Country Director

All qualification requirements must be met by 12/31/2024 (the closing date of the announcement). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. To ensure full credit for your experience, please indicate the start and end dates (month, day, and year) of employment, the number of hours worked per week, and the location of employment in your resume. Qualification claims will be subject to verification.

Specialized Experience:

This vacancy is being announced at one grade level:

Specialized Experience at the FP-01: To be minimally qualified for this position at the FP-01 level, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower level in the normal line of progression, FP-02 or GS-14 level which is in or directly related to the line of work of the position to be filled and which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience includes: Experience leading, managing, analyzing, designing, or providing advisory services for international development programs or domestic non-governmental organizations (NGO), or in the private sector; Experience managing technical assistance and capacity building programs in developing or transitioning countries; Experience developing, negotiating and managing complex international or domestic community development projects; and experience developing and implementing collaborative approaches with internal and external partners and stakeholders to build coalitions and work on common agency program goals and objectives.

Examples of specialized professional experience include: held a senior level position such as Country Director, Executive Director, Regional Director, Chief of Party, CEO, Ambassador, or others in a complex organizational environment; experience leading and managing programs with an international development focus or a focus on work with underserved U.S. communities that are made up of a majority of culturally diverse members; experience providing strategic direction to complex programs; and experience that includes high-level representational duties.

Education cannot be substituted for experience at this level.

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Selective Placement Factor:

Selective Placement Factors (SPFs) are knowledge, skills, abilities, or special qualifications that are in addition to the minimum requirements in a qualification standard but are determined to be essential to perform the duties and responsibilities of a particular position. Applicants who do not meet a selective placement factor will be disqualified from further consideration.

This position has one selective placement factor: Three (3) years of: 1) executive leadership experience in transitioning or developing countries involving international development work, or 2) community development experience working with underserved communities in the United States. Experience may be with private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), or government organizations (local, state, and/or federal). Executive experience must include either an international focus or a focus on domestic communities that are made up of a majority of culturally diverse members.

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Time-in-Grade (TIG) Requirements:

Current or Formal Federal employees, including current Peace Corps employees, must meet applicable TIG requirements to be considered eligible. To meet TIG for positions above the FP-09 (GS-05) grade level, you must have served at least one year (52 weeks) at the next lower grade (or equivalent) in the normal line of progression for the position to which you are applying.

All current or former Federal employees (including internal employees) must provide a copy of their SF-50 (you may need to submit more than one), "Notice of Personnel Action" that indicates proof of status and time-in-grade eligibility. The SF-50 must include your position, title, series, grade, step, tenure, and type of service (Competitive or Excepted).

Please note:

• Past experience that satisfies the Specialized Experience and Selective Placement Factor MUST be well documented within your resume. Failure to provide this information in your resume with corresponding start and end dates (month, day, and year) of employment, the number of hours worked per week, and location of employment may result in disqualification from further consideration.
• Specialized Experience may have been gained in the public sector, private sector, or through volunteer work done with National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) or other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social).
• One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis.
• Additional information on qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on the OPM web site.
• Peace Corps employees are employed using the Foreign Personnel (FP) pay scale. The FP pay plan does not follow the same structure as the GS pay plan. In the FP pay plan, as the grade-level numbers decrease the level/pay for the position increases. The FP-09 is the lowest entry-level grade and the FP-01 is the highest senior-level grade.