Financial Economist

Summary

Announcement may be used to fill similar positions within 90 days of the closing date.

About this agency

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Duties

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This position is located in the Country Risk and Economic Analysis Division (CREA), Office of Economic Analysis, Office of the Chief Strategy Officer, Export-Import Bank of the United States. The CREA is primarily responsible for assessing the external creditworthiness of approximately 140 countries. In that capacity, CREA participates in two important country risk for a: 1) it serves as the Secretariat for the Inter-Agency Country Risk Assessment System (ICRAS), whose risk ratings determine the budget cost levels for all USG international loans, guarantees, and insurance; 2) it is a major participant in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) Country Risk Experts' Group, which determine risk classifications that set minimum risk premia for all member export credit agencies.In addition, CREA is responsible for researching country risk methodological issues and making recommendations intended to refine the country risk rating process. Finally, CREA conducts economic analysis of issues pertinent to the operations of EXIM Bank.

At the full performance level, duties include, but are not limited to:

• Performs in-depth evaluation of individual countries, focused on the assessment, examination and forecasting of economic, financial sector and political conditions that influence the repayment risk associated with U.S Government lending to foreign countries.
• Identifying ongoing and potential country creditworthiness problems, planning research in assessing these problems, ensuring the accuracy of research results, and presenting findings and implications through CREA's Global Risk Weekly and Annual Global Risk and Economic Outlook;
• Performs foreign exchange guarantee availability assessments and makes recommendations on the eligibility of currencies for the EXIM Foreign Currency Program
• Briefing EXIM Bank's Board of Directors, senior management, and EXIM colleagues; and representing EXIM Bank in various forums, including external speaking engagements.
• Managing and supervising various processes for CREA to include but not restricted to: Country Limitation Schedule; Records Management, ICRAS, MAX, etc.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship
• Background and Security/Suitability Investigation
• May be required to serve a one-year probationary period
• Specialized experience MUST be documented on your resume
• Current or Former Political Appointees: If you are, or have been employed in the last 5 years, you must disclose this information. Failure to do so may result in disciplinary action including removal from Federal Service.
• May require financial disclosure of personal and immediate family financial holdings, outside positions, and interests.
• CRITICAL SENSITIVE National Security position (requires Top Secret)
• The incumbent for this position will be subject to random drug testing once they begin working for EXIM.

Qualifications

CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT: CRITICAL SENSITIVE (requiring Top Secret) This position is designated as a TOP SECRET National Security position. Prior to appointment (Entrance on Duty), it requires a fully completed and favorably adjudicated National Security Background Investigation (SSBI or SSBI-PR) that is current (within the last 5 years).

Basic Requirements:

Degree: economics, that included at least 21 semester hours in economics and 3 semester hours in statistics, accounting, or calculus.

OR

Combination of education and experience : courses equivalent to a major in economics, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

In addition to the Basic Requirements noted above, applicants must also meet and demonstrate the specialized experience listed below:

GS-14: You must have one (1) year of specialized experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-13 level in the Federal Government or other equivalent pay systems. Specialized experience includes:

• Experience evaluating and forecasting economic, financial, and political conditions of foreign countries to assess sovereign credit risk and support lending, financing, or risk management decisions.
• Experience conducting complex country creditworthiness research; developing or enhancing risk assessment methodologies; and providing authoritative analysis and recommendations to senior leadership on country or sovereign risk.
• Experience identifying emerging country credit risks, leading analytical studies, preparing executive-level reports and briefings, and presenting findings to senior officials, executive leadership, or external stakeholders.
• Experience leading or overseeing economic research processes or analytical programs, including mentoring staff, coordinating with interagency partners, and evaluating foreign exchange or country risk policies to support organizational objectives.

Education cannot be substituted for experience at the GS-14 grade level.For qualification determinations, your resume must contain the following for each work experience listed:

• Organization/Agency's Name
• Title
• Salary (series and grade, if applicable)
• Start and end dates (including the month and year)
• Number of hours you worked per week
• Relevant experience that supports your response to the specialized experience that is stated in the job announcement

If your resume does not contain this information, your application may be marked as incomplete and you will not receive consideration for this position.

NOTE: Do not copy and paste the duties or specialized experience from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications and your application may be marked as incomplete/ineligible and you will not receive consideration for this position.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Part-time and/or unpaid experience related to this position will be considered to determine the total number of years and months of experience. Be sure to note the number of paid or unpaid hours worked each week.

Foreign Education: If you are qualifying by education and/or you have education completed in a foreign college/university described above, it is your responsibility to provide transcripts and proof of U.S. accreditation for foreign study. Please visit the following links for more information: Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined here.

All requirements must be met by 08/24/2026, the closing date of the announcement.

Education

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

Current or Former Political Appointees: Pursuant to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) oversight authority under section 1104(b)(2) of title 5, United States Code (U.S.C.) and section 5.2 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, OPM requires agencies to seek their approval prior to appointing any current or former political appointee to a permanent position (without time limits) in the civil service. A former or recent political appointee is someone who held a political appointment covered by OPM's policy within the previous 5-year period. OPM's oversight in this area safeguards merit system principles as well as fair and open competition free from political influence. If you are currently employed, or have been employed within the last 5 years, you must disclose this information. Failure to disclose this information could result in disciplinary action including removal from Federal Service.

Please visit the following link for the types of political appointments.

Noncompetitive Appointment Authorities: The following links contain information on the eligibility requirements to be considered under a noncompetitive appointing authority:

• Career Transition (ICTAP/CTAP)
• Primary Appointing Authorities for Career and Career-Conditional Appointments
• Hiring Authorities for Veterans
• People with Disabilities

Selective Service: If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System, or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law.

This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency. The decision on granting reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.

Ethical Standards/Financial Disclosure:

EXIM is committed to the highest ethical standards. As an employee, you will be covered by the criminal conflict of interest statutes and the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch. You will be required to complete new employee ethics training within 3 months of your appointment.

If this position is subject to financial disclosure requirements (either public or confidential depending upon your position), you will be required to complete a new entrant financial disclosure report within 30 days of your appointment.

Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) Eligibles: These programs apply to employees who have been involuntarily separated from a Federal service position within the competitive service or Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: 1) meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria; 2) be rated well-qualified for the position with a score of 80 or above based on the competencies listed above; and 3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility. For more information, please click here.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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