Assistant Chief Job in Washington, DC

Vacancy No. WO-1614-USPP-25-12758798-MP Department National Park Service
Salary $195,200.00 to $195,200.00 Grade 10 to 10
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 7/9/2025 Close Date 7/22/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Status Candidates
Locations:
Washington, DC


Summary

The United States Park Police Assistant Chief oversees police management, law enforcement, and crime prevention under the supervision of the chief of police and general direction of the Visitor Resources Protection Directorate. Assists with leading premier law enforcement organization with over 600 employees and administer a budget of over $120 million, to ensure public safety and resource protection functions for iconic national infrastructure across DC, New York, NY, and San Francisco, CA.

Duties

The major duties of the Assistant Chief - US Park Police, SP-0083-10 position include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Detection, investigation, apprehension, and prosecution under applicable laws, rules, and regulations enacted to insure the protection and safe use of National Park resources and visitors.
  • Interpret polices for law enforcement staff to ensure their consistent application across an organization.
  • Review Law enforcement operations to identify ways to maximize the effectiveness of efficiency of service provisions.
  • Develop collaborative relationships with other law enforcement agencies to identify and resolve issues of overlap or conflict with the mission of the United States Park Police.
  • Evaluate law enforcement methods and procedures to identify the need for new or revised techniques which will ensure resources receive appropriate protection.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • U.S. Citizenship required.
  • Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males.
  • Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication. You must be ablet to obtain and maintain a Top Secret or higher security clearance and approval to access Sensitive Compartmented Information.
  • Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
  • You will be required to submit to a drug test and receive a negative drug test result prior to appointment. In addition, this position is subject to random testing for illegal drug use.
  • You will be required to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of your official duties; a valid driver's license is required.
  • You will be required to wear a uniform and comply with the United States Park Police uniform standards.
  • You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work.
  • If you are a new supervisor in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period.
  • You may be required to perform occasional travel overnight away from home. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
  • You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority.
  • You will be required to complete a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report, OGE-450 on an annual basis.
  • Experience in a primary/rigorous law enforcement position is mandatory.
  • You will be required to carry a firearm while performing duties and maintain firearm proficiency.
  • You must currently possess a National Park Service (NPS) Law Enforcement Commission.
  • You must meet physical requirements. See Additional Information for full details.
  • This is a primary law enforcement position covered by special retirement provisions. See Additional Information for full details.

Qualifications

Any individual who is currently holding, or has held within the previous 52 weeks, a SP or General Schedule (GS) position under non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet time-in-grade requirements (must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent in the Federal service). Time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-07/22/2025-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 for each federal position listed as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of qualifying experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience.

For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected.

Applicants must have reached their 21st birthday, but not have reached their 57th birthday by the date of appointment to this position. These positions are covered by the special retirement provisions for Federal Law Enforcement officers and have a mandatory retirement age of 57. Two exceptions are allowed:
  1. An applicant has prior Federal service in a primary covered position sufficient to complete 20 years of service on or before the mandatory retirement age of 57; or
  2. An applicant is a qualified veterans' preference eligible, in which case the MEA is waived and their corresponding retirement age may be higher than 57 after completing 20 years of service.
You must submit proof of your status in the Law Enforcement retirement system.

To qualify for this position at the SP-10 grade level, you must possess all of the following basic requirements by close of the announcement:

SELECTIVE FACTOR: This position supervises a department of law enforcement professionals who are responsible for providing the full range of police management, law enforcement, and crime prevention functions for the National Park Service, and is required to possess the following:
  • Experience in a primary/rigorous law enforcement position (e.g. investigating, apprehending, or detaining individuals suspected or convicted of offenses against the criminal laws of the United States).
  • Currently possess a National Park Service (NPS) Law Enforcement Commission.
- AND -To qualify for this position at the SP-10 grade level, you must possess all of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:

EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the SP-08 or GS-14 grade level in the Federal service. This experience must include all of the following: (1) law enforcement management demonstrating extensive knowledge in law, policy, and regulations, law enforcement operations, practices, and techniques, and business practices; (2) management of a large, complex, and geographically dispersed law enforcement organization; (3) management in an effective, progressive, collaborative, and fiscally prudent manner, and; (4) management of complex administrative and financial activities.

Your resume must include hours per week worked. Your resume must include months, years and hours per week worked to receive credit for your work and/or volunteer experience. One year of specialized experience is equivalent to 12 months at 40 hours per week. Part-time hours are prorated. You will not receive any credit for experience that does not indicate exact hours per week or is listed as "varies". Experience listed as full-time will be credited at 40 hours per week.

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.

Education

There is no substitution of education for experience at the grade level(s) of this announcement.

Additional information

Physical Demands: The work requires long periods of sedentary behavior with intense concentration. The incumbent's primary responsibility as a law enforcement officer, with arrest authority and peace officer obligations, requires peek physical condition and the ability to operate under adverse climatic conditions as well as under stressful physical confrontation situations.

Working Conditions: The work is normally performed in an office environment. When necessary the incumbent may be required to perform operational law enforcement duties on city streets or in a park area setting.

Physical Fitness Requirement: Prior to appointment, you must be determined physically fit by an authorized government physician to perform strenuous and physically demanding duties; and also pass a medical examination (which includes vision, hearing, cardiovascular, and mobility of extremities) given by an authorized government physician. You will also be required to undergo periodic medical examinations throughout employment.

