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Historian

Department of State
Department of State - Agency Wide
This job announcement has closed

Resumes limited to two pages

Summary

This position is located in the Office of the Historian, Declassification Coordination, Publishing, and Digital Initiatives Division, Foreign Service Institute (FSI/OH). The Office publishes the Congressionally mandated documentary record of U.S. foreign policy; the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series; prepares other compilations and narrative historical studies; and delivers training to Departmental personnel.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
12/14/2023 to 12/26/2023
Salary
$64,957 to - $102,166 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 09 - 11
Location
Washington, DC
1 vacancy
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
13
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Sensitive Compartmented Information
Drug test
Yes
Position sensitivity and risk
Special-Sensitive (SS)/High Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
FSI-2024-0002
Control number
766060500

Duties

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  • Participates in executing the program for coordinating declassification reviews within the Department and other U.S. agencies of documents proposed for publication in the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series.
  • Analyzes Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) manuscripts to identify U.S. Government agencies that must review documents for declassification based on origin or equity in the contents of the documents.
  • Prepares electronic database records for Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) declassification coordination cases.
  • Serves as a specialist on U.S. foreign relations history.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship is required.
  • Incumbent will be subject to random drug testing.
  • Must be able to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance.
  • Obtain/maintain eligibility to access Sensitive Compartmented Information
  • Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit: www.dhs.gov/E-Verify/

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all the qualification requirements described below by the closing date of this announcement. If you are qualifying based on education OR if there are mandatory education requirements listed below, you MUST submit a copy of your college transcript with your application.

Applicants must have the required experience or education as described below and meet any selective factors, when specified.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS:

Have a bachelor's or graduate degree from an accredited college or university in history;

OR

Have a bachelor's or graduate degree from an accredited college or university in a field related to history that included at least 18 semester hours in history;

OR

Have a combination of education and experience where your coursework was equivalent to a major in history, or a major in a related field, that included at least 18 semester hours in history, PLUS appropriate relevant experience OR additional education.

Note: All applicants MUST submit transcripts as verification of educational requirement by the closing date of this announcement. If you fail to provide requested information, or the information you submit is insufficient to verify your eligibility, you WILL lose consideration for this position.

Applicants applying to the GS-09:

IN ADDITION to meeting one of the basic entry qualifications requirements listed above, the applicant MUST also meet one of the requirements listed below:

Have at least 1 full year of specialized experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. This experience is related to the work of the position and equivalent to at least the GS-07 level in the Federal service.

Qualifying specialized experience must demonstrate the following:

  • Experience conducting historical studies of major significance concerning the diplomatic, military, political, economic, and/or cultural history of the United States.
  • Experience maintaining metadata from historical documents in electronic databases.
  • Experience applying digital history tools to scholarly research.
  • Experience researching historical documents in online documentary collections and multiple databases.

OR

Have 2 full years of progressively higher- level graduate education leading to master's degree or master's OR equivalent graduate degree from an accredited college or university. This education demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities to do the work of the position to be filled.

OR

Have a combination of graduate level education and specialized experience as described above, which is equivalent to the work of the position and to the GS-07 level in the Federal service. This education and experience must meet 100% of the qualification requirements for this position.

Note: All applicants MUST submit transcripts as verification of educational requirement by the closing date of this announcement. If you fail to provide requested information, or the information you submit is insufficient to verify your eligibility, you WILL lose consideration for this position.

Applicants applying to the GS-11:

IN ADDITION to meeting one of the basic entry qualifications requirements listed above, the applicant MUST also meet one of the requirements listed below:

Have at least 1 year of specialized experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. This experience must be related to the work of the position and equivalent to at least the GS-09 level in the Federal service.

Qualifying specialized experience must demonstrate the following:

  • Experience conducting historical studies of major significance concerning the diplomatic, military, political, economic, and/or cultural history of the United States.
  • Experience applying historical research methodologies, concepts, and principles regarding U.S. foreign relations and diplomatic history.
  • Experience maintaining metadata from historical documents in electronic databases.
  • Experience applying digital history tools to scholarly research.
  • Experience researching historical documents in online documentary collections and multiple databases.

OR

Have 3 full years of progressively higher- level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree OR Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities to do the work of the position to be filled.

OR

Have a combination of graduate level education and specialized experience which is equivalent to the work of the position and equivalent to the GS0-9 level in the Federal service. This education and experience must meet 100% of the qualification requirements for this position.

Note: All applicants MUST submit transcripts as verification of educational requirement by the closing date of this announcement. If you fail to provide requested information, or the information you submit is insufficient to verify your eligibility, you WILL lose consideration for this position.

Education

See the qualifications section of this vacancy announcement for education requirements.

Additional information

  • For reasonable accommodation at the U.S. Department of State, please contact the Office of Accessibility and Accommodations at (202) 663-3474 or OAA@state.gov.
  • If eligible, telework agreements may be permitted with supervisory approval. 
  • Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.  If eligible, applicants to this announcement may be referred to other similar positions in other Bureaus/Offices in the Department for up to 240 days.  Telework eligibility and security clearance requirements may vary for such similar positions. 

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Once the application process is complete, a review of your resume will be conducted and compared against your responses to the assessment questions to determine if you are qualified for this job.  Note:  Responses to questions that are not fully supported by the information in your resume may result in adjustments to your rating. 

Applicants who meet the minimum qualification requirements, as described in the “Qualifications” section of this announcement, will be assigned to one of three quality categories:

  1. Qualified - In addition to meeting minimum qualifications, applicants must demonstrate a basic level of the required competencies (knowledge, skills and abilities) for the position.
  2. Well Qualified - In addition to meeting minimum qualifications, applicants must demonstrate proficiency in some but not all of the required competencies (knowledge, skills, and abilities) for the position.
  3. Highly Qualified - In addition to meeting minimum qualifications, applicants must fully demonstrate proficiency in all of the required competencies (knowledge, skills and abilities) for the position.

Highly Qualified applicants may be referred to the hiring manager for further consideration and possible interview.  The category assignment is a measure of the degree in which your background matches the competencies (knowledge, skills, and abilities) required for this position. Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies:

  • Knowledge of U.S. society, foreign relations, and world events.
  • Ability to conduct historical research in primary source foreign relations documents.
  • Ability to write historical manuscripts based largely on primary source documents.
  • Ability to analyze and evaluate information derived from a variety of sources.
  • Ability to communicate orally.
  • Ability to establish and maintain liaison with officials.

Veterans: Qualified veterans who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10% are listed in the Highly Qualified category [,except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level, or higher. This position is considered scientific/professional. REMOVE THIS TEXT IF THE POSITION IS NOT SCIENTIFIC OR PROFESSIONAL].  Other 10-point preference eligible and veterans with 5-point preference who meet the eligibility and qualification requirements are placed above non-preference eligible applicants within the category in which they qualify.  View information on veterans' preference on OPM’s Fed Hire Vets website.

Agency and Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP and ICTAP) Eligibles: If you have never been a Federal employee, you are not CTAP or ICTAP eligible. View information about CTAP and ICTAP eligibility on OPM's Career Transition Resources website. You must be rated in the Well-Qualified category for this position and submit the supporting documents listed under the required documents section of this job announcement to receive consideration for selection priority. 


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