Mission Support Specialist

Summary

Organizational Location: This position is with the Department of Homeland Security, within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations, San Juan Field Office, Area Port of Charlotte Amalie, located in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, U.S.

Additional selections may be made to include other organizational divisions and/or units within the duty location(s) listed above.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

Current U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees who are currently working in a permanent competitive service position

Duties

This position will allow you to use your expertise in administration to provide advisory and technical services in a variety of mission support functional areas. In this position, you will strengthen the Department's ability to protect the homeland by becoming a valuable member of a team of administrative professionals. This position starts at a salary of $49,960.00 (GS-07, Step 1) to $79,443.00 (GS-09, Step 10) with promotion potential to $115,213 (GS-12 Step 10).

Salary above excludes COLA. Please see the following link for specific COLA Rates

Your job will include:

Applying a wide range of administrative programs concepts, laws, policies, practices and analytical methods to address technical issues or problems.

Providing advisory and technical services on organizational functions and work practices.

Developing new or modified administrative program work methods and procedures for delivering effective customer service.

Developing and delivering briefings, project papers, reports, and correspondence to foster understanding and acceptance of findings and recommendations.

GS Salary: Visit to view the locality pay tables by geographic area. If you do not see your geographic area listed, select the "Rest of United States" pay table. Some positions fall under a special pay rate depending on the series, grade level and location of the position.Please visit to view special pay rate charts.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this position

Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered with Selective Service

Primary U.S. residency for at least three of the last five years (additional details below)

You may be required to pass a background investigation.

CBP follows the DHS Drug-Free Workplace Plan for drug testing procedures.

As an employee of CBP, you will be joining a workforce that is dedicated to accomplishing our mission while maintaining the trust of our Nation by strictly adhering to all government ethics standards. Your conduct will be subject to the ethics rules applicable to all Executive Branch employees, and to CBP employees specifically, as well as the criminal conflict of interest statutes. Once you enter on duty, these rules include obtaining approval for outside employment or business activity, to ensure such employment or business activity is not prohibited and does not interfere or conflict with performance of your official duties. Please review further details via the following .

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 including your rights and responsibilities.

Bargaining Unit: This is a bargaining unit covered position, represented under the National Treasury Employees Unions - NTEU. For local chapter contact information see .

Qualifications

NOTE: Your resume must explicitly indicate how you meet this requirement, otherwise you will be found ineligible. Please see the "Required Documents" section below for additional resume requirements.

Experience: You qualify for the GS-07 grade level if you possess 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, performing duties such as:

Assisting with planning to gather and interpret information and data used to address problems, issues, and unusual circumstances to be used in evaluating areas for process improvements.

Assisting with identifying ways to improve or enhance mission support services.

Participating in analyzing the effects of changes in laws and regulations as they pertain to management services.

Preparing briefings and project papers status, and running staff reports for management.

Experience: You qualify for the GS-09 grade level if you possess 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, performing duties such as:

Assisting senior specialists in analyzing programs to measure performance and efficiency.

Evaluating mission support services in order to determine the most effective way to improve or enhance current services.

Conducting administrative support services to identify, analyze, and recommend solutions to problems in organizational structure, staffing, administrative procedures, or work processes.

Analyzing workflow, office procedures, and problem solving.

Education Substitution:

GS-07: Successful completion of one year of full-time graduate education from an accredited college or university may substitute for the experience required at this level. This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. Check with your school to determine how many credit hours comprise a year of graduate education. If that information is not available, use 18 semester or 27 quarter hours. You are required to submit proof of your claim.

OR

A bachelor's degree with Superior Academic Achievement (SAA) may also substitute for the experience required. It is based on (1) class standing, (2) grade-point average (i.e., GPA 3.0 or higher of a possible 4.0, excluding pass/fail credits. Pass/fail credits cannot be more than 10% of total credits), or (3) honor society membership. Review Superior Academic Achievement (SAA) to see if you qualify under this provision. Please see for additional information.

