TRAVEL REQUIRED:

Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.

RELOCATION AUTHORIZED:
Relocation expenses reimbursed Yes You may qualify for reimbursement of relocation expenses in accordance with agency policy.

KEY REQUIREMENTS:
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You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position.

You must successfully pass a background investigation. This may include a credit check, a review of financial issues, as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs.

Selective Service registration required.

One-year probationary period may be required.

Successful completion of a pre-employment drug test is required. A tentative offer of employment will be rescinded if you fail to report to the drug test appointment or pass the test. You will be subject to random testing thereafter.

If you receive a conditional offer of employment for this position, you will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application.

DHS uses e-Verify, an Internet-based system, to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States.

All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.

License required: No

Pre-employment physical required: No

Bargaining Unit Position: Yes

PCS expenses may be paid.

This is a permanent appointment in the Excepted Service and will be filled on a full-time permanent basis. Employees hired under an Excepted Service appointment are required to serve a two (2) year trial period.

Acceptance of an excepted service appointment from applicants in the competitive service will require a written statement of understanding when voluntarily leaving the competitive service.

Veteran's preference requirements do not apply to the Title 50 appointment authority.

This position does not confer non-competitive conversion to the competitive service.

Applicants must demonstrate that they meet the Minimum Qualification requirements as noted below.
Minimum Qualifications For GS-0132-09: At least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level in the Federal service that included experience such as:

• performing a variety of counterintelligence research assignments with emphasis on fact finding and analysis by using counterintelligence policies, procedures, regulations, and terminology;
• applying conventional methods evaluate information concerning intelligence research processes;
• dealing with counterintelligence research problems that are readily observable conditions covered by written guidelines or research/analysis of information of a factual nature;

OR Successfully completed a master's or equivalent graduate degree, or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., in a related field that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities to do the work of this position. NOTE: You must submit a copy of your college transcripts (official or unofficial) to support your claim.

OR a combination of graduate education and specialized experience as described above that, when combined; equal 100% of the qualification requirement. NOTE: Only graduate education in excess of the first 18 semester hours may be used in this calculation. NOTE: You must submit a copy of your college transcripts (official or unofficial) to support your claim.


Minimum Qualifications For GS-0132-11: Applicant must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the GS-09 level in the Federal service that included experience such as:

• applying appropriate knowledge to support the conduct of counterintelligence activities by understanding how regulatory or enforcement programs are administered;
• using specialized technical tools to conduct analysis of patterns of activity;
• preparing all counterintelligence related official plans and documents;
• using automated systems, national level databases, hard copy studies, and/or open source information to perform counterintelligence research against Foreign Intelligence Entities (FIE);

OR Successfully completed a Ph.D. or equivalent degree, e.g., LL.M., at an accredited college or university in a field that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work OR I have successfully completed three full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. NOTE: You must submit a copy of your college transcripts (official or unofficial) to support your claim.

OR a combination of the required experience and education for this grade level. NOTE: Only graduate education in excess of master's or equivalent graduate degree, or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., in a related field that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities to do the work of this position semester hours may be used in this calculation.

All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Qualification claims will be subject to verification.

NOTE: 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.

This position requires specific coursework and/or a degree to meet the basic education requirement. You must submit an official transcript, unofficial transcript, or a list including courses, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned. Your transcript(s) must clearly demonstrate the course(s) listed in the qualification requirement section. If the transcript(s) does not clearly demonstrate this you must submit a copy of the course description and/or other documentation demonstrating that the courses are equivalent.

If you are claiming education as any part of your qualifications for this position, you must submit an official transcript, unofficial transcript, or a list including courses, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned.

Special Instructions for 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. Failure to provide such documentation with your application will result in lost consideration. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Promotion Potential: When promotion potential is shown, the agency is not making a commitment and is not obligated to provide future promotions to you if you are selected. Future promotions will be dependent on your ability to perform the duties at a higher level, the continuing need for an employee assigned to the higher level, and administrative approval.

NOTE: This position does not confer non-competitive conversion to the competitive service. Acceptance of an excepted service appointment from applicants in the competitive service will require a written statement of understanding when voluntarily leaving the competitive service.

Background Investigation: To ensure the accomplishment of its mission, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requires each and every employee to be reliable and trustworthy. To meet those standards, all selected applicants must undergo and successfully complete a background investigation for TOP Secret/SCI Security clearance as a condition of placement in this Special Sensitive position. This review includes financial issues such as delinquency in the payment of debts, child support and/or tax obligations, as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs.

Pursuant to Executive Order 12654 and DHS policy, DHS is committed to maintaining a drug-free workplace and, therefore, conducts random and other drug testing of its employees in order to ensure a safe and healthy work environment. Headquarters personnel in safety- or security-sensitive positions are subject to random drug testing and all applicants tentatively selected for employment at DHS Headquarters are subject to drug testing resulting in a negative test result.

Current or Former Political Appointees: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office.

Career Transition Assistance Program: This program applies to Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed, or employees who have been involuntarily separated from a Federal service position within the competitive service. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: 1) meet eligibility criteria for CTAP or ICTAP; 2) be rated well-qualified for the position; and 3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility. Well-Qualified includes those applicants whose knowledge, skills, and abilities clearly exceed the minimum qualification requirements for the position. For information on eligibility criteria and required documentation, go to: http://www.opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.asp

Selective Service: Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see http://www.sss.gov/).

"Note: The 2019 salary is being used for this job announcement; however, at the time of selection 2018 salaries may still be in use. All employees are expected to be paid retroactively for 2019 salaries once updated by each agency."

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You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

We will review your resume and supporting documentation to ensure you meet the minimum qualification requirements. If you meet the minimum qualifications, we will use an Assessment Questionnaire to place you in one of three categories based on your experience, education and training. The competencies or knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform this job are:

• Oral Communication
• Planning and Evaluating
• Research

If you meet the minimum qualifications, you will be placed in one of the following categories:

1. Best-Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrate high proficiency in all of the critical competencies, including all Selective Placement Factors (SPF) and appropriate Quality Ranking Factors (QRF) as determined by the job analysis.
2. Well-Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrates acceptable proficiency in all of the critical competencies, including all SPFs and appropriate QRFs as determined by the job analysis
3. Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrate basic proficiency in most of the critical competencies, including all SPFs and appropriate QRFs as determined by the job analysis.

If you are best qualified, you may be referred to the hiring manager for consideration and may be called for an interview.To preview the assessment questionnaire, click the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/10454155

Veterans, Peace Corps / VISTA volunteers, and people with disabilities possess a wealth of unique talents, experiences, and competencies that can be invaluable to the DHS mission. If you are a member of one of these groups, you may not have to compete with the public for federal jobs. To determine your eligibility and to understand the documentation that would be required with your application, click on the links above and contact the Servicing Human Resources Office listed at the bottom of this announcement.

Veterans: Although the veteran's preference requirements of Title 5 do not apply to this Title 50 appointment authority, it is our policy that meeting the "veterans' preference" criteria ("preference-eligible") shall be considered a positive factor in the selection process. In all cases, preference-eligibles on the certificate(s) will be considered. However, preference-eligibles do not "float" to the top of the list of referred candidates nor have extra points added to any numerical score, and selection of a non-preference-eligible does not require "passover" procedures.

Note: One or more positions may be filled using this vacancy announcement. Applying to this announcement certifies that you give permission for DHS to share your application with others in DHS for similar positions.

Read more Security clearance Sensitive Compartmented Information

Drug test required Yes