This position is located within the Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Office of International Affairs, Trade, and Commerce (IATC) with (6) vacancies located in Silver Spring, MD. This position is also announced under vacancy number NMFS-IATC-23-12179252-ST, which is open to Status Candidates. You must apply to both announcements if you want to be considered for both.

Duties

As a Foreign Affairs Specialist, you will perform the following duties: Independently plan, coordinate, and provide input on related work to departmental formulation and direction of the foreign affairs of the United States bearing on international fisheries relations, including bycatch and conservation of protected living marine resources. Negotiate and implement sustainable international management measures for living marine resources through regional fisheries management organizations, regional partnerships and protected species conservation organizations. Exercise responsibility as an independent specialist to analyze information to comply with international fisheries management, protected species conservation and/or trade measures, including formulating and executing capacity building efforts as directed. Perform complex analysis of information on sustainable fisheries management, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, bycatch of protected living marine resources and/or trade. Implement trade monitoring programs to combat IUU fishing; facilitating trade, and achieving other policy objectives. Note: These duties are described at the full performance level of the ZA-4; The ZA-3 is developmental leading to such performance.

Requirements

Qualifications

Qualification requirements in the vacancy announcements are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook, which contains federal qualification standards. This handbook is available on the Office of Personnel Management's website located at: https://www.opm.gov/policy. BASIC REQUIREMENTS: This position requires applicants to meet the Basic Education Requirement in addition to at least one year of specialized experience OR substitution of education for experience OR combination (if applicable) in order to be found minimally qualified. Transcripts must be submitted with an application package. You MUST meet one of the following basic education requirements: To qualify for the 0130 series: A. Degree: major or equivalent, or a combination of courses totaling 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 12 semester hours in one of the above disciplines and 12 semester hours in statistics/quantitative methods. -OR- B. Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major, or a combination of related courses totaling at least 24 semester hours, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. -OR- C. Experience: four 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. For positions at the ZA-4 and above, this experience must have included either (a) responsibility for the direction and coordination of research, analysis, or other professional work in one or more of the fields listed in A above, or (b) specialized professional work of a high level of difficulty and responsibility in one or more of these fields. This high level experience must have been in such specialized activities as (1) formulation of instructions and policy guidance for United States representatives in international organizations; (2) transport and communication involving knowledge of economic, political, and technical aspects of international aviation, shipping, inland transport, or radio, telephone, and telegraph, etc.; (3) cultural affairs involving formulation and operation of policy on large-scale international cultural exchange programs; (4) occupied area affairs involving problems of occupation of conquered or liberated countries, regions, or zones; or (5) other specialized international affairs such as analyzing public opinion and attitudes, evaluating specific conditions, trends, or forces in a foreign country, formulating policy on problems of petroleum resources or fisheries, etc., representing foreign interests, protecting American property or interests, arranging for conferences, or similar activities. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the next lower grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular competencies/knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. This experience need not have been in the federal government. 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, including volunteer experience. To qualify at the ZA-3 or GS-11: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZA-2 or GS-09 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following: Assisting in developing strategies for multilateral or bilateral fisheries management or trade agreements; Coordinating with stakeholders to develop sustainable fisheries management, protected species conservation, or trade policies; and Assisting with the analysis of information on illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, shark catch, other protected species bycatch, such as marine mammals, or trade practices. -OR- SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. -OR- COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: A combination of education and experience as described above. Note: Only graduate education in excess of two years is qualifying for combination. To qualify at the ZA-4 or GS-13: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZA-3 or GS-12 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following: Analyzing information on illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, shark catch, bycatch of protected living marine resources, including marine mammals, or trade policies; Participating in negotiating sustainable management measures or trade policies for international fisheries and protected species; and Contributing to projects to build capacity of foreign partners to comply with international fisheries management or trade requirements.

Education

College Transcript: If you are qualifying based on education, submit a copy of your college transcript that lists college courses detailing each course by the number and department (i.e., Bio 101, Math 210, etc.), course title, number of credit hours and grade earned. You must submit evidence that any education completed in a foreign institution is equivalent to U.S. education standards with your resume. You may submit an unofficial copy of the transcript at the initial phase of the application process. If course content cannot be easily identified from the title of the course as listed on your transcript, you must submit an official course description from the college/university that reflects the content at the time the course was taken.

Note: Your college transcript is used to verify successful completion of degree, or college course work. An official college transcript will be required before you can report to duty.

Special Instructions for Foreign Education: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part in foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree. A listing of these accredited organizations can be found on the Department of Education's website. You MUST provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course by course listing along with your application. Failure to provide such documentation by the closing date of the announcement will result in lost consideration. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated visit: OPM Foreign Education Evaluation.

Contacts

• Address NOAA Office of Human Capital Services OHCS 1315 East West Hwy SSMC4 Silver Spring, MD 20910 US
• Name: Kia Jenkins
• Email: [email protected]