Public Health Advisor

Security Clearance

Top Secret

Duties

Develop Agency policies for risk management of imported products and promotion and development of national and international standards, procedures, and guidance. Coordinates and collaborates with the FDA Foreign Office Director, Deputy Director, and other senior program/policy staff. Provides expert guidance in the resolution of complex problems or issues impacting FDA programs, such as those associated with gaining consensus on significant policies and international goals. Collects, analyzes, and disseminates intelligence on the current and potential new regulatory, scientific, political, social, cultural, economic, geographic, religious, and ethical state-of-affairs of countries and regions, as relevant to FDA's mission. Coordinates, and collaborates with leadership and experts within FDA to augment FDA's awareness of country conditions, to inform and develop risk-based decisions and policy actions. Develops position papers, briefings, speeches, articles, cables, and other communication to support FDA, HHS and U.S. Embassy leadership. Identifies and monitors international trends and positions that could potentially affect FDA and U.S. consumers by following in-country developments within the foreign government's public health regulatory infrastructure. Represents FDA and the U.S. Government in meetings, conferences, and/or symposiums with other FDA officials, foreign governments, international organizations, private industry, trade organizations, and consumer groups. Organizes and/or conducts expert analysis and recommendations for programs, initiatives, strategies, options, and alternatives to meet current and evolving regulatory challenges, and prepares recommendations, reports and briefings for leadership. Manages projects that include research and analysis of issues affecting the Agency's strategic plan and priorities that pertain to FDA regulated commodities in the foreign country or region. Stays up to date on current public health policies and priorities to advance the agency's global public health mission. Participates with the FDA Foreign Office Director and/or Deputy Director in the development of the office's operations, policies, program initiatives, and objectives that pertain to FDA regulated commodities.

Qualifications

In order to qualify for the Public Health Advisor position which falls under the 0685 occupational Series, you must meet the following requirements by 11:59 pm EST on 06/25/2026: To be placed into a Cures position, candidates must meet the following criteria: Scientific, Technical, and Professional Fields Qualified and Outstanding Candidates Qualified applies to all candidates for Cures appointments. The FDA OTS will use the basic requirements defined in the OPM Qualification Standards as a baseline for comparing experience levels and other candidate attributes for relevant positions. Outstanding candidates can be defined by existing outstanding work experience, outstanding performance rating, or both. Minimum Years of Experience is the new standard, rather than specialized experience, for determining and validating a Title 21 candidate's band. This standard applies across all Title 21 positions. Basic Qualification Requirements: Applicants must meet one of the following requirements: Education: A bachelor's degree or higher in a major field of study in an academic field related to the public health or other field of study with course work directly related to the work of the position to be filled. NOTE: Applicants must submit all relevant transcripts that demonstrate you possess the required education to meet the Basic Qualifications. RELEVANT YEARS OF EXPERIENCE: Applicants must meet one of the following education and relevant years of experience combinations to qualify for this AD-0685 Band D (GS-14 equivalent) position: A bachelor's degree and also have 5 years of relevant experience as follows: (1) highly skilled in developing Agency policies for risk management of imported products and promotion; and development of national and international standards, procedures, and guidance; (2) strong knowledge of FDA policies, procedures, and statutory authorities as well as an understanding of how products are regulated by foreign counterparts; (3) ability to critically analyze information, issues, and initiatives and recommend/provide expert policy advice; (4) ability to negotiate and communicate effectively verbally and in writing with internal and external officials at all levels; (5) ability to build and maintain effective relationship with U.S. and foreign governments and other in-country stakeholders. OR A master's degree and also have 4 years of relevant experience as follows: (1) highly skilled in developing Agency policies for risk management of imported products and promotion; and development of national and international standards, procedures, and guidance; (2) strong knowledge of FDA policies, procedures, and statutory authorities as well as an understanding of how products are regulated by foreign counterparts; (3) ability to critically analyze information, issues, and initiatives and recommend/provide expert policy advice; (4) ability to negotiate and communicate effectively verbally and in writing with internal and external officials at all levels; (5) ability to build and maintain effective relationship with U.S. and foreign governments and other in-country stakeholders. OR A Doctorate and/or J.D. degree and also have 2 years of relevant experience as follows: (1) highly skilled in developing Agency policies for risk management of imported products and promotion; and development of national and international standards, procedures, and guidance; (2) strong knowledge of FDA policies, procedures, and statutory authorities as well as an understanding of how products are regulated by foreign counterparts; (3) ability to critically analyze information, issues, and initiatives and recommend/provide expert policy advice; (4) ability to negotiate and communicate effectively verbally and in writing with internal and external officials at all levels; (5) ability to build and maintain effective relationship with U.S. and foreign governments and other in-country stakeholders. OR A MD, DO, DDS, DPM, or DVM degree and also have 2 years of relevant experience as follows: (1) highly skilled in developing Agency policies for risk management of imported products and promotion; and development of national and international standards, procedures, and guidance; (2) strong knowledge of FDA policies, procedures, and statutory authorities as well as an understanding of how products are regulated by foreign counterparts; (3) ability to critically analyze information, issues, and initiatives and recommend/provide expert policy advice; (4) ability to negotiate and communicate effectively verbally and in writing with internal and external officials at all levels; (5) ability to build and maintain effective relationship with U.S. and foreign governments and other in-country stakeholders. Desired Professional Experience: Highly skilled in developing Agency policies for risk management of imported products and promotion; and development of national and international standards, procedures, and guidance. Strong knowledge of FDA policies, procedures, and statutory authorities as well as an understanding of how products are regulated by foreign counterparts. Demonstrates strong analytical skills in assessing information, issues, and initiatives, translating findings into actionable policy advice. Possesses strong negotiation and communication skills, both verbal and written, for engaging with internal and external officials at all levels. Skilled in establishing and maintaining effective relationship with U.S. and foreign governments and other in-country stakeholders. Active-duty U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps Officers are encouraged to apply. If selected, officers may either (1) remain on active duty assigned to the designated billet for PHS assignment, or (2) separate or retire from the Commissioned Corps before entering a Title 21 civilian appointment. NOTE: Applicants must submit all relevant transcripts that demonstrate you possess the required education to meet the Basic Qualifications.

