Program Assistant w/Active Secret Clearance

XL Associates, Inc. (XLA) has provided institutional support services to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for over twenty years. 

XLA is now seeking candidates to support the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security (RFS). This is a great opportunity for those seeking to begin a career in international development to get their foot in the door and gain valuable experience supporting USAID.  The primary work location is the Ronald Reagan Building in downtown Washington, DC. 

The newly reorganized RFS will strengthen coordination across the technical areas of agriculture-led growth, resilience, nutrition, and water security, sanitation and hygiene and provide state-of-the-art services to the field. The Program Specialists will provide support to the RFS to assist in standing up Country Support Teams (CSTs) and provide programmatic and administrative support to each of the bureau’s Offices and Centers, as well as other Bureau functions as assigned. Program Specialists will provide a crucial service to coordinate and manage the increased information flow and analysis that will be necessary to support the function of Technical Centers, Support Offices, and a robust new field support model. Each Program Specialist will be assigned a geographic and/or technical area of responsibility and work closely with their teams on assignments.

Key responsibilities include:

• Research, Analysis, Informational Content Generation, and Knowledge Management
• Research, coordination and production of various information products, including fact sheets, strategic country narratives, and other spreadsheets, situational updates, briefers, briefing books
• Meeting notes / summaries of conclusions
• Management of online knowledge management portals
• Coordinate with other Program Specialists to link Office/Transition Team resources
• Information dissemination within and across CSTs, Transition Teams, and Leadership councils
• Assist in the production of success stories, strategic narratives, and other public documents
• Basic Project Management
• Provide basic project management assistance. Specific tasks will include documentation of project activities, milestones, challenges, opportunities, and lessons learned.
• Administration
• Provide basic administration of routine work done by the CSTs and Technical Teams.
• Setting up meetings/calls such as by sending out invitations, following up with participants, and working with the administrative staff to book lines and rooms.
• Sending out routine requests for information, meeting/call readouts, and updates.
• Tracking and following clearances for bureau documentation and ensuring that such formal documentation is of a high-quality nature.

• Must have an active Secret Clearance
• Bachelor’s Degree or higher
• At least 3 years of relevant professional experience
• Ability to handle multiple tasks and projects effectively and concurrently
• Proactive approach to work and the ability to anticipate needs
• Strong oral, interpersonal, and written communication skills
• Strong prioritization and organization skills to meet deadlines
• Positive and professional attitude and demeanor
• Detail-oriented and dedicated to producing quality work products
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, experience with Google Drive is a plus
• Experience with USAID, USG or other related organization is preferred

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): XLA is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, XLA will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations in the hiring process. We encourage qualified individuals with disabilities to apply. If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process or to perform essential job functions, please contact our HR team by phone at 703-584-8317 or via email at humanresources@xla.com.  For persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, deafblind, or deaf-disabled, XLA will provide an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter where needed as a reasonable accommodation for the hiring processes.