Job Title: Senior Africa Energy Advisor
Grade: GS-1101-15
Type of Appointment: Excepted Service (Time Limited) Appointment
Length of Appointment: Up to 5 years
Area of Consideration: All Sources
Duty Location: Washington, D.C.
Opening Date of Announcement: 11/1/2013
Closing Date of Announcement: 12/6/2013
You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position and be able to be security cleared for
assignment.
Overview:
The individual selected for this position will be administratively assigned to the Post Conflict
and Disaster Assistance Branch of the Development Resources and Disaster Assistance Division,
Office of Capacity Building and Development, Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of
Agriculture (FAS/OCBD/DRDA/OCDA) but will be located in and work directly with the U.S.
Agency for International Development, Bureau for Africa, Office of the Coordinator for Power
Africa and Trade Africa (USAID/AFR/PATA).
This position will provide technical and programmatic support to the USAID/AFR/PATA.
PATA is tasked with providing technical support to USAID/Africa missions,
USAID/Washington, and other U.S. government agencies participating in the Power Africa and
Trade Africa initiatives on energy and trade activities. PATA works in collaboration with a wide
range of partners in Washington and the field, with other USAID Bureaus and with other U.S.
Government (USG) agencies.
Power Africa is a whole-of-government effort to spur economic growth in Africa by fostering a
conducive environment for private investment, regulatory reform, and increased generation and
distribution capacity in targeted sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. The Senior Power Africa
Energy Advisor (SPAEA) is PATA’s expert technical advisor responsible for leading the
development and support of USAID assistance programs for the electricity and energy sectors in
SSA. The SPAEA articulates the importance of energy infrastructure, and develops and identifies
innovative strategies to thread energy, finance and infrastructure reform into Bureau, Agency,
and other USG assistance programs. While the incumbent will work primarily for PATA, she/he
also is expected to participate in assignments crossing organizational lines. He/she will be
responsible for developing and leading USAID assistance programs in rural electricity and
energy sectors of SSA countries and the larger development community. The SPAEA will serve
as a lead technical resource to Power Africa and to the U.S. Congress for the strategic vision,
design, implementation and assessment of activities supported under Power Africa.
Furthermore, the link between agriculture and power is a crucial one that the SPAEA will
strengthen, while increasing the availability and reliability of power to support economic growth,
agriculture, and natural resources management.
Required Skills:
areas: energy, engineering, project finance, law, or a related field that will support Power
Africa’s priorities.
reform, electricity market development, alternative energy development, and related
infrastructure.
with or coordinating with other donor energy and infrastructure-related projects or
programs.
management practices, technology transfer, governance, and civil society aspects of
development.
proactively on his/her own, and how to manage and motivate a team.
sensitive issues. In addition, the SPAEA should have extensive working experience and
knowledge of protocol procedures with working with U.S. government posts overseas.
implementation, management, and evaluation.
agencies, (i.e., Department of State, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the
U.S. Trade Development Agency, the Export-Import Bank, the U.S. African
Development Foundation, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Department of
Energy, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Treasury).
Please read all the instructions before you begin.
To apply for this position, you must submit a complete Application Package to:
FAS-SCHB-APPLIC@wdc.usda.gov with the subject line: FAS-OCBD-14-005 which includes
the following:
5. Resume
6. MUST submit cover letter individually addressing your experience and qualifications of
the “Required Skills”
7. A two to four page writing sample that must be included in the application, as well as a
written exam to be administered to a short list of final candidates
In addition to your Application Package, if you are applying for Veteran Preference, submit
evidence of eligibility, such as DD-214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active
Duty, or Application for Veteran Preference (Standard Form 15) and the proof requested on
the form.
Applications that do not include a cover letter that directly and individually addresses the required skills will NOT be considered. Attachment should be limited to a total of 5 MB or less, as emails with large attachments may be blocked by the USDA email firewall.
Direct all inquiries to:
Program Officer: Abiola Adeyemi
Branch: USDA/FAS/OCBD/DRDA/PCDA
Telephone: 202-720-8096
NOTE: A career status employee that is outside of FAS that accepts this position will be
appointed to a Schedule B, Excepted Service time limited appointment. This appointment does
not offer re-employment rights back to career status within FAS, as described in CFR, Chapter
352. The employee may seek re-employment rights from their losing agency prior to accepting this Schedule B appointment. Please note that agencies are not required to grant re-employment
rights.
REASONABLE ACCOMADATION POLICY STATEMENT:
Federal agencies must provide reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where
appropriate. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and
hiring process should contact the hiring agency directly. Determinations on requests for
reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.