Education

Pay careful attention to the Qualifications and Education sections to identify vacancies where a transcript is required. Even if you hold a similar position or are a current employee, you are not exempt from transcript requirements. TRANSCRIPTS: Positions which are scientific or technical in nature often have very specific educational requirements. You must submit an official transcript, unofficial transcript, or a list including courses, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned. 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. If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities, see the Foreign Education section below for additional requirements. Electronic Transcript Caution: If you have obtained your transcripts electronically, the file might contain security measures that could prevent our application system from reading the file. Therefore, you should consider asking the institution to provide the file in a non-secured electronic format. Alternatively, you could scan or take a photo of the printed copy of the transcript. If your uploaded transcript cannot be read by our system, you may receive consideration and credit for the information we can access. Foreign Education: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit the U.S. Department of Education website for Foreign Education Evaluation. To be acceptable, the foreign credential evaluation must include/describe at a minimum, the following information: (1) The type of education received by the applicant; (2) The level of education in relation to the U.S. education system, and state that its comparability recommendations follow the general guidelines of the International Evaluation Standards Council; (3) The content of the applicant's educational program earned abroad, and the standard obtained; (4) The status of the awarding foreign school's recognition and legitimacy in its home country's education system; and (5) Any other information of interest such as what the evaluation service did to obtain this information, the qualifications of the evaluator, and any indications as to other problems such as forgery. Note: Some positions require the completion of specific courses or a specified number of credit hours. Therefore, the foreign credential evaluation should provide information similar to that of an official transcript, to include a list of the courses taken, quarter and/or semester hours awarded, the cumulative grade point average (GPA), honors received, if any, date degree awarded. Applicants can request an evaluation from a member organization of one of the two national associations of credential evaluation services listed below: National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) Association of International Credentials Evaluators (AICE) Credential evaluations are not free, and applicants are responsible for the cost of the selected service. For more information about this requirement, please visit the U.S. Department of Education website for Foreign Education Evaluation.

Other Information

Additional Conditions of Employment: Pre-employment physical required: No Drug testing required: Yes License required: No Mobility agreement required: No Immunization required: No Bargaining Unit: No Telework eligible position: No Financial disclosure statement, OGE-450, required: Please be advised that this position may be subject to FDA's prohibited financial interest regulation and may require the incumbent of this position to divest of certain financial interests. Applicants are advised to seek additional information on this requirement from the hiring official before accepting this position. Additional Information: Additional selections may be made for similar positions within the commuting area(s) of the locations listed through this vacancy announcement. Incentives may be authorized; however, this is contingent upon funds availability. If authorized, certain incentives will require you to sign a service agreement to remain in the Federal government for a period of up to 3 years. Note: This statement does not imply nor guarantee an incentive will be offered and paid. Incentives include the following: moving expenses, recruitment or relocation incentive; student loan repayment, superior qualifications appointment, creditable service for annual leave for prior non-federal work experience or prior uniformed military service, etc. If you are serving, or have served in the last 5 years (from 06/25/2026) as an Executive Branch political, Schedule C, or Non-career SES appointee, HHS/FDA may be required to obtain approval by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) prior to beginning employment. You can find out if you have held one of these appointment types by looking at your Standard Form 50s in your Electronic Official Personnel Folder (eOPF), in Section 5 where the legal authorities are listed. If you have served or are currently serving, you must provide a copy of your SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, documenting this appointment. In addition, you will be required to respond to the question in the assessment and certify your responses to the questionnaire. See Political Appointee FAQ - OPM for more. Applicants selected for this position will be subject to reasonable suspicion and post-accident drug testing upon hiring. To demonstrate commitment to the HHS goal of a drug-free workplace and to set an example for other Federal employees, employees not in a testing designated position may volunteer for unannounced random testing by notifying their Drug-free Federal Workplace Program Point of Contact upon hiring. Active-duty U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps Officers are encouraged to apply. If selected, officers may either (1) remain on active duty assigned to the designated billet for PHS assignment, or (2) separate or retire from the Commissioned Corps before entering a Title 21 civilian appointment. All requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement (06/25/2026); only education and experience gained by this date will be considered. You must continue to meet all requirements throughout the entire hiring process.