Employer: US Agency for International Development
HOW TO APPLY:
For full information about this position, as well as instructions on how to apply, please visit www.OTIjobs.net.
Location:Washington, D.C. (Mutliple Positions)
Closing date: 25 Apr 2016
Duties & Responsibilities:
The work of the OTI/FFP Security Specialist requires teamwork, the exercise of discretion, judgment, and personal responsibility. As a member of a highly operational office, the incumbent is willing and able to perform a wide range of administrative functions to help ensure programmatic success. The incumbent has a high level of integrity and attention to detail to ensure the use of OTI systems and procedures to maintain effective and efficient management of funds, programming, and monitoring and evaluation. The incumbent is highly flexible and willing to work under conditions of ongoing change, and remains professional and respectful of colleagues and authority in a diverse workforce. She or he places a premium on the building of positive relationships with his or her respective team both in the field and in Washington, and with key stakeholders both in and outside of USAID. The incumbent is able to prioritize and complete tasks without follow-up by the supervisor, while also filling in gaps as needed to ensure the responsiveness of the team. The Security Specialist is a strategic thinker, articulates innovative ideas, presents solutions, and is a positive role model for colleagues both in and outside of FFP and OTI.
FFP and OTI require the services of a Security Specialist in order to meet the FFP objective of providing lifesaving humanitarian assistance and the OTI objective of providing rapid political crisis or transition response by providing the tools and expertise to adequately staff the Offices with program funded employees who are able to respond and deploy in the event of a disaster or crisis.
Under the direct supervision of the Chief of the Adjudications Branch of the Office of Security or his/her designee, the OTI/FFP Security Specialist will perform the following duties:
At the GS-13 Level:
Note: Duties and responsibilities are listed in order of importance for this position
As a liaison between OTI, FFP and SEC, maintain regular communication with OTI and FFP and serve as the primary point of contact for security clearances, revalidations and security clearance upgrades for OTI and FFP program funded staff;
Serve as OTI and FFP’s primary contact for troubleshooting security related matters with SEC, such as badging, access, clearance transfers and other issues as they arise;
Troubleshoot with OTI, FFP and SEC, working to ensure the expedient processing of security clearances to ensure that OTI and FFP are rapidly staffed and able to respond and deploy their program funded employees in the event of a disaster or humanitarian crisis. Exercising independent judgment, work with OTI and FFP to determine areas of priority, and work to ensure security actions get processed expeditiously;
Review and evaluate reports of investigation and other records to determine whether to grant, deny, revoke, or suspend security clearances consistent with National Security Adjudicative Guidelines;
Identify the need for, and recommend Special Investigations for complex and extremely sensitive and critical national security issues requiring issue resolution to facilitate a clearance determination;
Compose correspondence, and prepare written reports highlighting potential security concerns and the related resolution; Provide status reports as required for OTI and FFP administrative support teams;
Plan, organize, and carry out work with diverse and competing priorities; monitor and report on the status of in-progress assignments, and adhere to supervisory guidance on work priorities; ensure all deadlines, and quality standards are met and use initiative and resourcefulness to develop new methods;
Prepare analytical summaries with corresponding recommendations for related course of action; and provide a clear basis for the course of action when potentially disqualifying information is identified and adverse actions are recommended;
Participate in recurring meetings with OTI and FFP to discuss areas of concentration for SEC, and coordinate all outstanding issues of concern in a timely manner. Identify trends and propose solutions to resolve processing or communication challenges, and escalate to management as appropriate;
Clarify OTI and FFP action requests for SEC to ensure appropriateness, and manage processing timeliness expectations by facilitating in-progress investigations;
Provide guidance and appropriately apply related executive orders, Agency Directives, and other internal procedure, requirements, regulations and policies related to personnel security, and maintain credibility with others on technical issues;
Specify goals and obstacles to achieving those goals, generate alternatives, consider risks, and evaluate and choose the best alternative in order to make a determination, draw conclusions or solve a problem. Identify and analyze problems; use sound reasoning to arrive at conclusions; find alternative solutions to complex problems; distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information to make logical judgments;
If required by OTI or FFP, attend OTI and FFP trainings to better understand staffing needs of the office and how this translates into security requirements; engage in appropriate training either as a participant and/or trainer;
Conduct brown bags and other informational sessions to educate OTI and FFP staff on changes in security policy or other relevant subject matter;
Update a shared OTI and FFP spreadsheet tracking current and expected OTI and FFP personnel. Provides routine updates on cases received by SEC, and the related status (as much information is allowed by SEC);
When appropriate, assist with streamlining OTI and FFP candidate background investigations by obtaining any additional information on behalf of SEC directly;
Resend any Interim and Final clearance notifications to AMS and/or selecting officials if not notified;
Notify the responsible SEC branch for OTI and FFP candidates that need or will be in need of a periodic re-investigation;
Knowledgeable of the divisions within SEC in order to provide OTI and FFP appropriate points of contact to facilitate their requests; also knowledgeable of SEC’s policies and procedures to advise OTI and FFP and avoid unnecessary request rejections or processing delays;
Under the direction of the supervisor, may be requested to perform additional tasks or special projects related to this scope of work.
