Duties

Summary

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is calling on those who want to help protect American interests and secure our Nation. DHS Components work collectively to prevent terrorism; secure borders and our transportation systems; protect the President and other dignitaries; enforce and administer immigration laws; safeguard cyberspace; and ensure resilience to disasters. We achieve these vital missions through a diverse workforce spanning hundreds of occupations. Make an impact; Join DHS.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

Before applying for this position, please read the entire announcement and follow the instructions in the How to Apply section.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security comprised of approximately 19,000 Federal employees, and additional contractor employees, working in approximately 250 Headquarters and field offices around the world. We are responsible for the administration of immigration and naturalization adjudication functions and establishing immigration services policies and priorities.

Functions include adjudication of:

• Immigrant and nonimmigrant visa petitions
• Citizenship applications and naturalization petitions
• Asylum and refugee applications
• A variety of other immigration applications and petitions

The Chief, Verification Division, Immigration Records and Identity Services (IRIS), is independently responsible for more than 600 authorized positions and overall management and technical direction of the Verification Program, which includes two core operational components: the Employment Eligibility Verification Program (E-Verify) and the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements Program (SAVE), that affect many governmental entities and employment and benefits of millions of residents of the United States.

The Chief oversees all aspects of the Verification Program, including management of a headquarters staff, and is accountable for Verification Operations across three field offices located in Los Angeles, CA; Lincoln, NE; and Buffalo, NY. He/she plans, coordinates, and ensures consistent administration of Verification operations in accordance with USCIS­ wide requirements. He/she develops national policies, regulations, standard operating procedures, guidelines, and training programs; manages all fiscal resources; develops long-range and short-term strategic plans; develops and tracks performance measures; allocates staffing and other resources; and serves as change agent by creating a culture of continuous improvement and innovation that drives forward changes that increase organizational effectiveness.

The Chief serves as the Verification Division, USCIS, and DHS representative on Verification Program issues, establishing and maintaining liaison with all stakeholders with respect to operations, both internal and external to the government. He/she must effectively and tactfully present the policies and views of the Verification Office, USCIS, and DHS in giving and seeking cooperation and reciprocity.

The Chief also serves as the liaison with other Federal agencies, such as the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security in order to coordinate on and address related issues. He/she meets with community and advocacy groups and non-government organizations to explain Verification operations and policies, addresses any public concern, and in coordination with the Office of Public Affairs and the Associate Director for IRIS, responds to inquiries from the press.

He/she advises and counsels the Associate Director of IRIS and other high-level officials throughout DHS and in other Federal agencies concerning all Verification issues.

As a member of the agency's executive team, the Chief will implement the President's Management Agenda within your specific area of responsibility. For an overview of the diverse responsibilities USCIS carries out within the Government, visit our website at http://www.uscis.gov .

Travel Required

Occasional travel - This position may require travel from time- to-time, but not on a regular basis.

Supervisory status
Yes

Promotion Potential
00

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen or U.S. National to apply for this position
• Obtain/Maintain a Top Secret Security Clearance
• First time Senior Executive Service (SES) appointees are subject to a one-year probationary period
• If documents exceed page limits, excess pages will not be considered
• Financial Disclosure Required
• Drug Testing Required
• Political appointees may require OPM approval prior to on-boarding

Qualifications

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.

As a basic requirement for entry into the SES, applicants must provide evidence of progressively responsible leadership experience that is indicative of senior executive level managerial capability. This experience should be sufficiently broad in scope and at a major management level in a large or complex organization. The ideal candidate will have experience supervising a large number of employees through subordinate supervisors and have experience hiring, developing and evaluating employees.

Your application should demonstrate that you possess the knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully fulfill responsibilities inherent in SES positions such as:

• Leading the work of an organizational unit
• Ensuring the success of one or more specific major programs or projects
• Monitoring progress toward strategic organizational goals, evaluating organizational performance and taking action to improve performance
• Supervising the work of employees, developing policy and other executive functions

To meet the minimum qualification requirements for this position, your application must show evidence that you possess the five (5) Executive Core Qualifications listed below. Typically, experience of this nature is gained at the GS-15 or equivalent level in the federal service or its equivalent in the private sector.

