Director of Programming and Training

Duties

The Director of Programming and Training performs the following major duties:

• Leads and manages the program and training (P&T) staff to ensure quality program design and its implementation and evaluation across all programmatic sectors and their alignment with Peace Corps guidance.
• Provides direction and oversight to manage a variety of Post-wide programs/projects critical to the accomplishment of the Agency's mission at Post.
• Ensures effective strategic planning encompassing difficult and diverse functions or issues that affect critical components of overseas Post programs and resource utilization.
• Serves as an expert on policy interpretation and implementation related to design and management of Post programs and other pertinent programmatic matters.
• Provides expert assistance and leadership in defining and continuously improving the country program's approach to training design, delivery and evaluation ensuring compliance with agency standards.
• Conducts extensive planning and data analyses activities in overseeing the design and evaluation of training processes, including workshops, seminars, and conferences.
• Serves as a recognized program and training authority, advises top-level agency managers on complex international volunteer programs.
• Supervises a multi-cultural staff, which may include host country nationals, third country nationals and U.S. Citizens, including training manager(s), program managers, monitoring and evaluation specialists, trainers, specialists and assistants who support post's programming and training.
• Drafts the budget for programming and training activities and monitors these expenditures throughout the fiscal year.
• Develops plans for implementing short and long-range program goals at Post and directs diverse organizational functions affecting critical aspects of major agency programs.
• Assists the Country Director to foster cooperative relationships with U.S. mission personnel at post to further Peace Corps goals and ensure the safety of Volunteers.
• Plans and directs operations, and liaises with the region and Agency headquarters on critical Post programming and training matters, and safety and security concerns.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Applicants must be U.S. citizens.
• Must successfully complete background security investigation with favorable adjudication. Failure to meet this requirement will be grounds for employment termination.
• Federal employees are required to have federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.
• A 18-Month Trial period required.
• This job has been identified as a testing designated position under our Drug-Free Workplace Program. You must satisfactorily complete a drug test prior to being hired. As an employee, you will be subject to random drug testing.
• This is not a bargaining unit position.
• Position requires the filing of a Financial Disclosure report.
• You must successfully complete background security investigation with favorable adjudication. Failure to meet this requirement will be grounds for employment termination.

Peace Corps Information

• This is a Federal civilian job in the Excepted Service. PC employees are paid on the Foreign Service scale and employment is limited not to exceed (NTE) 5 years.
• Additional hiring needs may be filled through this vacancy.
• Peace Corps is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factors.
• Peace Corps is a drug free workplace and promotes a drug free environment.
• Peace Corps is committed to maintaining a diverse and inclusive culture. Our goal is to attract and develop the best and brightest from all lifestyles and backgrounds. Peace Corps strives to create a culture of inclusion where individuals feel respected and are treated fairly in all aspects of differences. Our commitment is to make a difference in the lives of people around the world.

Peace Corps provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the hiring process, please notify the Office of Human Resources by calling 202-692-1200 or the Office of Civil Rights and Diversity on 202-692-2139. Decisions on granting reasonable accommodation are made on a case-by-case basis.

Qualifications

Specialized Experience:

You must meet the specialized experience at the grade level(s) in which you choose to be considered by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on 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 dates of employment by month, day, and year and the number of hours worked per week in your resume.

This vacancy is being announced at two (2) grade levels:

FP-02 (GS-14):

Qualifying experience for the FP-2 (GS-14) grade level includes one year of specialized experience at least equivalent to the FP-3 or GS-13 grade 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: Managing multicultural teams in the design, implementation and evaluation of an international organization's programming and training activities and functions; developing and enforcing policies, procedures, and program management controls impacting an organization's programming and training activities; Establishing, managing, and evaluating work plans, assignments and overall performance of programming and training staff; and leading the design, implementation and facilitation of professional development opportunities.

FP-3 (GS-13):

Qualifying experience for the FP-3 (GS-13) grade level includes one year of specialized experience at least equivalent to the FP-4 or GS-12 grade 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: Coordinating, implementing and evaluating an organization's programming and training activities and functions; effectively applying methodologies, practices, procedures, instructions and policies relating to an organization's programming and training activities and functions. Coordinating and evaluating work plans, assignments, and performance of programming and training staff; and participating in the design, implementation, and facilitation of professional development opportunities.

Selective Placement Factor(s): 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 are ineligible for further consideration.

This position has one (1) selective placement factor, which applicants must meet in order to be eligible for this position:

Two (2) years of international development experience working in transitioning or developing international countries, or community development experience working with underserved multicultural communities in the United States. Experience may be with private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), or government organizations (local, state, and/or federal). Professional experience must include either an international focus or a focus on domestic communities that are made up of a majority of culturally diverse members.

Failure to provide this information in your resume with date, month and years of service along with location of service will result in automatic elimination from competition. Failure to meet this selective placement factor will result in disqualification.

