Program Manager
What you'd do
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) links U.S. agriculture to the world, improves foreign market access for U.S. food and agricultural products, builds new markets, improves the competitive position of U.S. agriculture in the global marketplace, and provides food aid and technical assistance to foreign countries. Positions from this announcement will be filled in the Washington D.C. locality area, and/ or in the Beltsville, MD locality area.
Major duties
As a Supervisory Senior Director, the incumbent provides executive leadership and authoritative guidance on complex policy and program matters of critical importance to the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). Providing authoritative, expert-level guidance to senior FAS leadership on highly sensitive, urgent, and high-visibility policy and program issues requiring timely executive attention and cross-agency coordination. Analyzing complex and time-sensitive problems; assessing alternative courses of action; and identifying advantages, limitations, and potential impacts under varying policy, operational, and strategic conditions. Directing the formulation, development, and recommendation of operating policies and procedures that support the effective administration of assigned program functions and ensure alignment with agency priorities. Conducting comprehensive research and fact-finding to develop well-supported recommendations and courses of action on specialized issues referred to senior officials, including the Deputy Administrator.
What you need to qualify
Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including time-in-grade restrictions, specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. TIME-IN-GRADE: Current federal employees applying for a promotion opportunity must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirement of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled. FOR THE GS-15 LEVEL: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-14 level) that may have been obtained in the private or public (local, county, state, Federal) sectors which demonstrates: skill in leading or supervising staff, including planning and organizing work, making sound decisions, and evaluating performance and work accomplishments; experience explaining, defending, and justifying findings and recommendations to senior agency officials; expertise in developing and implementing policies, program alternatives, and related initiatives; an ability to develop detailed project and program plans, including tasks, milestones, schedules, and cost-tracking methods to ensure proper sequencing and full lifecycle oversight; and skill in analyzing complex problems, assessing advantages and disadvantages of alternative courses of action under varying situations, and recommending viable solutions.. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
Before you apply
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