Duties

Summary

Securing Travel, Protecting People - At the Transportation Security Administration, you will serve in a high-stakes environment to safeguard the American way of life. In cities across the country, you would secure airports, seaports, railroads, highways, and/or public transit systems, thus protecting America's transportation infrastructure and ensuring freedom of movement for people and commerce. For additional information about our agency please: Click Here

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

This Transportation Security Specialist (TSS) position is located in the Global Initiatives Branch, International Policy & Programs Division, within Policy, Plans & Engagement (PPE) Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS). If selected for this position, you will be responsible for planning and carrying out complex and comprehensive analyses involving global transportation security programs, plans and initiatives. Typical assignments will include but are not limited to:

• Conducting complex and comprehensive analyses involving global transportation security programs, plans and initiatives. Providing assistance in the creation of internal processes that standardize cargo branch workflows.
• Assisting in the development of training course material, and serving as a subject matter expert and instructor during internal TSA training and capacity development courses offered to other countries.
• Serving as the Global Compliance technical specialist within integrated project teams and promoting OGS equities within the project teams, while advising the Section Chief of potential challenges and applicable recommendations.
• Conducting quality control reviews of Enforcement Investigative Reports (EIR), inspections and airport assessments with air cargo supply chain equities. Initiating and completing EIRs at the direction of the Section Chief.
• Representing TSA as a technical specialist on projects, programs and other work activities; providing technical guidance to managers and staff concerning cargo security and supply chain initiatives, inter-governmental, and intra-governmental cooperative agreements. Conducting field liaison visits to evaluate the effectiveness of operational security procedures and policies; and implementing required operational changes.

Travel Required

25% or less - Foreign travel may be required (up to 25%).

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
I

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must complete a favorable Background Investigation (BI).
• You must possess U.S. Citizenship or be a U.S. National.
• Selective Service registration is required.
• See additional "Conditions of Employment" and "Other Information" section
• You must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret Clearance.
• Must pass pre-employment drug screening AND random drug/alcohol testing.

Conditions of Employment:

• Must be able to obtain and retain a Secret security clearance.
• Foreign travel may be required (up to 25%). This travel may include long distances (e.g.in excess of 14 hours) by air in coach class.
• May be required to work longer than 8-hours per day, which may include holidays and weekends.
• Must be available for duty worldwide, including areas or locations that may be dangerous.
• Successful drug and alcohol tests (negative result) and subsequent random drug/alcohol testing in accordance with TSA policy.

Applying to this announcement certifies that you give permission for DHS to share your application with others in DHS for similar positions.

Any offers of employment made pursuant to this announcement will be consistent with all applicable authorities, including Presidential Memoranda, Executive Orders, interpretive U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) guidance, and Office of Management and Budget plans and policies concerning hiring. These authorities are subject to change.

Qualifications

To qualify for the SV-I Pay Band (equivalent to GS-13), you must have one year of specialized experience at the SV-H or GS-12 in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private sector. Specialized experience is defined as experience that has equipped you with the knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience is defined as:

• Applying international transportation security policies and programs (e.g., Model Security Program (MSP), Aircraft Operator Standard Security Program (AOSSP), All-Cargo International Security Program (ACISP), Full All-Cargo Aircraft Operator Standard Security Program (FACAOSSP) to assess and evaluate aviation and cargo security operations.
• Applying U.S. laws, regulations, acts, executive orders, or agreements that govern aviation security work to conduct U.S. and foreign air carrier inspections;
• Providing technical expertise on new or existing aviation and cargo processes, or procedures to improve security operations.

NOTE: Credit for experience is given based on a 40-hour workweek. Part-time experience is credited on a part-time ratio, i.e., working 20 hours per week for two months equals one month of experience. No additional credit is given for overtime. Your resume should include a list of all significant jobs held and duties performed, with dates specified in month and year format, and indicate hours worked per week .

National Service Experience (i.e., volunteer experience): 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.

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.

You must meet the qualification requirements for this position no later than the closing date of the vacancy announcement.

Education

Additional information

Salary range listed includes Locality Pay of 29.32%.

This position is located in Arlington, VA.

Eligibility to apply for other Federal positions: TSA is an Excepted Service agency exempt from most of Title 5 United States Code, including regulations which apply to displaced Federal employees (CTAP/ICTAP) of other agencies, and employment with TSA does not confer "Competitive Status" that generally results from selection and service in Competitive Service agencies. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has established an Interchange Agreement, which allows most permanent TSA employees to apply and be considered for vacancies in Competitive Service agencies. Information from OPM on this or other Interchange Agreements is available at: http://www.opm.gov .