Minimum Qualifications
(Determines basic eligibility for the position. Applicants who do not meet all of the education and experience factors are considered NOT qualified for the position. See detailed instructions for demonstrating Education/Experience under "Applying")
At a minimum, the applicant must have:
At the GS-13 Security Specialist level:
A High School diploma with significant work experience in a specialized field and a minimum of nine (9) years of progressively responsible experience working for a large US international assistance organization;
OR
A Bachelor’s Degree Bachelor’s degree with significant study in or pertinent to the specialized field and a minimum of least seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience working for a large US international assistance organization;
AND
At least three (3) years of experience working on personnel security;
At least two (2) years of experience supporting operations for a large international assistance organization.
SELECTION FACTORS:
(Determines basic eligibility for the position. Applicants who do not meet all of the selection factors are considered NOT qualified for the position.)
Applicant is a U.S. Citizen;
Complete resume submitted. See cover page for resume requirements. Experience that cannot be quantified will not be counted towards meeting the solicitation requirements;
Supplemental document specifically addressing how the candidate meets each of the Evaluation Factors submitted;
Ability to obtain a SECRET level security clearance (NOTE: Dual citizens may be asked to renounce second-country citizenship);
Satisfactory verification of academic credentials.
A USAID Secret level security clearance is required prior to issuance of the contract for this position.
Please direct questions about this position or the application process to the OTI Recruitment Team at: otijobs@usaid.gov.
Closing date: 25 Apr 2016
Duties & Responsibilities:
The work of the OTI/FFP Security Specialist requires teamwork, the exercise of discretion, judgment, and personal responsibility. As a member of a highly operational office, the incumbent is willing and able to perform a wide range of administrative functions to help ensure programmatic success. The incumbent has a high level of integrity and attention to detail to ensure the use of OTI systems and procedures to maintain effective and efficient management of funds, programming, and monitoring and evaluation. The incumbent is highly flexible and willing to work under conditions of ongoing change, and remains professional and respectful of colleagues and authority in a diverse workforce. She or he places a premium on the building of positive relationships with his or her respective team both in the field and in Washington, and with key stakeholders both in and outside of USAID. The incumbent is able to prioritize and complete tasks without follow-up by the supervisor, while also filling in gaps as needed to ensure the responsiveness of the team. The Security Specialist is a strategic thinker, articulates innovative ideas, presents solutions, and is a positive role model for colleagues both in and outside of FFP and OTI.
FFP and OTI require the services of a Security Specialist in order to meet the FFP objective of providing lifesaving humanitarian assistance and the OTI objective of providing rapid political crisis or transition response by providing the tools and expertise to adequately staff the Offices with program funded employees who are able to respond and deploy in the event of a disaster or crisis.
