Senior Program Officer

The purpose of this task order is to provide professional service employees to provide support to the Office Director and Deputy Director of the Office of Academic Exchange Programs (ECA/A/E) in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Responsibilities

Responds within deadline to approximately 700 annual taskings or queries from the supervisor, senior Bureau and Department leadership, and/or Congressional staff, for quantitative and qualitative information on the academic exchange activities managed by ECA/A/E. Collect, consolidate, and analyze responses, before clearing and returning to original requestor. These frequent requests require substantive knowledge of the approximately 20 distinct programs managed by the 60 staff members in ECA/A/E. The majority of these taskings require input from at least 10 staff members per tasking.

Oversees the collection, consolidation, and editing of the Weekly Activity Report on ECA/A/E program activities and events. This information is used to report activities of the office to Bureau leadership, and to the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board Secretariat (FFSB/S) who in turn report to FFSB members and other stakeholders.

Coordinates responses to Congressional inquiries and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Ensures uniform language is used on responses.

Contributes to and coordinates office edits of the FFSB Annual Report. Works with approximately 20 staff members to review report drafts, bringing larger issues and discrepancies to the attention of the Office Director and Deputy Director. Works with FFSB/S to resolve any issues associated with the FFSB Annual Report.

Serves as Program Officer for one of the Fulbright Special Programs or Initiatives. In consultation with Office Director, cooperating partners, Fulbright Commissions and/or Posts, and Regional Branch staff; conceptualizes, manages, and evaluates a high-profile/high-priority international academic exchange program. Devises or modifies program models to meet changing programmatic and/or foreign policy priorities, and shifting educational environments in the United States and abroad, to address the specific needs of the United States and the partner government as well as of the program participants.

Compares drafts submitted to standard templates, macros and formats and makes edits to conform with requirements.

Establishes and maintains accurate records and electronic files that are readily accessible to colleagues in the Front Office

On behalf of the Office Director, communicates requests, information, and guidance to other ECA/A/E and Regional Branch staff, Bureau, and Department elements. Coordinates and liaises with ECA program managers and staff, Regional Bureaus and others; assures that all appropriate information, materials and background are available to the Office Director, Deputy Director, and other Bureau officials, as required.

Keeps abreast of trends in international education and exchange activities within the Bureau, especially developments with the potential to impact ECA/A/E academic exchange activities.

Assists with administrative management functions, such as the solicitation and award of cooperative agreements, budgetary and programmatic reporting, and development of office-wide of policies, procedures, and protocols.

Assists in supporting the implementation of bilateral strategic meetings, events with U.S. higher education institutions and NGOs, events involving ECA/A/E exchange participants, and other special projects and activities. Maintains complete records to ensure policy and programmatic consistency and continuity.

Regularly participates in meetings regarding policy, program, and management issues. Serves as notetaker and tracks action items and meeting follow-on.

Provides administrative support for a growing number of in-person meetings, which require coordination across ECA/A/E. Coordinates calendars and scheduling for the Office Director and Deputy Director.

Qualifications

Strong oral and written communication skills. Applicants should have a high level of facility with writing, should actively enjoy writing and editing, and should be able to compile and edit materials into concise, clear form. Applicants should have the ability to absorb new information easily and transform information readily into appropriate narrative formats. Substantive experience in journalism, speechwriting, or other forms of writing for public or general audiences is helpful.

Applicants should have the ability to prepare and present budget information in narrative form and to accurately understand, compile and proofread budget and other numerical data.

Strong interpersonal skills, flexibility, resourcefulness and patience with detail. Applicants should have the ability to work collegially and effectively with individuals at all levels of an organization and to perform a broad range of duties to serve institutional goals.

Applicants should be able to work with software such as the Windows Office Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, and Powerpoint) to present information in appropriate formats.

Applicants should be able to obtain and maintain a security clearance at the Secret level.

In addition, the following related skills and abilities are desirable:

Ability to interact with all nationalities in a culturally sensitive manner.

Excellent, timely and precise organizational skills and multi-tasking abilities.

Excellent critical thinking and analytical skills.

Excellent ability to work independently, with limited supervision, and multi-task in a high volume, fast-paced work environment.

Excellent ability, at the same time, to maintain a flexible, team-oriented approach to work.

Excellent ability to build and maintain strong working relationships with colleagues.

Familiarity or direct experience with international educational and cultural exchanges, or other types of international programming or activities.

Familiarity or direct experience with j-visa exchange visitor programs and policies.