Country Director

Duties

A successful candidate must be able to interact effectively with others, both within the assigned country, with the U.S. Embassy and host country government officials at very senior levels, with Peace Corps headquarters, and with other relevant stakeholders.

The Country Director performs the following major duties:

• Plans, directs and oversees all aspects of strategic, policy, organizational, and program objectives in the country of assignment.
• Oversees operations and staff in functional areas that include: volunteer support; program, training and evaluation; administration, logistics and financial management; medical services, safety and security; and representation.
• Ensures that the country operations create a safe and productive environment for Trainees and Volunteers and staff to work successfully and perform their duties and responsibilities.
• Represents and advocates for the goals and activities of Peace Corps with host country government officials, local private and not-for-profit entities, the U.S. Embassy and other government agencies. With host-country partners, develops a vision for the country program and a plan for achieving the vision.
• Determines budgetary, facility, equipment, staffing and volunteer requirements. Provides leadership and oversight to ensure that projects are responsive to host country development needs and are consistent with Peace Corps philosophy and Volunteer resources.
• Negotiates, approves and executes the cooperating agreements between the Peace Corps and hostcountry partner agencies, in consultation with the Office of General Counsel.
• Ensures quality project design, training, implementation and evaluation in all areas, making certain that projects address capacity building and sustainability, are in alignment with Peace Corps guidance, and are responsive to host country development priorities.
• Establishes criteria and oversees program management issues affecting Volunteer personal safety and security, site identification and monitoring, cultural sensitivity for host country people and culture, and other issues affecting Volunteers' successful service and Peace Corps' reputation.
• In coordination with the Office of Health Services, oversees a comprehensive medical care program that supports Volunteers with their health care needs.
• Provides expert leadership and management over institutional policies and procedures to ensure Volunteer safety and security. This encompasses, but is not limited to, promoting Volunteers' training and ability to assess and ensure their personal safety; responding to natural or man-made disasters; mitigating the potential threat of political unrest; and supporting the Agency's response to Volunteer victims of crime, such as physical and sexual assault, theft, among others.
• Promotes intercultural competence among staff and Volunteers; ensures program's policies and procedures promote diversity, inclusion and belonging; develops a cohesive organization that promotes respect and dignity towards others.
• Supervises post's senior staff and oversees the administrative and human resource functions.
• Adheres to U.S. federal laws, Peace Corps policies, and local labor laws pertaining to employee hiring, training, treatment, and disciplinary actions. Promotes a collaborative and positive work environment that values employee contributions.
• Travels within and outside country of assignment.
• Worldwide Availability for post assignment is required.
• This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain top secret clearance and medical clearance.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Applicants must be U.S. citizens.
• Applicants must successfully complete a background security investigation with favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet this requirement will be grounds for employment termination.
• All Federal employees are required to have federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.
• Position serves at the discretion of the Peace Corps Director.
• This job has been identified as a testing designated position under our Drug-Free Workplace Program. Therefore, 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.
• This position requires the filing of a Financial Disclosure report.

Peace Corps Information

• This is a Federal civilian job in the Excepted Service. Peace Corps employees are paid on the Foreign Personnel (FP) pay scale.
• Initial appointment of employment cannot exceed five years.
• Qualified internal applicants will be given full consideration.
• Additional hiring needs may be filled through this vacancy.
• The 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.
• The Peace Corps is a drug-free workplace and promotes a drug-free environment.
• The 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. The 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.

The 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 Time (ET) on 12/31/2023 (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 one grade level:

FP-1 (Education cannot be substituted for experience at this level)

Qualifying experience for the FP-1 grade level includes one year of specialized experience at least equivalent to the FP-2 or GS-14 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: Experience leading, managing, analyzing, designing, or providing advisory services for international development programs or domestic non-governmental organizations (NGO), or in the private sector; Experience managing technical assistance and capacity building programs in developing or transitioning countries; Experience developing, negotiating and managing complex international or domestic community development projects; and Experience developing and implementing collaborative approaches with internal and external partners and stakeholders to build coalitions and work on common agency program goals and objectives.

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 defined below:

Three (3) years of: 1) executive leadership experience in transitioning or developing countries

involving international development work, or 2) community development experience working with

underserved communities in the United States. Experience may be with private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), or government organizations (local, state, and/or federal). Executive experience must include either an international focus or a focus on domestic communities that are made up of a majority of culturally diverse members.

Examples of specialized professional experience include held a senior level position such as Country Director, Executive Director, Regional Director, Chief of Party, CEO, Ambassador, or others in a complex organizational

environment; experience leading and managing programs with an international development focus or a focus on work with underserved U.S. communities that are made up of a majority of culturally diverse members.

experience providing strategic direction to complex programs; and experience that includes high level representational duties. Note: This experience MUST be well documented within your resume or application.

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.

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:

• Interpersonal Skills
• Managing Human Resources
• 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.
• 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.