Financial Economist (Country Risk) -Direct Hire

Summary

Announcement may be used to fill similar positions within 90 days of the closing date. This announcement will be used to fill vacancies through OPM-authorized Direct Hire Authority (DHA) for STEM (Scientific, Technical, Engineering and Mathematic) positions at the GS-11 through GS-15 grade levels. This position is processed under Direct Hire authority. Veterans' Preference and Category Rating procedures DOES NOT APPLY. For more information, click here. About this agency

Duties

• This position is located in the Country Risk and Economic Analysis Division (CREA), Office of Economic Analysis, 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: Determines recommended ICRAS ratings for both sovereign and non-sovereign medium- and long-term markets. When necessary, defends recommended ICRAS ratings before the ICRAS forum. Ratings before the ICRAS forum. Develops arguments to justify a country's appropriate final OECD risk classification. Analyzes the impact of various macroeconomic indicators on country creditworthiness and formulating recommended alterations to ICRAS and/or OECD country risk modeling. Provides written and oral briefings for board directors, senior management and staff (particularly the lending and asset management divisions) on country conditions and medium-term repayment prospects. Communicates oral and written to external clients in Spanish; Convert documents from English to Spanish.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: A. Degree: economics, that included at least 21 semester hours in economics and 3 semester hours in statistics, accounting, or calculus. OR B. 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-13: 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-12 level in the Federal Government. Specialized experience includes: Experience independently conducting macroeconomic and financial analysis to assess country, sovereign, and repayment risk, including evaluating economic growth, inflation, fiscal conditions, external balances, monetary policy, financial-sector conditions, and other factors affecting a country's financial stability, creditworthiness, and repayment capacity. Experience conducting international economic and country-risk research, including applying principles of international monetary economics and open-economy macroeconomics to assess political, institutional, economic, and external factors affecting sovereign and non-sovereign creditworthiness and repayment risk. Experience applying quantitative, statistical, and econometric methods and related analytical software to economic and financial data to identify trends and relationships, develop forecasts, conduct risk assessments, or support economic and credit-risk analysis or models. Experience independently preparing analytical reports, briefing materials, and presentations that synthesize complex economic and financial research, communicate findings and conclusions, and provide recommendations to senior management and other stakeholders. Experience evaluating economic and financial data, analytical methods, and model outputs to assess their accuracy, reliability, and applicability to country-risk or credit-risk analysis; identifying data, methodological, or analytical limitations; and developing or recommending improvements to analytical approaches, models, or methodologies. Education cannot be substituted for experience at the GS-13 grade levels. 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: http://www.naces.org http://www.fceatlanta.com 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 09/08/2026, the closing date of the announcement.

How to apply

Effective September 27, 2025, federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in accordance with the Merit Hiring Plan. If you have not already done so, please update your resume under your profile before applying for any federal job. For additional details, visit click the following link. Applications will only be accepted online; however if you are unable to apply online, please contact the Agency Contact Person listed below. To apply for this position, you must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section. The following is a link to preview the occupational questionnaire: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13043683 The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 09/08/2026 to receive consideration. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire. Click the Submit My Answers button to submit your application package. It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. To verify your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account here, select the Application Status link and then select the more information link for this position. The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process. To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.