To ensure the accomplishment of our mission, DHS requires every employee to be reliable and trustworthy. To meet those standards, all selected applicants must undergo and successfully pass a background investigation as a condition of placement into this position.

DHS uses E-Verify, an Internet-based system, to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States. Learn more about E-Verify including your rights and responsibilities.

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, prior to entry on duty. False statements on any part of the application may result in withdrawal of offer of employment, dismissal after beginning work, fine, or imprisonment.

TSA employees who are absent for the purpose of performing military duty may apply for any vacancies announced in their absence.

It is the policy of the Government not to deny employment simply because an individual has been unemployed or has had financial difficulties that have arisen through no fault of the individual. Information about an individual's employment experience will be used only to determine the person's qualifications and to assess his or her relative level of knowledge, skills, and abilities. Although an individual's personal conduct may be relevant in any employment decision, including conduct during periods of unemployment or evidence of dishonesty in handling financial matters, financial difficulty that has arisen through no fault of the individual will generally not itself be the basis of an unfavorable suitability or fitness determination. For more information, click here .

Payment of relocation expenses (Permanent Change of Station) is not authorized.

More than one position may be filled from this announcement.

If you are entering TSA employment on an appointment without time limitations, you must serve a basic trial period unless you have already met the requirement.

TSA policy requires verification of Selective Service registration for male applicants born after 12/31/59. For more information click here .

View common definitions of terms found in this announcement.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

You will be evaluated based on a comparison of the position requirements against the quality and extent of the experience and/or related education as reflected in your resume and supporting documentation. You are encouraged to ensure work experiences clearly show possession of the competencies required for this position. We will compare your resume and supporting documentation to your responses on the assessment questionnaire. If, after reviewing your resume and any supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your application materials, your category placement may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job.

Candidates will be rated and ranked using Category Grouping procedures. Under Category Grouping, candidates will be rated and ranked into one of three categories:

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) as determined by the job analysis.

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 as determined by the job analysis.

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 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.

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies that are relevant to the duties of this position and must be fully supported by information in your resume:

• Knowledge of international transportation security programs and policies such as Model Security Program (MSP), Aircraft Operator Standard Security Program (AOSSP), All-Cargo International Security Procedure, (ACISP), Full All-Cargo Aircraft Operator Standard Security Program (FACAOSSP), and operational requirements).
• Knowledge of all U.S. laws, regulations, acts, executive orders, and/or agreements that govern aviation security directly related to conducting U.S. and foreign air carrier inspections.
• knowledge of proven analytical tools and quantitative and qualitative methods to undertake extensive analysis and determine data gathering requirements to be used in performing a variety of assignments related to strategic approaches.
• Knowledge of the relationships among security components and programs within DHS, TSA, other Federal agencies, international organizations and non-governmental entities that impact security operations and programs especially those involving commerce, transportation and law enforcement programs.
• Knowledge of international transportation security standards, policies, and programs of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Including Annex 17 Standards and Recommended Practices to provide policy guidance on complex transportation security issues, evaluate and assess trends, and serve as a technical resource to senior leadership and other TSA staff.

To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Secret

Drug test required
Yes

Required Documents

In addition to a resume and the assessment questions, you must submit copies of any of the following documents if you are applying based on current or former Federal Government Status (if you are not a current TSA employee), Veterans' Preference or eligible Veterans' Service (a veteran who was honorably discharged from the armed forces after completing at least three (3) years of continuous active duty service), or education or a combination of education and experience:

SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action - Current TSA employees are not required to submit an SF-50 to support eligibility for internal/status consideration.

If you are not a current TSA employee: you must submit your most recent personnel action SF-50 (or equivalent document) to support your eligibility for Status consideration. If you elect Status for the consideration of your application without submitting an SF-50 demonstrating your current or previous permanent Federal employment status, and you are not a current TSA employee, your application may not receive Status consideration.

DD-214 - If you are claiming Veterans' Preference or eligible Veterans' Service, provide a copy of your DD-214 (Member Copy 4), Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, or other appropriate documentation to prove your entitlement and to provide verification of an Honorable Discharge.

SF-15 and VA Letter - If you are claiming Veterans' Preference based upon a Compensable Disability, Widow or Spouse Entitlement, or as a Purple Heart recipient, you must submit your DD-214 or other proof of entitlement; an SF-15, and the required proof of disability, i.e., Department of Veterans Affairs letter dated 1991 or later.

Transcripts - If you are qualifying based on education OR if there are mandatory education requirements listed under the Qualifications and Evaluations section, you MUST submit a copy of your college transcript(s) with your application. If selected, an official/sealed college transcript(s) will be required to verify education prior to employment.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

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 .

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.