Program Officer, National Security Language Initiative for Youth 2026

FLSA STATUS: EXEMPT

PAY RANGE: $60,000 - $67,000 /year

POSITION SUMMARY

Based in Washington, DC, the Program Officer will support the administration, daily operations, alumni activities, and events for the National Security Language Initiative for Youth. NSLI-Y provides merit-based scholarships for eligible U.S. high school students to study languages critical to U.S. national security and economic competitiveness. NSLI-Y is a program of U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs; American Councils leads its administration in cooperation with partner organizations. To learn more about the program, please visit the NSLI-Y website at

The Program Officer will report to the NSLI-Y Director for Administration.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Facilitates logistics for program and alumni events, alumni workshops, and participant orientations;
• Facilitates and designs content for alumni events and alumni workshops;
• Manages alumni travel for NSLI-Y workshops and orientations; provides support for participant travel or other program events;
• Manages billing and vendor procurement for program events and orientations;
• Contributes to department’s outreach and student recruitment efforts for NSLI-Y and Virtual NSLI-Y;
• Mentors and monitors NSLI-Y Alumni Representatives for their event planning and requirements;
• Mentors NSLI-Y alumni in program outreach, special projects/events, other activities;
• Prepares program and alumni reports and highlights;
• Collaborates on program monitoring and evaluation efforts, especially related to the impact of NSLI-Y;
• Contributes to the promotion of NSLI-Y and Virtual NSLI-Y;
• Handles inquiries about the NSLI-Y programs from the alumni, general public, prospective applicants, and their families;
• Contributes to student recruitment and outreach, program publicity, application processing, participant selection and placement activities;
• Coordinates and tracks of language testing results and billing;
• Assists in operation of program databases; and
• Other duties as assigned.