Foreign Agriculture Service- Program Analyst

Aug 12, 2015 | U.S. Department of Agriculture
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The incumbent of this position serves as an Advisor for Agriculture and Food Security in the Disaster Response and Mitigation Division (DRM) of the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) within the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA).  The incumbent will advise OFDA and DCHA Senior Management on food security, livelihood and agriculture issues for populations at risk in famine, conflict, or disaster affected areas.  The incumbent will also provide input on programs related to disaster risk reduction and resilience in areas of chronic food insecurity.  The incumbent will be part of the Food Security Unit in the Preparation, Strategic Planning, and Mitigation (PSPM) office.  Primary geographic emphasis is on Africa, but overall focus is global.



The Office of Capacity Building and Development (OCBD), a program area of the Foreign Agricultural Service, is responsible for planning, conducting, administering, and coordinating the Department of Agriculture's programs on international trade capacity building, sustainable agriculture and food security. OCBD also coordinates the Department’s relationships with international organizations.

The Development Resources and Disaster Assistance Division (DRDAD) of OCBD
coordinates USDA’s participation in technical assistance, training, and development programs undertaken on behalf of developing nations. Specific emphasis is oriented toward, but not limited to, administering and implementing U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) funded programs under Participating Agency Service Agreements (PASAs). The Post Conflict and Disaster Assistance Branch of DRDAD manage these agreements with USAID for USDA experts in specific technical fields to provide long- and short-term services and advice to USAID-managed programs in Washington and the field.

This is an excepted service, time-limited, term appointment for up to 5 years, with the possibility of renewals. Excepted service positions do not afford competitive status.

TRAVEL REQUIRED

  • Occasional Travel
  • Domestic and overseas travel required.

RELOCATION AUTHORIZED

  • No

KEY REQUIREMENTS

  • US Citizenship is required.
  • Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.

DUTIES:

Following are the major, though not all inclusive, duties of this position:

  • Conducts sector-specific assessments and make expert technical recommendations for appropriate activities, both for the initial disaster response phase and for longer-term disaster risk reduction or rebuilding of livelihoods.
  • Provides critical field-level assessments of the agricultural situation as it relates to food security. Applies assessment information to programming decisions, based on a thorough understanding of the seed security framework, seed system security assessments and how both the framework and assessment information inform emergency programming in the agricultural sector.
  • Actively represents USAID/OFDA in emergency agriculture and food security sector discussions and activities. Provides expert technical and organizational leadership in sectoral activity commensurate with the role as a primary resource person for emergency agriculture and food security.
  • Guides OFDA thinking on agriculture and food security activities, and formulates sector strategies and recommendations, both for response and disaster risk reduction, and provide expert technical support for OFDA field offices, other offices within USAID, and to OFDA’s Technical Assistance Group (TAG) for the agriculture and food security sector.
  • Responsible for program planning in area of expertise and informing USAID management of potential issues associated thereof.  Supports regional teams in program development, monitoring and evaluation.  Plans and schedules activities and coordinates program planning with relevant USAID and USDA staff and external partners.
  • Provides technical, analytical, administrative, and/or managerial support for all stages of program implementation.  Integrates program activities to meet planned results and anticipated impact or revisions thereof.
  • Provides USAID Bureau(s) and field Missions technical and analytical guidance on issues related to program area of responsibility; identifies options for technical assistance in view of economic, ecological, research and/or policy considerations.