If your experience does not include these basic qualifications, you will not be determined qualified for this position.

**Noncompetitive status- if you are a current or reinstatement eligible Career SES or a graduate of an Office of Personnel Management (OPM) approved SES Candidate Development Program (CDP) and your ECQs have been certified by OPM's Qualifications Review Board (QRB)-you are not required to address the ECQs. Current and reinstatement eligible SES must include with your application a copy of your most recent SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, documenting your SES Career Appointment. CDP graduates must include a copy of your OPM CDP graduation certificate or other proof that your ECQs have been QRB certified.**

The application process used to recruit for this position is the TRADITIONAL METHOD.

MANDATORY EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS

All applicants must submit a written narrative addressing each ECQ generally not to exceed two (2) pages per ECQ for a total of no more than 10 pages. Any information in excess of ten (10) pages WILL NOT be considered.

A sample 5-page executive level resume and ECQ narratives can be viewed at this link http://www.opm.gov/ses/references/GuidetoSESQuals_2012.pdf

Applicants are encouraged to follow the Challenge, Context, Action and Results (C-C-A-R) model when preparing written ECQs narratives.

Challenge: Describe a specific problem or goal.

Context: Describe the individuals and groups you worked with, and/or environment in which you worked to address a particular challenge (e.g., clients, co-workers, members of Congress, shrinking budget, low morale).

Action: Discuss the specific actions you took to address a challenge.

Result: Give specific examples of measures/outcomes that had some impact on the organization. These accomplishments demonstrate the quality and effectiveness of your leadership skills.

ECQ 1 -LEADING CHANGE: This core qualification involves the ability to bring about strategic change, both within and outside the organization, to meet organizational goals. Inherent to this Executive Core Qualification (ECQ) is the ability to establish an organizational vision and to implement it in a continuously changing environment.

ECQ 2 -LEADING PEOPLE: This core qualification involves the ability to lead people toward meeting the organization's vision, mission, and goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to provide an inclusive workplace that fosters the development of others, facilitates cooperation and teamwork, and supports constructive resolution of conflicts.

ECQ 3 -RESULTS DRIVEN: This core qualification involves the ability to meet organizational goals and customer expectations. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to make decisions that produce high quality results by applying technical knowledge, analyzing problems, and calculating risks.

ECQ 4 -BUSINESS ACUMEN: This core qualification involves the ability to manage human, financial, and information resources strategically.

ECQ 5 -BUILDING COALITIONS: This core qualification involves the ability to build coalitions internally and with other Federal agencies, state and local governments, nonprofit and private sector organizations, foreign governments or international organizations to achieve common goals.

Additional information on the Executive Core Qualifications is available at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/senior-executive-service/executive-core-qualifications/

MANDATORY TECHNICAL QUALIFICATION(S)

All applicants must submit a written narrative explaining how they meet the mandatory technical qualification(s) not to exceed one (1) page for each MTQ. Please give examples and explain the depth of the knowledge you possess and the sensitivity of the issues you handled, etc. Any information in excess of one (1) page per MTQ WILL NOT be considered.

MTQ 1. Clearly demonstrate expert knowledge and experience overseeing or managing a public facing information technology program or service for a federal agency or large organization (>500 person), ensuring timeliness, accuracy and consistency in providing actionable results to a large and diverse customer base.

Education

There is no substitution for education of experience for this position.

Additional information

This position is part of the USCIS headquarters offices that recently moved from Washington, DC to Camp Springs, MD to the new USCIS headquarters building in Camp Springs, MD. The new USCIS headquarters is a state of the art facility conveniently located near the Branch Avenue Metro Station on the Green Line and a short distance from Exit 7 (Branch Avenue / Route 5) on the Capital Beltway.

