted Service time limited appointment. This appointment does not offer re-employment rights back to career status within FAS, as described in CFR, Chapter 352. The employee may seek re-employment rights from their losing agency prior to accepting this Schedule B appointment. Please note that agencies are not required to grant re-employment rights.
