Program Specialist III

Competitive Innovations, LLC (CI) is seeking a Program Specialist III to support the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL). The Program Specialist shall be responsible for assisting the program analysts and the grants officers in ensuring effective execution of program requirements: establishing systematic methods of program execution, evaluation, and/or advocacy; assessing activities to determine funding requirements and to determine whether funding is warranted and available; analyzing program and budget proposals and assisting in presenting them to the State Department panels; preparing justification or recommendation memoranda for review and approval by appropriate officials; and providing follow-up problem-solving assistance, guideline interpretations, and technical consultations as required to applicants. They may assist with Departmental briefings to congressional staffers on these programs.
The Program Specialist shall assist and communicate DRLs program objectives and policies to other State Department and U.S government offices involved in programming Democracy Fund and Human Rights and Democracy Funds (HRDF) and other transfer funding to include but not limited to regional bureaus, office of Global Acquisition, office of the legal advisor, congressional liaison office, office of management and budget, DOL/ILAB, and the Office of Foreign Assistance. They liaise and assist with program administration, financial planning and acquisition of programming funds. They will assist with Congressional requests for information regarding programs and DRL program objectives, and also provide information to the NGO community and other implementing organizations regarding the USGs DRL grants processes.
The Program Specialist maintains, updates, and develops as necessary systems for the efficient and accessible retrieval of documents regarding the allocation, notification, transfer and implementation of HRDF, transfer funding, and special Congressionally mandated funds. They will track the award of grants, maintain lists of current grants and GORs, and collect and records narrative and financial reports. They will be responsible for maintaining the DRL program and organizational files.
The Program Specialist applies internal control measures to protect organizational integrity and prevent unauthorized use or misappropriation of sensitive and classified material; reports instances of security violations/problems to the appropriate supervisory/management official; assumes full responsibility for safeguarding all classified and sensitive (but unclassified) material and equipment in assignment areas.
This is a full-time position located in Washington, D.C. The salary range is $80 - 88k.

Responsibilities :

- Coordinate and assist the Program Lead in the administration and coordination of international human rights and democracy foreign assistance programs.

- Assist in the coordination of foreign assistance funding throughout the federal assistance life-cycle that include pre-award, award and post-award phases in grants and cooperative agreements.

- Assist the grants officer representative staff and grants officers to monitor grant budget execution to ensure program objectives are met.

- Collect grant documentation for review by the Grants Officer, the Front Office and decision-making committees who will select grant recipients within available funding levels.

- Liaise with offices involved in administration, financial planning and acquisition of program funding.

- Skillfully communicate verbally and in writing to provide briefings, status reviews, and recommendations upon request to the other DRL program staff and bureau personnel on grant management issues.

- Maintain and update federal assistance award information in DRL data bases.

- Track the foreign assistance lifecycle progress throughout the fiscal year.

- Liaise with grantees on administrative issues as directed by the Program Analyst.

- Maintain team calendar and ensure that team meeting occur with supervisors.

- Coordinate with the Program Analyst to ensure grant program reviews and program narratives are up to date in the DRL/PAT. Organize and maintain federal assistance award files in corresponding team shared drive.

- Under the direct supervision of the Program Lead or program analyst, assist the GOR on an award to ensure the organization is compliant with federal regulations. Provide quarterly updates, coordinate and conduct check- in meetings with grantee and draft project updates for the GOR to review.

- Attend stakeholder workshops and conferences on topics related to their duties and responsibilities, provide program monitoring and technical assistance to grantees, while supporting the FTE.

- Coordinate with the program team to create and track a yearly portfolio spend plan, as needed.

- Liaise with implementer to coordinate stakeholder workshops and prepare documents for event as needed.

Additional responsibilities may include:

- Drafts Questions for the Record (QFR) or other congressional reports, conducts the clearance process, and provides finalized report to corresponding bureau.

- With minimal supervision, review budget realignments and work with the grantee to finalize requested federal assistance award modifications before being submitted to the GOR and Grants Officer.

- Maintain working knowledge of Federal regulations and Department of State policy and procedures and work with the Grants Officer Representative and Grants Officer to determine if a project proposed activity is allowed and/or will benefit the program.

- Assist in preparing the necessary documents for Congress, the DRL Front Office, and interagency briefings.

- Assist the GOR on an award to ensure the organization is compliant with federal regulations. Provide quarterly updates, coordinate and conduct check- in meetings with grantee and draft project updates for the GOR to review.

- Organize and participate in meetings, trainings, and/or conference events.

- Undertake additional training to ensure they obtain relevant skills needed to advance U.S. policy and programming priorities and meet requirements of this SOW. Attend trainings or conferences to further knowledge in relations to duties and responsibilities listed above and/or hone expertise in regional or thematic areas including but not limited to: Democracy, Human Rights, Labor, Internet Freedom, International Religious Freedom, and Monitoring and Evaluations.

- As needed and as resources permit, the individual may be asked to directly support the travel of senior DRL, Regional Bureaus and Offices under the purview of the newly established F Bureau and U.S. Department of State officials and/or at the direction of and in coordination with the Grants Officer Representative and/or Grants Officer, conduct program monitoring visits at the project implementation site to monitor grantee activities.

- Report on program activities monitored and analyze to support both the Grants Officer Representative and/or the Grants Officer in their evaluation of programs.

Minimum Qualifications :

- Active Secret Security Clearance

- Bachelors degree with 3-5 years of experience or a masters degree with 1-3 years of experience

- Knowledge of and experience with foreign assistance and international programming

- Working knowledge of Federal regulations governing foreign assistance

- Must be able to travel globally to highly sensitive areas as needed

- Strong technical writing skills and ability to edit documents

- Experience working in professional, fast-paced, and demanding environments

- The ability to manage competing priorities and juggle taskers under short deadlines with minimal supervision

- Qualified candidates that are HUBZone residents, preferred (check your status here: https://maps.certify.sba.gov/hubzone/map#center=39.828200,-98.579500&zoom=5 )