Time-In-Grade Requirement:

Applicants who are current or former Federal employees and have held a FP or GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks or more must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a FP-02 (GS-14) position you must have served 52 weeks at the FP-03 (GS-13). For a FP-03 (GS-13) position you must have served 52 weeks at the FP-04 (GS-12). The grade may have been in any occupation but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials.

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 at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/

All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Qualification claims will be subject to verification.

Please note: Peace Corps employees are employed using the Foreign Service Salary Schedule (FP). 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/pay and the FP-01 is the highest, senior, level/pay).

Education

This position has no Individual Occupational Requirements.

Additional information

Intelligence Background Information

Peace Corps Manual Section 611 is applicable to this position. This section prohibits the employment of certain persons previously engaged in intelligence activities or connected with intelligence agencies within the past 10 years. If you have ever worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), you are not eligible for employment at the Peace Corps in any capacity, and you should not apply for employment.

Acceptance of employment with Peace Corps precludes employment by certain intelligence organizations for a specific period of time, determined by the employing agency, after Peace Corps employment ceases.

Applicants who are found to be otherwise qualified will be required to submit upon request in the future a completed Intelligence Background Questionnaire, or narrative signed statement, indicating whether the applicant has been involved in or has had any connection with intelligence activities or related work and, if so, the nature and dates of his or her involvement. Failure to meet this requirement will result in the applicant being rated ineligible for further consideration. If you have any other type of possible intelligence connection, your application will not be further considered until you submit this form. Except when the CIA or the National Security Agency (NSA) is involved (see below), if your connection with an Intelligence Agency involves an immediate family member who works or has worked in intelligence, the immediate family member should complete the form, not the applicant. Usually relying on memory is sufficient to answer most if not all of the questions.

If you have an immediate family member who works or has worked for the CIA, you should not give them this form to complete. Please contact your relative in person-not by phone, email, social networking, or any other means that is not in person- and ask him or her to contact the Office of General Counsel at the CIA.

If you or an immediate family member have been employed by or associated with the NSA, you or your family member must contact the NSA Prepublication Review Office at 443-634-4095.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your application will be evaluated based on your resume, attached supporting documentation, and your responses to the self-assessment questionnaire. Your materials will be evaluated to validate your possession of any required knowledge, skills, abilities, and/or competencies. The following competencies will be evaluated in the self-assessment questionnaire:

• Education and Training
• Leadership
• Planning and Evaluating
• Policy and Guidance
• Strategic Thinking

Please note that a complete application is required for consideration, including any documentation that is being used for qualifications. A Human Resources Specialist will review your resume and supporting documentation, which must support the answers you provided. Falsifying your background, education, and/or experience is cause for disqualification.

National service refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through national service programs such as the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps, as well as other organizations (e.g., professional, philanthropic, religious, community, student).

Required Documents

To apply for this position, you must submit a complete Application Package, including:

• a detailed resume,
• a completed electronic self-assessment questionnaire,
• the submission of any other required documents.

All required documents listed below, that are applicable to you, must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on 12/31/2023 (the closing date of this announcement).

• Resume: Include relevant work experience including job title, duties and accomplishments, employer name and address, supervisor name and phone number, start and end dates, hours per week and salary. If you are a current Federal employee or former Federal employee, provide your pay plan, series, and grade level (e.g. GS-0201-09).
• Veterans Documents: Veterans' preference in appointment does not apply to this vacancy. However, if you are using your 30% or more disability rating to be considered, you must attach all required documentation, including a DD-214 reflecting the type of discharge, the SF-15, and a VA Letter. Proof of a service-connected disability is required at the time of application. For more information regarding veterans' preference, please review the OPM Vet Guide.
• Federal Employees: If you are a current or former Federal employee (including internal employees), you must provide a copy of your most recent SF-50 (and/or the SF-50 which verifies your reinstatement eligibility). Please note that this appointment does not convey career or career-conditional tenure in the competitive service. However, Federal employees who have earned career tenure will not lose it as a result of this appointment.
• Qualifications Based on Education or a Combination of Education and Experience: If you are qualifying based on education or a combination of education and experience, you must submit a copy of your transcript(s) or an appropriate course listing with a diploma. Education must be accredited by an institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be used towards qualifications. Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by recognized institutions. Applicants can verify accreditation at this website.

Note: All applicants (including internal) are required to submit the applicable documents listed above as verification of eligibility. If you fail to provide the information requested, or the information you submit is insufficient to verify your eligibility, you may lose consideration for these positions.

How to Apply

1.     Click 'Apply Online' to create an account or log into your existing USAJOBS account.

2.     Follow the prompts to complete the assessment questionnaire and upload required documents.

3.     Please ensure you click the Submit My Answers button to submit your application.

4.     Applications must be received by the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration.

5.     Check your application status by logging into your USAJOBS account. Return to an incomplete application by clicking Apply Online in the vacancy announcement and re-selecting your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account.