Program Assistant

Job Description

Macfadden, a PAE company, is seeking Program Assistants (PAs) to support USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) and USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP). USAID/OFDA and USAID/FFP provide U.S. Government humanitarian assistance overseas in response to natural disasters, complex emergencies, and disease outbreaks. Both offices also support longer-term activities that build resilience and reduce disaster risk among vulnerable populations and mitigate chronic humanitarian need and food insecurity. As part of USAID/OFDA and USAID/FFP teams based in Washington, D.C., PAs provide administrative, programmatic, and operational support to USAID/OFDA and USAID/FFP staff. Day-to-day work assignments and oversight are provided by USAID/OFDA or USAID/FFP team leads or deputy team leads, with formal supervisory and evaluation functions performed by a Macfadden contract supervisor.

Specific PA duties vary based on team assignments. Depending on the team, PA duties may include and are not limited to:

• Maintaining activity calendars and team schedules;
• Organizing team meetings, calls, or other events, including sending out invitations and reminders, developing agendas, and managing room reservations, phone bridge lines, and other logistics;
• Attending meetings and events on behalf of a team in a note-taking or administrative-support capacity;
• Creating and managing folders and filing systems on behalf of a team;
• Supporting the onboarding of new staff of various hiring mechanisms, including helping them with administrative tasks such as requesting soft tokens or completing badge forms;
• Drafting, updating, editing, and/or coordinating the collaboration on programmatic, technical, or administrative memos and other documents;
• Facilitating the clearance of programmatic, technical, or administrative memos and other documents;
• Researching, collecting, and analyzing data in response to internal or external data requests; and
• Updating programmatic, technical, or administrative trackers and consistently monitoring data quality.

For PAs assigned to support programmatic efforts, additional duties may include:

• Conducting the initial review and processing of incoming proposals, including reviewing submissions for completeness, performing initial data entry, and compiling feedback from programmatic and technical staff;
• Preparing award packages;
• Organizing and maintaining grant documentation, including grantee reports and correspondence;
• Tracking grantee evaluation, monitoring, and reporting compliance;
• Reviewing and preparing post-award management documentation in support of the Agreement Officer Representative; and
• Monitoring, tracking, and processing programmatic close-out actions.

Education, Experience, and Skills Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree with minimum two years of professional/office experience, including internships, OR
• Master’s degree with minimum one year of professional/office experience, including internships.

Qualified PA candidates should:

• Possess excellent judgment and reliability,
• Have strong attention to detail,
• Possess excellent oral and written communication skills,
• Be able to work under deadlines in a fast-paced and collaborative environment,
• Be flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances, and
• Be willing to go the extra mile.

U.S. Citizenship is required; selected candidate must be able to qualify for a government-sponsored security clearance.

Required Application Materials

• Resume
• Cover Letter

Please combine your resume and cover letter into one PDF or Word document and submit it through the online application system when prompted to upload a CV.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Upcoming review periods close on:

October 25, 2019 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern time

December 13, 2019 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern time

About the Organization

Macfadden is now part of PAE. Founded over 30 years ago, Macfadden has provided federal agencies with critical on-the-ground support to U.S. government humanitarian missions around the world as well as financial and IT system support. Through program management, human resources services, financial management systems support, information technology solutions, knowledge management, travel coordination and communications support, Macfadden enables effective U.S. government humanitarian response to international disasters. Macfadden’s workforce includes approximately 300 employees primarily located in the Washington, D.C. area.