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 Deputy Division Director position is located in the Office of Inspections, Red Team Division within the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Duties include but are not limited to:

• Makes recommendations to the Director on programs or major projects to initiate or curtail; specifically, financial, material and personnel resources to devote to particular projects, timing of making changes in programs or projects, and emphasize necessary changes to programs or portions of programs.
• Makes recommendations on long-range planning in conjunction with prospective changes in functions and programs, comprehensive evaluations of program goals and objectives. Participates, manages and directs operational planning and program development to meet present and future mission requirements.
• Oversees independent reviews, inspections and testing findings, and results, gathered to ensure policies and procedures affecting operations are strictly followed and vulnerabilities identified.
• Using advanced technical knowledge and experience, manages all operational mission objectives to include but may not be limited to: project design, independent operational reviews/assessments/ audits, and covert testing for missions and objectives. This is completed based on a knowledge of the risks associated with TSA programs and processes and collaborating with other TSA offices and senior leadership.
• Oversees a senior management team that develops testing plans, conducts covert testing and evaluates TSA's effectiveness of programs, as well as overall quality assurance for all operations, and may inform management of enterprise risk management to drive performance improvement and justify capital investments in addition to conducting operational and performance audits/reviews, security inspections, and/or assessments.
• Informs TSA senior leadership of program vulnerabilities and weaknesses which could hinder the agency's ability to accomplish its mission if unaddressed. Provides leadership over the planning and coordination; and directs exceptionally complicated reviews/evaluations/covert testing associated with the assigned program(s). Measures and evaluates the efficiency and effectiveness of all TSA's operations and adherence to policies and provides recommendations regarding possible changes in policies or directives as a result of reviews.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - Occasional Travel is required.

Supervisory status
Yes

Promotion Potential
K

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must complete a favorable Background Investigation (BI).
• You must possess U.S. Citizenship or be a U.S. National.
• You must have reached the minimum age (18) at the time of application.
• Selective Service registration is required.
• Must pass pre-employment drug screening AND random drug/alcohol testing.
• You may be required to complete a one year Supervisory Trial Period.
• You must be able to obtain and maintain a Top Secret Clearance.
• See additional "Conditions of Employment" and "Other Information" section

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-K Pay Band (equivalent to GS-15), you must have one year of specialized experience at the SV-J Pay Band or GS-14 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 specialized experience is defined as:

• Experience applying administrative and operational policies and procedures to assess security screening systems and to oversee covert testing programs; AND
• Experience using analytical and evaluative methods to assess screening operation vulnerabilities.

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. 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.

Resumes must include the following:

• Narrative description of duties with start and end dates (including the month and year) for work experience.
• State the number of hours worked in a position (i.e. full-time or part-time). If part-time, state the total number of hours worked per week.
• Performance level (i.e. band or grade)

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

Education

None

Additional information

Conditions of Employment:

• SUPERVISORY/MANAGERIAL PROBATIONARY PERIOD REQUIREMENT: Unless previously completed, you must satisfactorily complete a one-year supervisory probationary period to continue in this supervisory/managerial position.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Top Secret/SCI

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 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 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 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:

• Advanced knowledge of management and administrative concepts, principles, methods, and techniques sufficient to oversee one or more sections in providing independent assessments, inspections and testing results to promote the efficiency and effectiveness of an assigned agency program(s).
• Advanced knowledge of program evaluation concepts, techniques, processes, and procedures sufficient to plan, coordinate, and direct exceptionally complicated reviews/evaluations associated with the assigned program(s).
• Practical ability to perform a variety of supervisory duties and responsibilities sufficient to carry out duties which include planning, communicating the organization's vision and objectives, setting priorities, managing budget and assigned resources, assigning tasks and responsibilities, coaching and developing staff and organizational capabilities, approving leave, and taking or approving corrective/disciplinary actions as appropriate.
• Advanced knowledge of leadership concepts and principles sufficient to provide leadership and oversight to review processes on an assigned TSA program(s) to ensure the integrity of operational and administrative activities.
• Practical knowledge and skill in analytical techniques and methodologies sufficient to conduct research into highly complex projects and policy areas and exercise primary responsibility for developing goals, analytical framework, and appropriate methodologies used for testing

To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Top Secret

Drug test required
Yes

Position sensitivity and risk
Critical-Sensitive (CS)/High Risk

Trust determination process
Credentialing

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 being a current eligible TSA employee (which includes permanent employees and 5 year temporary employees), or education or a combination of education and experience:

Current TSA employees are not required to submit a SF-50 to support eligibility for consideration. If you do not submit required documentation described in this job opportunity announcement, your application will be deemed incomplete and you will be ineligible for further consideration for this vacancy.

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.