Senior Political Specialist at U.S. Embassy to Kenya

Duties

• The incumbent, the senior LE Staff member in the Political Section, serves as the senior policy advisor to the Ambassador, Deputy Chief of Mission, and Political Section staff.
• The incumbent leads a three-person LE Staff team covering the full spectrum of political issues in Kenya and U.S.-Kenya relations. Within the three-person team, the incumbent is the line supervisor with rating responsibility for one person.
• The incumbent serves as the primary liaison between the Ambassador, Deputy Chief of Mission, and Political Section staff and senior leaders across the full range of Kenyan society.
• The incumbent maintains the Political Section’s contacts with senior Kenyan government officials at both the national, regional, and county level, including officials in the office of the president, deputy president, members of the cabinet, parliamentarians, political party leaders, trade unions, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, religious organizations, multilateral organizations, and media houses. 
• The incumbent influences and negotiates with these Kenyan contacts in furtherance of U.S. foreign policy goals and further advises the Ambassador, Deputy Chief of Mission, and Political Section staff on optimal ways to undertake both private and public diplomacy outreach.
• In addition, the incumbent briefs visiting U.S. officials on the stability of the Kenyan government, attitudes toward the United States, and implications for U.S. policy objectives in the region.
• The incumbent possesses significant analytical writing skills, including the ability to adhere to stringent State Department writing guidelines, and produces written work that is often passed on to Washington, and which requires minimal edits and supervision.
• The incumbent regularly monitors and analyzes the Kenyan political and security landscape to advise the Ambassador, Deputy Chief of Mission, and Political Section staff on optimal ways to advance U.S. interests.
• To develop specialized knowledge and draft predictive reports, the incumbent must obtain information from a variety of senior Kenyan government officials and civil society organizations that is unavailable in the public domain and assess the information against the known biases and agendas of those who provide it.
• The incumbent occasionally facilitates roundtable discussions with a broad range of participants on political topics of interest for the benefit of the Ambassador, Deputy Chief of Mission, and Political Section staff.
• The incumbent briefs visiting U.S. officials on current political trends and arranges meetings for U.S. officials with their Kenyan counterparts to advance U.S. foreign policy objectives.

Qualifications and Evaluations

Education Requirements:

• University Degree in Political Science, International Relations, Law, Business Studies or related field is required.

Evaluations:

• You will be evaluated against the qualifications and requirements in this vacancy announcement. 
• You may be asked to complete a pre-employment language or skills test.
• You must complete the application form and provide the required documents. 
• Your application must address all the position qualifications and requirements including education, experience, language, and any knowledge/skills/abilities listed. 
• If you fail to submit a complete application, then your application may be disqualified for this position. 

Qualifications:

Language: 

• English: Level IV (Fluent)
• Kiswahili: Level IV (Fluent)