Under the direct supervision of the Chief of the Adjudications Branch of the Office of Security or his/her designee, the OTI/FFP Security Specialist will perform the following duties:
At the GS-13 Level:
Note: Duties and responsibilities are listed in order of importance for this position
As a liaison between OTI, FFP and SEC, maintain regular communication with OTI and FFP and serve as the primary point of contact for security clearances, revalidations and security clearance upgrades for OTI and FFP program funded staff;
Serve as OTI and FFP’s primary contact for troubleshooting security related matters with SEC, such as badging, access, clearance transfers and other issues as they arise;
Troubleshoot with OTI, FFP and SEC, working to ensure the expedient processing of security clearances to ensure that OTI and FFP are rapidly staffed and able to respond and deploy their program funded employees in the event of a disaster or humanitarian crisis. Exercising independent judgment, work with OTI and FFP to determine areas of priority, and work to ensure security actions get processed expeditiously;
Review and evaluate reports of investigation and other records to determine whether to grant, deny, revoke, or suspend security clearances consistent with National Security Adjudicative Guidelines;
Identify the need for, and recommend Special Investigations for complex and extremely sensitive and critical national security issues requiring issue resolution to facilitate a clearance determination;
Compose correspondence, and prepare written reports highlighting potential security concerns and the related resolution; Provide status reports as required for OTI and FFP administrative support teams;
Plan, organize, and carry out work with diverse and competing priorities; monitor and report on the status of in-progress assignments, and adhere to supervisory guidance on work priorities; ensure all deadlines, and quality standards are met and use initiative and resourcefulness to develop new methods;
Prepare analytical summaries with corresponding recommendations for related course of action; and provide a clear basis for the course of action when potentially disqualifying information is identified and adverse actions are recommended;
Participate in recurring meetings with OTI and FFP to discuss areas of concentration for SEC, and coordinate all outstanding issues of concern in a timely manner. Identify trends and propose solutions to resolve processing or communication challenges, and escalate to management as appropriate;
Clarify OTI and FFP action requests for SEC to ensure appropriateness, and manage processing timeliness expectations by facilitating in-progress investigations;
Provide guidance and appropriately apply related executive orders, Agency Directives, and other internal procedure, requirements, regulations and policies related to personnel security, and maintain credibility with others on technical issues;
Specify goals and obstacles to achieving those goals, generate alternatives, consider risks, and evaluate and choose the best alternative in order to make a determination, draw conclusions or solve a problem. Identify and analyze problems; use sound reasoning to arrive at conclusions; find alternative solutions to complex problems; distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information to make logical judgments;
If required by OTI or FFP, attend OTI and FFP trainings to better understand staffing needs of the office and how this translates into security requirements; engage in appropriate training either as a participant and/or trainer;
Conduct brown bags and other informational sessions to educate OTI and FFP staff on changes in security policy or other relevant subject matter;
Update a shared OTI and FFP spreadsheet tracking current and expected OTI and FFP personnel. Provides routine updates on cases received by SEC, and the related status (as much information is allowed by SEC);
When appropriate, assist with streamlining OTI and FFP candidate background investigations by obtaining any additional information on behalf of SEC directly;
Resend any Interim and Final clearance notifications to AMS and/or selecting officials if not notified;
Notify the responsible SEC branch for OTI and FFP candidates that need or will be in need of a periodic re-investigation;
Knowledgeable of the divisions within SEC in order to provide OTI and FFP appropriate points of contact to facilitate their requests; also knowledgeable of SEC’s policies and procedures to advise OTI and FFP and avoid unnecessary request rejections or processing delays;
Under the direction of the supervisor, may be requested to perform additional tasks or special projects related to this scope of work.
Minimum Qualifications
(Determines basic eligibility for the position. Applicants who do not meet all of the education and experience factors are considered NOT qualified for the position. See detailed instructions for demonstrating Education/Experience under "Applying")
At a minimum, the applicant must have:
At the GS-13 Security Specialist level:
A High School diploma with significant work experience in a specialized field and a minimum of nine (9) years of progressively responsible experience working for a large US international assistance organization;
OR
A Bachelor’s Degree Bachelor’s degree with significant study in or pertinent to the specialized field and a minimum of least seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience working for a large US international assistance organization;
AND
At least three (3) years of experience working on personnel security;
At least two (2) years of experience supporting operations for a large international assistance organization.
SELECTION FACTORS:
(Determines basic eligibility for the position. Applicants who do not meet all of the selection factors are considered NOT qualified for the position.)
Applicant is a U.S. Citizen;
Complete resume submitted. See cover page for resume requirements. Experience that cannot be quantified will not be counted towards meeting the solicitation requirements;
Supplemental document specifically addressing how the candidate meets each of the Evaluation Factors submitted;
Ability to obtain a SECRET level security clearance (NOTE: Dual citizens may be asked to renounce second-country citizenship);
Satisfactory verification of academic credentials.
A USAID Secret level security clearance is required prior to issuance of the contract for this position.
Please direct questions about this position or the application process to the OTI Recruitment Team at: otijobs@usaid.gov.
HOW TO APPLY:
For full information about this position, as well as instructions on how to apply, please visit www.OTIjobs.net.