Country Desk Officer

Job Description

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion: All employees are measured on how they foster a climate of respect in interactions with others, value differing perspectives, and treat others in a fair, equitable, and culturally sensitive manner. All employees are expected to adhere to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) policies and value diversity and inclusion in performing everyday duties and responsibilities.

Description of Organization: Asia/SCA supports USAID’s Missions and portfolios serving 11 nations and comprising 1.7 billion people: India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.

Description of Position: The Country Desk Officer (CDO) plays a particularly delicate role representing and advocating on behalf of the Mission in Washington, DC while translating U.S. foreign policy and Agency priorities back into Mission objectives. This is an incredible opportunity to gain invaluable insight into the critical role of the Regional Bureau in strategic, programmatic, and budgetary decision making. CDOs engage across USAID and the interagency on a regular basis, collaborating at the heart of major foreign policy initiatives couched under Indo-Pacific Strategy, Strategy in Central Asia, and South Asia Strategy. Strong analytical, communication, organizational, team-oriented, and interpersonal skills are required to work successfully at this level of cutting edge policy development. Therefore, the Bureau for Asia is seeking an energetic, proactive and experienced development professional to join SCA as part of the Central Asia desk team. The team manages a robust portfolio of five countries with both bilateral and regional programming. The CDO will be responsible for one or two countries, work interchangeably with others on the team, and may backstop other countries. The CDO reports to the Director of SCA or their designee. Temporary duty assignments (typically from five to ten percent of the year, if not more) to the field are required.

Qualification Requirements:

• Must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (FS-03) of this position. Examples of specialized experience include: (a) strategic planning for the discipline of international development, including strategic analysis and results frameworks; (b) coordinating information and building consensus from various stakeholders and interagency organizations to create or revise policies and regulatory guidance pertaining to operational services; and (c) gathering and analyzing information and data for performance reporting, programming, and performance-based budgeting; and (d) extensive and working knowledge of key policy issues related to the context of Central Asia, and/or Eastern Europe, and/or Eurasia;
• Experience in developing the basic policies and guidelines which are furnished to the Mission for developing its project proposals;
• Ability to build effective networks across the Agency, within the interagency and with embassies and other outside stakeholders; and
• Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Secret-level security clearance.

Preferable Qualifications:

• Possess strong analytical and team skills related to the CDO network;
• Working knowledge of key policy issues related to the context of Central Asia, and/or Eastern Europe, and/or Eurasia;
• Knowledge and experience working in countries in Asia; and
• Ability to travel internationally up to 25 percent of the time is preferred.

Required Documents: Candidate’s resume must reflect a work history performing the items listed above under Qualification Requirements. If a Candidate’s resume does not reflect the required work experience, they will not be considered for the position. Interested applicants must submit the documents listed below by the deadline to receive consideration:

• Resume;
• Cover letter; and
• Three professional references.

Interested candidates must submit a resume, cover letter, and three professional references to pyoung@usaid.gov by 11:59 p.m. EST, February 28, 2023. Please use the subject line: “FSL Application: SCA Country Desk Officer.” Incomplete submissions will not be considered. This notice may be used to fill additional vacancies, as the workforce needs of the Bureau may change.