Program Specialist - Foreign Service Institute, Area Studies Training Support

LEVEL: Mid-level

LOCATION: St. Petersburg, FL or Washington, DC area

TYPE: Full Time Regular Employment, with Benefits. Hybrid position with office days each week.

DEADLINE: Rolling – shortlisted candidates will be contacted immediately. Position will remain open until filled.

McColm & Company (McCO) is a fast-growing, mission-driven and customer-focused consulting firm that equips change makers with the knowledge, skills, and insights they need to succeed in an increasingly complex world. McCO specializes in supporting U.S. federal customers in the foreign policy and national security space by managing bespoke professional training programs, delivering effective capacity building solutions, and providing highly specialized technical advisory and analysis expertise to decision makers.

McCO has an immediate opening for a Program Specialist to join our team to provide program support to the Area Studies Division at the Foreign Service Institute at the U.S. Department of State. The successful candidates will support the Program Manager in ensuring seamless delivery and programmatic support to the program and customer. The position offers the opportunity to have a direct and tangible impact on the training and preparation of U.S. diplomats and foreign affairs professionals as they prepare for challenging assignments at Embassies and consulates around the world as well as the opportunity to engage with some of the top experts in international affairs and national security who are contracted to support training requirements.

Requirements

Reporting to the Program Manager, the successful candidate will be expected to use a wide degree of experience, resourcefulness, creativity, and judgement to work with the team to plan and accomplish organizational objectives related to program needs and success. Specific duties may include the following:

Duties & Requirements:

• Provide support to the Program Manager in administrative and programmatic day-to-day operations of the contract.
• Manage the Guest Speakers program which involves coordination with high level individuals from academia, foreign policy and national security arenas to provide expert lectures in Area Studies courses.
• Management and processing of honoraria requests for high level Guest Speakers

• Monitoring Guest Speaker appearances and producing required documents
• Managing and responding to Guest Speakers queries
• Monitoring Guest Speakers from invitation to payment to ensure complete workflows.
• Copyedit and format Course grids and syllabi, and other materials prior to distribution to students
• Manage recruitment of new instructors
• Create and post position announcements
• Conduct research to identify qualified candidates
• Review and evaluate applications, managing candidate pipeline
• Support onboarding of new instructors:
• Schedule interviews with applicants
• Draft consulting agreements for new instructors
• Create and troubleshoot instructor accounts (corporate email and State Dept IT)
• Assist with calendar management and scheduling of meetings.
• Assist with writing project reports and preparing invoicing documentation.
• Assist with maintaining project records.
• Take minutes of meetings and action items.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications & Previous Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in international relations, political science, public policy and administration or related field.
• At least 5 years of relevant work experience with understanding of basic project management;
• International experience and topical knowledge about foreign affairs, national security, and international development is highly desirable;
• Experience with State Department, Defense Department, USAID, and/or government contracting is highly desirable;
• Ability to take ownership of tasks and work independently, managing deadlines and prioritizing between multiple tasks;
• Strong administrative and IT skills: experienced user of Microsoft Office in particular Excel and familiarity with cloud-based collaboration tools is highly desired;
• Outstanding written, verbal, and interpersonal communications skills, with advanced copyediting skills in English;
• Strong attention to detail with emphasis on quality and accuracy;
• Possess and demonstrate excellent judgment and reliability;
• Team player, with a positive, flexible, can-do attitude that contributes to the culture of collegiality, supportiveness, and quality of life at a small company;
• Must be an energetic, enthusiastic, and positive collaborative team player;
• Ability to pass background check;
• Ability to legally work in the US without employer sponsorship.

Benefits

• This position is eligible to participate in McCO's benefits program, which includes 11 paid holidays, generous PTO, health, dental, vision, and disability insurances, and 401k benefits;
• The unique opportunity to work on projects that support U.S. foreign policy and national security as part of a highly dynamic group of individuals who combine their passion to make a difference with a rigorous and results-oriented approach to their work;
• On-the-job mentoring with a space to develop, grow, and challenge yourself; and
• Flexible work schedule with hybrid office/remote work environment.

McColm & Company is an equal opportunity employer offering employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, gender identity or expression, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

Due to the high volume of applications McCO receives and to ensure we comply with our internal hiring policies, we regret we are not able to respond to individual phone calls or emails regarding application status.