Position description

The position is located in the Office of Environmental Quality , Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES/ENV). OES/ENV, develops and coordinates U.S. international policy on environmental issues in the areas of air pollution, toxic chemicals and pesticides, mercury, hazardous wastes, and other pollutants.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

• The incumbent serves as the principal action officer for implementing foreign policy and environmental programs, including cooperation in association with select Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) or other OES/EQT issues.
• Identifies and analyzes foreign policy issues including relevant environmental, economic, political, and scientific factors in support of U.S. policy to address objectives related to, environmental quality, and pollution prevention.
• Maintains expert knowledge of air pollution, waste, and marine debris-related environmental policy conventions, as well as USG policies and priorities for environmental quality and their relationship to the Department’s broader foreign policy goals.
• Acts as a liaison with policy-level officials to ensure that the State Department’s views and interests are promoted with respect to current and /or emerging policy issues.
• At the GS-12 level, the incumbent performs essentially the same duties as outlined above; however, the scope and complexity of assignments are of less responsibility and independence and receives closer than normal supervision.

Travel Required

Not required

Supervisory status

No

Promotion Potential

13

Qualifications

Conditions of Employment

• 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.
• Verification of employment eligibility in the United States is required.
• Incumbent will be subject to random drug testing.

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.

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), PLUSappropriate 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.)

Applying for the GS-12

IN ADDITION to the basic requirements, this position requires one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 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 air pollution, waste, and marine debris-related environmental policy conventions, and other relevant multilateral or bilateral agreements and forums to ensure policy decision are implemented.
• Experience developing, drafting, and coordinating a variety of position papers on air pollution, chemicals, waste mining, marine debris, among other environmental and sustainable development issues.

Applying for the GS-13

IN ADDITION to the basic requirements, this position requires one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-12 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 implementing foreign policy and environmental programs, including support in association with select issues such as chemicals, air quality, waste management, marine debris, mining or multilateral environmental financing or institutions.
• Experience identifying and analyzing foreign policy issues including relevant environmental, economic, political, and scientific factors in support of U.S. policy to address objectives related to sustainable development, environmental quality, and pollution prevention.

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, if applicable.

When an applicant has less than one year of specialized experience as described in the announcement, he or she may combine successfully completed graduate-level education with experience to meet the total qualification requirements. Generally, 18 graduate semester hours is equivalent to 1 full-time year of graduate study (your school and department determine what constitutes 1 full time year of graduate study). The percentage of specialized work experience (for example, 6 months equals 50%) and the percentage of graduate study (for example, 9 graduate hours for a GS-07 equals 50% where 18 graduate hours constitute a full time year) must total at least 100%.

Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. Click on the link for a list of accredited organizations recognized as specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials.