Public Health Program Specialist

Summary The Office of Global Health and HIV (OGHH) provides management and strategic guidance for Peace Corps (PC) global health activities, which includes provision of agency-level policy guidance, and general supervision, direction, and coordination of Peace Corps HIV/AIDS and health activities. OGHH is also responsible for coordinating the agency's participation in the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which is led by the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator in the U.S. State Department. Responsibilities The Public Health Program Specialist performs the following major duties: Serves as health programming resource in the identification of critical global issues and problems related to project design and implementation. Provides advice and guidance to OGHH, PC posts and PC headquarters around community health programs. Gathers technical resources and data to assist on a broad range of projects, activities and programs. Establishes and promotes an understanding of technical issues, as well as associated organizational and community development approaches for the health programs. Assists in the development of high quality project / program concepts, proposals and designs. Serves as Agency resource for both headquarters and regional Posts, in the identification of critical public health issues affecting project design, program implementation and monitoring and evaluation. Conducts program studies where systems, and processes, definitions, methods, and/or data are incomplete, controversial, or uncertain, or where boundaries of the studies are extremely broad and difficult to determine in advance. Works collaboratively with M&E Specialists in OGHH to support programmatic M&E to evaluate program/activity progress and results according to the performance monitoring framework, document results and apply lessons learned to adjust the project framework. Coordinates and consults with key stakeholders to facilitate M&E efforts and establish quantitative and qualitative M&E mechanism to measure results and impact of public health programs. Presents public health information on M&E results to stakeholders and other consultative forums. Designs, develops, and delivers training related to public health. Designs and delivers courses, workshops, and other staff development activities. Plans and develops full-length courses in well-established areas of the subject matter field. Incorporates creativity, innovation, and responsiveness to emerging needs in developing trainings and other knowledge products. Consults on original course plan and design for basic course concepts. Responsible for knowledge creation and dissemination of information to develop public health related technical know-how at headquarter and regional posts. Coordinates with program managers and training managers both within the Agency and other external organizations working on this field to develop trainings and course material. Designs need assessments to determine content and methodology for workshops or courses for face-to-face or online events. Requirements Conditions of Employment Please read this announcement in its entirety prior to submitting your application. You must be a U.S. Citizen. You must be at least 18 years of age. All Federal employees are required to have federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing. If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System or are exempt from having to do so. For additional information, see www.sss.gov. You must complete a Declaration for Federal Employment to determine your suitability for Federal employment, at the time requested by the agency. You must go through a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) process that requires two forms of identification from the Form I-9. Federal law requires verification of the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires in the U.S. These documents must be unexpired original or certified copies. You must successfully complete a background security investigation with favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet this requirement will be grounds for employment termination. Prior to employment, and in compliance with statutes 5 USC 3322 and 22 USC 2507b, Peace Corps will conduct a check of Peace Corps records for both Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and former Peace Corps employees. All new employees are required to certify and submit a state of understanding acknowledging adherence to the Peace Corps condition of employment prior to day 1 of employment with the Peace Corps. This position requires a public trust background investigation. This is a bargaining unit position. A one-year probationary period is required. Travel within and outside the country of assignment is required. The initial appointment to this position cannot exceed five years. Qualifications All qualification requirements must be met by 11/22/2024 (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 the start and end dates (month, day, and year) of employment, the number of hours worked per week, and the location of employment in your resume. Qualification claims will be subject to verification. Specialized Experience: This vacancy is being announced at two grade levels: Specialized Experience at the FP-03: To be minimally qualified for this position at the FP-03 level, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower level in the normal line of progression, FP-04 or GS-12 level which is in or directly related to the line of work of the position to be filled and which has equipped me with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience includes: Serving as public health program administrator in the identification of critical global issues and problems related to project design and implementation; Providing technical assistance in the design and implementation of community health programs; Collecting technical resources and data to assist on a broad range of projects, activities and capacity building; and evaluating program/activity progress and results according to the performance monitoring framework to support continuous quality improvement. Specialized Experience at the FP-04: To be minimally qualified for this position at the FP-04 level, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower level in the normal line of progression, FP-05 or GS-09 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 identifying key policy and program issues to assist field staff in host countries to evolve strategies appropriate to their individual circumstances to public health efforts; Uses data and conducts analyses that contribute to new or adapted guidance adapted guidance for sector projects that have a profound effect on program or training capabilities and/or operating procedures. ~OR~ Ph. D or equivalent doctoral degree OR 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree OR LL.M. in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the work of the position. ~AND~ Time-in-Grade (TIG) Requirements: Current or Formal Federal employees, including current Peace Corps employees, must meet applicable TIG requirements to be considered eligible. To meet TIG for positions above the FP-09 (GS-05) grade level, you must have served at least one year (52 weeks) at the next lower grade (or equivalent) in the normal line of progression for the position to which you are applying. All current or former Federal employees (including internal employees) must provide a copy of their SF-50 (you may need to submit more than one), "Notice of Personnel Action" that indicates proof of status and time-in-grade eligibility. The SF-50 must include your position, title, series, grade, step, tenure, and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). Please note: If qualifying based on education or a combination of education and experience, please review the "Education" section of this announcement. Past experience that satisfies the Specialized Experience MUST be well documented within your resume. Failure to provide this information in your resume with corresponding start and end dates (month, day, and year) of employment, the number of hours worked per week, and location of employment may result in disqualification from further consideration. Specialized Experience may have been gained in the public sector, private sector, or through volunteer work done with National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) or other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. 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. Peace Corps employees are employed using the Foreign Personnel (FP) pay scale. 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 grade and the FP-01 is the highest senior-level grade. Education Basic Requirements: Bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree: major study in an academic field related to the medical field, health sciences or allied sciences appropriate to the work of the position. This degree must be from an educational program from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education(external link) at the time the degree was obtained. 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 A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Transcripts can be official or unofficial. A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the second year (total graduate semester hours minus 36) by 18. Add the two percentages. 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. Foreign Education: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html Additional Information The minimum and maximum salaries listed on this announcement include locality pay. 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. Telework eligible positions do not guarantee telework. See Peace Corps Manual Section 623 for agency policy regarding telework. The Peace Corps uses E-Verify, an Internet-based system, to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States. Learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities. This is a drug-free workplace and we promote a drug-free environment. Additional hiring needs may be filled through this vacancy. Intelligence Background Information: Peace Corps Manual Section 611 is applicable to this position: This 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 a completed Intelligence Background Questionnaire upon request, 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 disqualification from 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.