GS-09: Successful completion of master's or equivalent graduate degree education, 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, or LL.B. or J.D., if related from an accredited college or university may substitute for the experience required at this level. This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. Check with your school to determine how many credit hours comprise two years of graduate education. If that information is not available, use 36 semester or 54 quarter hours.

Combining Education and Experience: Combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements for the grade levels specified in the table, and may be computed by first determining the applicant's total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determining the applicant's education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; and then adding the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grade GS-9. More information on this qualification standard is located here.

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.

You must:

Meet all qualification requirements, including education if applicable to this position, subject to verification at any stage of the application process; and

Meet all applicable Time in Grade requirements (current federal employees must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent grade band in the federal service) by 04/30/2025. 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.

Background Investigation: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is a federal law enforcement agency that requires all applicants to undergo a thorough background investigation prior to employment in order to promote the agency's core values of vigilance, service to country, and integrity. During the screening and/or background investigation process, you will be asked questions regarding any felony criminal convictions or current felony charges, the use of illegal drugs (e.g., marijuana, cocaine, heroin, LSD, methamphetamines, ecstasy), and the use of non-prescribed controlled substances including any experimentation, possession, sale, receipt, manufacture, cultivation, production, transfer, shipping, trafficking, or distribution of controlled substances. For additional information on the preemployment process, review the following link:

Residency: There is a residency requirement for all applicants not currently employed by CBP. Individuals are required to have physically resided in the United States or its protectorates (as declared under international law) for at least three of the last five years. If you do not meet the residency requirement and you have been physically located in a foreign location for more than two of the last five years, you may request an exception to determine if you are eligible for a residency waiver by meeting one or more of the following conditions:

Working for the U.S. Government as a federal civilian or as a member of the military

A dependent who was authorized to accompany a federal civilian or member of the military who was working for the U.S. government

Participation in a study abroad program sponsored by a U.S. affiliated college or university

Working as a contractor, intern, consultant or volunteer supporting the U.S. government Probationary Period: All employees new to the federal government must serve a one year probationary period during the first year of his/her initial permanent federal appointment to determine fitness for continued employment. Current and former federal employees may be required to serve or complete a probationary period.

Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) Eligibles: If you have never worked for the federal government, you are not CTAP eligible. View information about on OPM's Career Transition Resources website. You must submit the supporting documents listed under the Required Documents section of this announcement. To be considered well qualified under CTAP, you must be rated at a minimum score of 85 for this position.

Education

Please see the Qualifications and Required Documents sections for more information if education is applicable to this position.

Additional information

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments .

Positions with known promotion potential do not guarantee promotion, nor is the promise of promotion implied.

Please view the video to learn more about CBP's Office of Field Operations.

The Department of Homeland Security encourages persons with disabilities to apply, to include persons with intellectual, severe physical or psychiatric disabilities, as defined by 5 CFR § 213.3102(u), and/or Disabled Veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more as defined by 5 CFR § 315.707., /, and 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 required documentation, 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.

Applicants will only be considered for the Eligibilities for which they claim in the job questionnaire AND must provide the supporting documentation. Applicants will not be considered for Eligibilities for which they did not claim, regardless of the documentation submitted with the application.

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics).

This self-assessment will be used to assess the following technical competencies or KSAs:

Knowledge of administrative programs, policies, practices, and methods.

Ability to evaluate many kinds of information and formulate techniques and methods to address technical issues and problems.

Ability to communicate orally and in writing.

Knowledge of organizational structure, policies and procedures. To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. The USA Hire Assessment will be used to assess the following general competencies:

Attention to Detail

Customer Service

Decision Making

Flexibility

Integrity/Honesty

Interpersonal Skills

Learning

Reading

Reasoning

Self-Management

Stress Tolerance

Teamwork If you are best qualified, you may be referred to the hiring manager for consideration and may be contacted for an interview. As a part of the interview process, additional selection criteria may be administered by the hiring manager. Preview

In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from