Federal Govt: Foreign Affairs Specialist

Organization: Department of Defense, Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office

Website: DoD

Title: Foreign Affairs Specialist

Location: Arlington, VA, then Moscow, Russia

Salary: $49,354.00 - $113,007.00, plus federal benefits

Description:

• Serve as an analyst within the Joint Commission Support Directorate and perform a full range of research, analysis and production tasks necessary to determine the facts with respect to missing American servicemen missing as a result of World War II, the Cold War, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.   
• Advise the membership of the U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs by designing and undertaking research initiatives.
• Seek to ascertain the facts regarding the capture, confinement, repatriation, or other disposition of mission-in-action American servicemen.
• Establish and maintain close working relationships with regional and functional specialists from the departments of Defense and State, the intelligence community, and the National Archives, among others.
• Maintain close coordination with Joint Commission Support Directorate (JCSD’s) Moscow-based researchers and investigators.  Assure that priority topics are rigorously pursued so that outstanding issues can be exhaustively examined and brought to closure. 
• Will be expected to deploy to Moscow, Russian Federation, for a 2-3 year period of time to function within American Embassy Moscow as the Russia-based direct representatives of the U.S. side of the U.S. – Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs. 
• Will interface daily with Russian commissioners, their staffs, and senior officials of the Russian Government, academicians, non-governmental organizations, and media representatives.  Will be responsible for managing an office staff within the embassy, acting as a full member of the embassy's country team, conducting research in Russian archives, and carrying out research and investigative missions in the Russian Federation. 

Qualifications:

•  Ability to read, speak and comprehend the Russian language.

You must possess 52 weeks of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the next lower grade level or pay band that has equipped you with the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position shown above. The creditable specialized experience is:

• Experience researching the Russian military, governmental, social and political structure. 

Education may be substituted for the above specialized experience in a directly related field if you possess two years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master’s degree or master’s or equivalent graduate degree or above.


ALL applicants must meet the BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENT as follows: 

Degree: major or equivalent, or a combination of courses totaling at least 24 semester hours, in international law and international relations, political science, economics, history, sociology, geography, social or cultural anthropology, law, statistics, or in the humanities; or 12 semester hours in one of the above disciplines and 12 semester hours in statistics/quantitative methods. OR Combination of education and experience--courses equivalent to a major, or a combination of related courses totaling at least 24 semester hours, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education OR Experience-four years of appropriate experience in one or more of the fields listed above in work associated with international organizations, problems, or other aspects of foreign affairs.


Knowledges, skills, and abilities that are needed to perform the duties of this position are:

1. Knowledge of a variety of interviewing and negotiating techniques.
2. Knowledge of various archival research methodologies.
3. Ability to carry out independent research and analysis. 
4. Ability to communicate orally.
5. Ability to communicate in writing.

To Apply:   Apply Here Deadline is October 16, 2009