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

If selected for this position, you will serve as a Supervisory Transportation Security Inspector (STSI) within Security Operations (SO), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS). You will be responsible for ensuring security compliance of persons and transportation systems/entities regulated under Title 49 Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) Part 1500 series. You will assist in the administration of critical and complex compliance and enforcement programs designed to ensure secure transportation and to protect the nation's public from terrorism, piracy, or other acts of sabotage to transportation systems, facilities, and networks by performing the full range of security compliance activities in specialized support functions (Aviation, Cargo, Canine and Surface Inspection).

As a technical expert, you will apply your advanced technical knowledge and seasoned experience along with judgment and discretion in applying standard inspection methods and techniques (e.g., surveillance, inspection, document review, observation, and testing) in a variety of circumstances or environments to identify security weaknesses or violations. Duties include but are not limited to:

• Providing guidance to lower level technical staff on how to solve difficult issues, and serving as team leader in assigning, overseeing, guiding, and reviewing the work of other TSIs on selected inspections and non-inspection activities.
• Participating in performing covert and overt tests/audits, vulnerability assessments; validating and inspecting security processes, procedures, systems, and equipment in connection with compliance inspections and vulnerability assessments. Conducting internal and external testing to evaluate security posture and compliance.
• Assisting in formulating recommended or alternative courses of action to pursue by regulated parties in order to satisfy security requirements.
• Establishing and maintaining constructive working relations with industry management and security officials by way of building partnerships with the goal of enhancing security awareness and encouraging ongoing cooperation toward achieving strong security policies and procedures, and reaching full compliance with transportation security regulations.
• Responding to security incidents, threats, violations or potential violations. Responding to transportation security incidents and other incidents as defined by the National Incident Management Systems or as directed by the Federal Security Director (FSD) or appropriate authority.

Supervisory duties include:

• Performing basic supervisory responsibilities including, but not limited to, assigning work; setting priorities; reviewing and evaluating work and performance of subordinates; approving leave; coaching and developing employees; recommending corrective or disciplinary actions; recommending a variety of personnel actions such as promotions, reassignments, etc.
• Resolving routine problems that typically impact the objectives of the organizational unit, as required.
• Providing input concerning budget requests or other resource requirements, as requested by leadership.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - A minimum of one (1) week of travel in a full-time duty status will be required within 90-days of entry on duty to complete TSA's in residence New Hire Training. This training will occur away from the employee's duty station of record. Employees will be paid for compensable hours and reimbursed for authorized travel expenses per TSA Travel Policy.

Supervisory status
Yes

Promotion Potential
I

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

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

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

Conditions of Employment include but are not limited to:

• Traversing rough terrain and uneven surfaces, prolonged standing, bending, and stooping to observe work operations, ability to climb into aircraft baggage holds, rail cars, aircraft and other transportation equipment.
• Driving or traveling by motor vehicle and occasional exposure to moderate risk or discomforts that require special safety precautions.
• Passing a Background Investigation (BI) and maintaining eligibility for a clearance at the Secret level.
• Successfully completing the Basic Transportation Security Inspections Course.
• Undertaking extensive travel, at times overnight, as required.
• You must hold a valid driver's license.
• You must be available for "on call" work and be available for duty within the U.S. and possibly worldwide to protect U.S. transportation interests.
• You must be available to work various shifts, including frequently changing and uncommon tours of duty.
• You must pass pre-employment drug screening AND you will be subject to post-employment random drug and alcohol testing.

Supervisory/Managerial Trial Period Requirements: Unless previously completed, you must satisfactorily complete a one-year supervisory trial period to continue in this supervisory/managerial position.

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 Pay Band 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 particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Such experience includes: conducting transportation security inspections and investigations; engaging in testing security systems; determining when enforcement action should be taken; documenting the results to monitor compliance with policies, regulations, and agreements to standards; and identifying potential problem areas.

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.

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.

Education

Additional information

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.

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.

Qualified non-competitive eligible candidates may be referred for consideration on a separate, unranked list.

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.

More than one position may be filled from this announcement.

This position is within the Technical category of TSA's Core Compensation Plan.

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.

Veterans and persons 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 for non-competitive appointment and to understand the documentation that is required, click on the links above or contact the Servicing Human Resources Office listed at the bottom of 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.

When completing the assessment questionnaire for this position, you will be prompted to elect if you are eligible for consideration as Status (Current or former Federal Employees), Internal to TSA as a current permanent or competitive temporary employee, and/or based upon your eligible Veterans' Preference status or Veterans' Service (a veteran who was honorably discharged from the armed forces after completing at least three (3) years of continuous active duty service). At that time, please select the answer(s) that apply to you and your application to this position.

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) and appropriate Desirable (Quality Ranking) Factors 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.

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.

Detail Documentation - If you wish to qualify for this position based on a detail, submit a copy of your signed 1160.

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.