Our Benefits Package: You will be eligible for performance bonuses of 5 to 20 percent of base pay for superior accomplishments. You will be covered by a defined benefit, contributory Federal retirement system. You may participate in a retirement savings investment plan that offers before-tax savings and tax-deferred investment earnings. You may select one of a variety of health plans and options under the Government's Federal Employees' Health Benefits program and you may participate in the Federal Employees' Group Life and Long Term Care Insurance Programs. You will earn 26 vacation days and 13 days of sick leave per year. In addition, the Government observes 10 regular paid holidays each year.

Veterans' preference does not apply to Senior Executive Service positions.

Financial Disclosure: If you are hired, you will have to complete a Public Financial Disclosure Report within 30 days after appointment.

Selective Service: If you are a male born after December 31, 1959 and selected for this position, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System, or are exempt from having to do so under Selective Service law.

Immigration Reform and Control Act: The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 seeks to preserve jobs for those who are legally entitled to them: American citizens and aliens who are authorized to work in our country. This law requires employees to provide a document or documents that establish identity and employment eligibility.

The United States Government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability and genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factor.

USCIS provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify us. Decisions on granting reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.

Background Investigation: This position is a sensitive position and the tentative selectee must undergo and successfully complete a background investigation as a condition of placement/retention in the position. A security clearance is required.

Drug Testing: This position has been identified as a Testing Designated Position under the USCIS Drug-Free Workplace Program. Satisfactory completion of a drug test is a condition of placement and/or employment in the position and the incumbent(s) of this position is thereafter subject to Random Drug Testing.

Probationary Period: You will serve a one-year probationary period unless you previously completed a probationary period in the SES.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Our evaluation will be based on the information you provide. Verification of performance, suitability and security information from reference checks will be taken into consideration when making offers of employment.

You will be evaluated on the quality and extent of your total accomplishments, experience and education. Your application will be evaluated by a rating and ranking panel, and highly qualified candidates may undergo an interview and a reference check. The USCIS Executive Resources Board (ERB) will review results and make recommendations on final selections to the appointing authority. Unless you have already been certified by a Qualifications Review Board (QRB) in the past, your ECQs must be certified by a QRB after selection and before appointment can occur.

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
National security

Required Documents

Failure to submit the required documents will result in your application being disqualified.

1. Resume should not exceed five (5) pages. Please do not submit an application form (such as OF 612, Optional Application for Federal Employment) in lieu of a résumé. Applicants typically provide the following information:

• Vacancy announcement number - ERS-2021-0010
• Full name, e-mail and mailing addresses, and day and evening telephone numbers
• Educational information, including the name, city and state of colleges or universities you attended, as well as the type and year of any degree received. Report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For more information, you may refer to the following
• U.S. Department of Education website: https://www2.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/accreditation_pg4.html#Diploma-Mills
• Information about your paid and non-paid work experience related to this position including:
• Job title (include series and grade if Federal job)
• Duties and accomplishments
• Employer's name and address
• Supervisor's name and phone number
• Starting and ending dates of employment (month and year)
• Salary
• Honors, awards and special accomplishments

When uploading your resume, choose the label "Executive Resume."

2. Executive Core Qualifications- Written narratives addressing each ECQ generally not to exceed 2 pages per ECQ for a total of no more than 10 pages.

When uploading your ECQs, it should be one document, choose the label "ECQs."

3. Mandatory Technical Qualifications - Written narratives addressing the Mandatory Technical Qualification(s) (MTQ) not to exceed one (1) page for each MTQ.

When uploading your Technical Qualification(s), it should be one document, label this Supporting Document as "Other."

4. Non-competitive applicants: Current of former career SES members must provide a recent SF-50 showing their current status or reinstatement eligibility. Candidates who have successfully completed an Office of Personnel Management approved SES Candidate Development Program must submit a copy of their certification . Your status must be clearly stated in your resume.

When uploading your SF-50, choose the label "SF-50."

When uploading your SES CDP Certification, label this Supporting Document as "Other."

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.