Jr Program Specialist

Supporting the Most Exciting and Meaningful Missions in the World

Macfadden, an Amentum company, is seeking Junior Program Specialists (JPSs) to support USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA). BHA leads and coordinates the U.S. Government’s humanitarian assistance efforts overseas in response to natural disasters and protracted crises. The bureau also supports early recovery efforts that restore and protect basic systems and services and invests in risk reduction programs that prevent or reduce risks associated with chronic and recurrent hazards.

Specific duties for a JPS will vary based on office, division, and team assignments. The JPS is expected to provide administrative, programmatic, and/or operational support to their assigned BHA team, division, or office. In addition to performing all standard Program Assistant (PA) duties, the JPS is expected to provide more sophisticated, specialized, or technical support due to their familiarity with the BHA work environment or their previous professional work experience usually in USG, non-profit, or international settings.

Day-to-day work assignments and oversight will be provided by a BHA point-of-contact (POC), e.g. division chiefs, team leads, or deputy team leads, with formal supervisory and evaluation functions performed by a Macfadden contract supervisor.

For reference, the standard PA duties under the JPS remit include and are not limited to:

• Maintaining activity calendars and team schedules;
• Organizing team meetings, calls, or other events, including sending out invitations and reminders, developing agendas, and managing room or facility reservations, phone bridge lines, and other logistics;
• Attending meetings and events on behalf of a team in a note-taking or administrative-support capacity;
• Creating and managing folders and filing systems on behalf of a team;
• Supporting the onboarding of new staff of various hiring mechanisms;
• Serving as a timekeeper for BHA personnel in USAID’s time and attendance system;
• Liaising or coordinating with BHA’s Administrative Management Services Team to process administrative requests and memos;
• Assisting with listserv creation and management;
• Drafting, updating, editing, and/or coordinating the collaboration on programmatic, technical, or administrative memos and other documents;
• Facilitating the clearance of programmatic, technical, or administrative memos and other documents, including following up on pending details and ensuring deadlines are met;
• Researching, collecting, and analyzing data in response to internal or external data requests; and
• Updating programmatic, technical, or administrative trackers and consistently monitoring data quality.

For PAs/JPSs assigned to award-related support, additional duties include:

• Conducting the initial review and processing of incoming applications, including reviewing submissions for completeness, performing initial data entry, and compiling feedback from programmatic and technical staff;
• Preparing award packages;
• Organizing and maintaining grant documentation, including grantee reports and correspondence;
• Tracking grantee evaluation, monitoring, and reporting compliance;
• Reviewing and preparing post-award management documentation in support of Agreement Officer Representatives; and
• Monitoring, tracking, and processing programmatic close-out actions.

Overall, in addition to performing the PA duties outlined above, JPSs are expected to:

• Understand the international humanitarian system and the operational context for BHA’s work, e.g. be familiar with the political, social, and economic circumstances in which BHA partners operate, the BHA or USG policies that affect BHA’s activities, etc.;
• Understand the preferred operating procedures and processes of their individual team while being familiar with different programming or technical contexts;
• Serve as office, division, or team focal points for special projects or workflows as requested by their BHA POC;
• Contribute institutional knowledge and help maintain continuity of operations during BHA staff shortages, e.g. when colleagues are serving on a BHA response;
• Prepare memos, talking points, reports, spreadsheets, or presentations as required in support of their assigned team in response to ad hoc information requests from BHA Senior Management, USAID Senior Management, or other USG entities;
• Serve on BHA responses as needed and as requested by BHA;
• Suggest improvements to systems or processes that make BHA’s work more efficient, including by participating in bureau- or office-level working groups;
• Offer comments and suggestions on new BHA policies and procedures or proposed changes to BHA policies and procedures;
• Provide considered advice, opinions, recommendations, or ideas to BHA staff to address questions or issues or inform deliverables in their areas of work using independent judgment and based on analysis of available qualitative and quantitative data; and
• Provide guidance and mentorship to new or more junior Macfadden staff assigned to their respective office, division, or team.

For JPSs assigned to Management and Integration Teams (MITs), additional duties and expectations may include:

• Providing technical expertise for the MIT on task management and administrative or personnel-support functions for the assigned office, as appropriate, including recruitment, training, onboarding, timekeeping, travel, and other related duties; and
• Being cross-trained on multiple MIT portfolios or workstreams and backstopping across multiple portfolios or workstreams if needed.

For JPSs assigned to regional teams in BHA’s geographic offices, additional duties and expectations may include:

• Possessing or being able to quickly develop an in-depth understanding of BHA systems and processes, e.g. Abacus, BHA’s Emergency Application Guidelines, etc.;
• Serving as a focal point for BHA applicant or partner questions and issues, in coordination with their assigned BHA team;
• Facilitating discussions among stakeholders within BHA, e.g. working closely with Humanitarian Assistance Officers (HAOs) or Agreement Officer Representatives (AORs), Grants Unit staff, BHA field staff, Office of Technical and Program Quality colleagues, etc., to ensure a coordinated response to BHA applicant/partner questions and issues;
• Reviewing the content of applications, proposals, or concept notes and providing feedback to BHA staff;
• Drafting issues letters and transmitting internally cleared letters to applicants on behalf of activity managers, AORs, or HAOs;
• Participating in, preparing for, taking notes at, and providing readouts of calls or meetings with BHA applicants and partners;
• Regularly gathering information from partners and/or reviewing partner reports containing qualitative information and quantitative data on award activity and implementation to determine award progress;
• Proposing or drafting action recommendations for the HAO/AOR to review and clear;
• Supporting or overseeing the tracking of their team or division’s budget; and
• Contributing to strategic discussions at the team, division, or office level, e.g. providing input and recommendations on fiscal-year timelines, workflow processes, team-level projects, types of information to track, etc.

