Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) Mobility Program
Internship Opportunities | Employment Opportunities

Location: Washington DC
Deadline for curriculum vitae and cover letter: March 15, 2013
Contact: Christina Murray, OVW.IPA@usdoj.gov
Length of temporary assignment: OVW anticipates 20-40 hours a week for up to two years. (Working on site at OVW office as necessary to fulfill goals of the project)
Start Date: Negotiable. Expected Summer/Early Fall 2013

The Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) at the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is accepting applications from qualified professionals to assist in promoting and building promising and evidence-based practices in the field of violence against women.  This is an opportunity for someone with strong research and program evaluation experience and an interest in violence against women issues to help shape the national agenda for evaluation over the next five to ten years.

Created in 1995, OVW implements the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and subsequent legislation and provides national leadership on issues of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. Since its inception, OVW has supported a multifaceted approach to responding to these crimes through implementation of grant programs authorized by VAWA. By forging State, local and tribal partnerships among police, prosecutors, judges, victim advocates, health care providers, faith leaders, and others, OVW grants help provide victims with the protection and services they need to pursue safe and healthy lives, while improving communities’ capacity to hold offenders accountable for their crimes.

Currently, OVW administers three formula-based and 19 discretionary grant programs, established under VAWA and subsequent legislation. Since its inception, OVW has awarded over $4.7 billion in grants and cooperative agreements, and has launched a multifaceted approach to implementing VAWA. OVW is interested in developing a multi-level long-term comprehensive plan to evaluate OVW-administered grant programs and/or interventions supported by VAWA funds. OVW looks forward to developing specific tasks and deliverables to achieve these goals with the chosen applicant. For more information on OVW and its grant programs, please see http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/.

A temporary assignment has recently become available for an individual with a professional background in the areas of research and program evaluation. Most employees of Federal, State, local, or tribal governments, institutions of higher education, or non-profit organizations are eligible to apply.  The ideal candidate is an individual who is a U.S. citizen who has graduated from a research-based doctoral program in a discipline relevant to the mission of OVW from a university that is fully accredited by one of the regional institutional accreditation commissions recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education. Candidates should have extensive expertise in research and evaluation.

Responsibilities may include, but will not be limited to the following:  

• Examining existing literature reviews on research/evaluation findings specific to programs and/or interventions that are or could be supported by OVW-administered grant programs;
• Identifying gaps in research on interventions and/or  programs that are or could be supported by OVW-administered grant programs;
• Identifying promising and evidence-based programs and/or interventions that are or could be supported by OVW-administered grant programs;
• Participating in site visits to promising and evidence-based programs;
• Assisting OVW with identifying and prioritizing programs and/or interventions that are or could be supported by OVW-administered grant programs for evaluation; and
• Making recommendations to OVW for a 5 -10 year plan to evaluate OVW-administered grant programs and VAWA-funded interventions to increase and enhance evidence-based grantmaking.

Professional expertise in the area of violence against women is preferred, but not required. Final selection of applicant is contingent upon successful completion of all required DOJ profile and pre-screening paperwork, security reviews, and background investigations (i.e. credit and criminal) background check.

This posting is being made available through the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) Mobility Program, which allows eligible applicants to work for the Federal government for up to two years, with their salary being reimbursed to their employer. Other expenses related to assignment will be negotiated with selected applicant.   

The goal of the IPA Mobility Program is to facilitate the movement of employees, for short periods of time, when this movement serves a sound public purpose. Mobility assignments may be used to achieve objectives such as:

• Strengthening the management capabilities of Federal agencies, State, local and Indian tribal governments, and other eligible organizations;
• Assisting the transfer and use of new technologies and approaches to solving governmental problems;
• Facilitating an effective means of involving State and local officials in developing and implementing Federal policies and programs; and
• Providing program and developmental experience which will enhance the assignee's performance in his or her regular job.

Additional information on the IPA Program, including eligibility, can be found here: http://www.opm.gov/programs/ipa/mobility.asp. OVW will give preference to applicants from previously approved organizations at http://www.opm.gov/programs/ipa/IPA-OtherOrgList.asp. However, applicants from other qualifying organizations are eligible for consideration.

Most employees of Federal, State, local, or tribal governments, institutions of higher education, or non-profit organization are eligible to apply, however, individuals excluded from participation include: 

• Federal, State or local government employees serving under non-career, excepted service, noncompetitive, time-limited, temporary or term appointments;
• Elected Federal, State or local government officials;
• Members of the uniformed military services and the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and
• Students employed in research, graduate, or teaching assistant and similar temporary positions.

The individual selected for this temporary assignment will be subject to the same laws, rules, regulations, and policies that apply to all employees of the DOJ, including personnel policies and procedures and ethics laws, regulations, and policies.  Please note that these laws include post-employment restrictions that would prohibit the individual, after the end of this assignment, from communicating or appearing before a federal official, agency or court, with the intent to influence, on behalf of someone other than the United States, on a particular matter involving specific parties, in which he or she participated personally and substantially while with the Department.  For example, if an individual selected for this assignment is appointed from an academic institution, when she returns to her employing institution, she may be prohibited from applying for grant funding under a solicitation that she developed while at OVW.

To learn more about this opportunity, OVW will conduct one informational conference call. During this call, OVW staff will review the requirements of the OVW IPA Mobility Program and allow for a question and answer session. Participation in this call is optional. The conference call is scheduled for February 27, 2013 at 3:00 E.S.T.

If you are eligible and interested in this opportunity, please submit your curriculum vitae and cover letter to Christina Murray at OVW.IPA@usdoj.gov by March 15, 2013. Your cover letter should describe your experience and expertise on program evaluation and research as well as any experience with issues related to violence against women.  Due to an expected high level of interest, OVW may not be able to reply to all applicants. Selections will be made by summer 2013.

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The Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) is seeking interns for the fall (September-December), spring (January-April), and summer semesters (May-August). Students with an interest in public service, violence against women issues, federal grant program administration, budget, finance, administration and government are encouraged to apply.

Interns at OVW are closely monitored in their work, progress and assigned substantive tasks, including, but not limited to, cataloguing an OVW resource library, assisting with the stakeholder database, tracking events in the field relevant to OVW, assisting with media outreach, preparing talking points, gathering news stories relevant to violence against women issues, and assisting senior management staff members.

Candidates must provide their own housing and have a clear understanding that this internship is on a volunteer, unpaid, basis. Students accepted for an internship may earn academic credit for working at OVW.

Who Can Apply

Applicants for internships must be United States citizens. Once selected, interns will be required to complete a security clearance process pursuant to Department of Justice policy. Interns will be supervised by a member of the Senior Management Team of their assigned Unit or other government employees.

Candidates for an internship with OVW include high school, undergraduate and/or graduate students, and those students who are pursuing a Doctorate degree. While Law students can be considered for this internship program, they are also encouraged to apply to specific legal internship programs through the Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management.?

How to Apply

Applications are accepted on a continuous basis and kept on file for 6 months. Please submit a resume and cover letter stating your interests to OVWINTERN@USDOJ.GOV, including the semester for which you wish to be considered, the date you are available to start, and available working hours. Application deadlines for consideration are as follows:

1. Fall applications are accepted through May 1;
2. Spring applications are accepted through October 1;
3. Summer applications are accepted through March 1 each year.

Questions about OVW's internship program may be submitted to ovwintern@usdoj.gov.

The U.S. Department of Justice is an Equal Opportunity/Reasonable Accommodation Employer.

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