For JPSs assigned to BHA’s Office of Global Policy, Partnerships, Programs and Communications (G3PC), additional duties and expectations may include:

• Tracking key developments related to USG appropriations and funding cycles, Congressional hearings or inquiries, or multilateral engagement with other donor governments, UN agencies, NGO partners, etc.;
• Drafting talking points or memos in response to Congressional or other inquiries;
• Drafting documents that clearly convey BHA’s policy and programmatic priorities for both internal and external audiences;
• Coordinating with staff throughout BHA on policy, programmatic, or budget issues and supporting BHA’s participation in high-level engagements within the agency, USG, and international humanitarian systems;
• Facilitating BHA inputs into USAID or USG policy, programmatic, or budget discussions to ensure BHA equities are represented;
• Facilitating, attending, taking notes at, and providing readouts of meetings with representatives from USG offices, other donor governments, UN agencies, NGO partners, etc.;
• Tracking changes to BHA award-making and management processes, policy, and requirements and ensuring G3PC staff are kept up to date on these changes; and
• Supporting the coordination, processing, and management of G3PC awards and analyzing programmatic reports and audits, as well as BHA responses to partner inquiries.

For JPSs assigned to BHA’s Office of Technical and Program Quality (TPQ), additional duties and expectations may include:

• Possessing the technical knowledge to assist TPQ technical advisors in identifying humanitarian, disaster risk reduction (DRR), resilience, and early recovery issues, priorities, lessons learned, and opportunities in the technical sector of responsibility;
• Supporting coordination with sector-specific teams in other USAID bureaus, including USAID’s Bureau for Policy, Planning, and Learning (PPL), Bureau for Resilience and Food Security (RFS), Bureau for Global Health (GH), and Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation (DDI), as well as with other key USAID partners on subject matter area, best practices, and harmonization of indicators;
• Under the direction of the TPQ technical advisors, supporting technical reviews of concept notes and applications for conceptual soundness feasibility, as well as budgets for disaster assistance activities, resilience projects, and operational research;
• Supporting the coordination, processing, and management of TPQ applications and awards and analyzing programmatic reports and audits, as well as BHA responses to partner inquiries;
• Fostering and maintaining communications and contact with BHA stakeholders, e.g. BHA geographical office colleagues, Grants Unit staff, etc., to ensure coordination of activities and interaction with shared partners in technical area;
• Participating in, preparing for, taking notes at, and providing readouts of interagency or sector-stakeholder calls or meetings, as assigned by the BHA POC;
• Contributing to strategic discussions at the team, division, or office level, e.g. providing input and recommendations on fiscal-year timelines, workflow processes, team-level projects, types of information to track, etc.; and
• Supporting periodic technical-advisor site visits to the assigned region of responsibility to monitor award activity in the assigned technical area, if requested.

For JPSs assigned to BHA’s Office of Field and Response Operations (FARO), additional duties and expectations may include:

• Supporting office leadership or Field Operations Division personnel by collecting, organizing, or analyzing data; organizing stakeholder engagement events; drafting summary documents or requests for information; or assisting with other similar technical work in support of division projects;
• Providing administrative and operational support focusing on staff and partner safety and duty of care; critical incident response; specialized response capabilities, like Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) and wildfire response; and technical services to facilitate operational planning;
• Contributing to the maintenance of systems and processes that enhance the operational efficiency and effectiveness of the administrative response positions, including the development of handbooks and toolkits;
• Participating in, preparing for, taking notes at, and providing readouts of interagency or stakeholder calls or meetings, as assigned by the BHA POC;
• Collaborating as required with BHA administrative management specialists in recruiting, onboarding, training, and related activities for field and response staff; and
• Contributing to strategic discussions by providing input and recommendations on fiscal-year timelines, workflow processes, office, team, and field projects, types of information to track, etc.

A JPS assigned to a BHA office not specified above will still perform administrative, programmatic, and/or operational support duties similar to those outlined.

Education, Experience, and Skills Requirements

JPS candidates with a minimum of three years of professional experience and a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree are preferred. Professional experience may include internships. Candidates preferably have a minimum of one year of experience as a BHA Program Assistant.

Qualified JPS candidates should:

• Possess excellent judgment and reliability,
• Have strong organizational skills and exceptional attention to detail,
• Possess excellent oral and written communication skills,
• Have strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office and Google Suite,
• Be able to multitask and work under deadlines in a fast-paced and collaborative environment,
• Be capable of prioritizing tasks and follow up on actions without prompting,
• Be flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances, and
• Be willing to go the extra mile and participate as an active team member who assists other team members as necessary.

Ability to obtain and maintain a US Government issued Secret clearance for the duration of your employment. One of the requirements for a US Government Secret clearance is US citizenship. Only applicants who currently hold an active Secret or higher-level security clearance or who are eligible to receive a Secret security clearance will be considered for this position.

Amentum is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our hiring practices provide equal opportunity for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, gender, national origin, age, United States military veteran’s status, ancestry, sexual orientation, marital status, family structure, medical condition including genetic characteristics or information, veteran status, or mental or physical disability so long as the essential functions of the job can be performed with or without reasonable accommodation, or any other protected category under federal, state, or local law.

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