Retirement: This position is designated as a primary law enforcement position for the purpose of retirement. The maximum age for initial entry into this position is 36. If you are 37 or older, or will shortly reach your 37th birthday, and have previously served in a federal civilian law enforcement position, you may be exempt from this age restriction. You may also be exempt if you are a preference eligible veteran or if you qualify under the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act.

Selectee(s) must be free of any domestic violence convictions. Appointment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet these requirements will be grounds for termination

The National Park Service has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for situational telework.

This position is not eligible for a remote work duty station.

Driver's License: Prior to your first official motor vehicle operation, and again every year thereafter (or more frequently if management determines such need exists), you will be required to sign an affidavit certifying to your possession of a valid State issued driver's license that is current and has not been revoked, suspended, canceled, or otherwise disqualified in any way to prohibit your operation of a motor vehicle. You will also submit a photocopy of your valid State issued driver's license prior to your first official motor vehicle operation, and again every year, or more frequently if management determines such need exists.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document that you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application. Click the following link for more information, https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Alternate_Application_Information.If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document that you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application. Click the following link for more information, https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Alternate_Application_Information.

Benefits

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

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 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), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the additional assessments required for this position. A review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the Assessment Questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job. If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses provided in the Assessment Questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation, you will be rated 'ineligible', 'not qualified', or your score will be adjusted accordingly. If a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications or experience, you can lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully; errors or omissions can affect your rating.

Candidates who apply under Competitive Merit Promotion procedures will undergo a quality review to determine if they are highly qualified based on the content of their resume and their responses to the questionnaire. Best qualified candidates will be referred if all required supporting documentation has been provided.

Candidates who apply under Noncompetitive Merit Promotion procedures will undergo a quality review to determine if they are minimally qualified based on the content of their resume and their responses to the questionnaire. Qualified candidates will be referred if all required supporting documentation has been provided.

You will be evaluated on the following competencies:

  • Administration and Management
  • Decision Making
  • Negotiation
  • Oral Communication
  • Writing


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 successful completion of additional assessments. These assessments measure the critical competencies listed above that are required to successfully perform the job.

Please submit 1) a copy of your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation and 2) a list of any awards (e.g. superior performance awards, special act or achievement awards, quality step increase, etc.) you received in the last 5 years. Any performance appraisal/evaluation and award documentation you provide will be forwarded to the selecting official. The selecting official will review this documentation and give it due weight consideration during the overall selection process.

If you do not have your most recent performance appraisal/evaluation, please submit a statement as to why it is not available. Please indicate if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level.

Required Documents

The following documents are required and must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 07/22/2025.

  1. Resume which includes a list of all significant jobs held and duties performed, dates specified in month and year format, and the resume must reflect either full-time or 40 hours per week. If a part-time work schedule is reflected, the hours must be annotated to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. If military or civilian, please include your rank and/or grade.
  2. Complete All Required Assessments.
  3. Merit Promotion Eligibility Documentation such as:
    • Federal employees must submit a copy of their latest SF-50 "Notification of Personnel Action" that reflects career or career-conditional tenure, such as the initial hire, promotion, or reassignment, showing position title, series, grade and tenure (please do not submit an Award SF-50 unless it provides the necessary information) and, if different, an SF-50 showing highest permanent grade ever held. Time in grade will be determined by reviewing your resume and required SF-50's.
    • If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess the one-year time-in-grade, as required by this announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade, such as a Within Grade Increase.
    • Federal employees must also submit a non-award SF-50 for each federal position listed if hours worked per week are not included on your resume.
    • Documentation for the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) eligibility, which includes ALL Appointment AND Termination SF-50s for EACH appointment as well as ALL performance evaluations, for each qualifying period of temporary employment claimed.
  4. Performance Appraisals and Awards:
    • All applicants must submit their most recent performance appraisal showing the official rating of record and signed by a supervisor or, if one is unavailable, a statement as to why it is not available (including if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level).
    • Failure to submit any of the above mentioned required documents will result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted
  5. Documentation for Interagency/Career Transition Assistance Plan consideration if you are a displaced Federal employee within the local commuting area. You must include: 1) Proof you are a displaced Federal employee, e.g., RIF Separation Notice, Notice of Proposed Removal, etc; 2) SF-50s (Notifications of Personnel Action) showing career/conditional tenure competitive status, promotion potential and duty location; and 3) your most recent performance appraisal. To exercise selection priority, displaced or surplus Federal employees must be rated well-qualified or above 85 on the rating criteria for this position.
Do not submit photographs with your application package. Documents with photographs may not be seen by hiring officials - you must remove your image from any badges, licenses, etc.

Do not upload Adobe portfolio documents. Adobe portfolio documents are not viewable by our agency's staffing offices.

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.

How to Apply

To apply for this position: You must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. To receive consideration, the complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 07/22/2025. WE DO NOT ACCEPT HARD-COPY OR E-MAIL APPLICATION PACKAGES.

  1. Select Apply. If you are not logged in, you will be prompted to login or create an account.
  2. Prompted to Start the Application Process by selecting "Start Application."
  3. Select or add the resume you want to use for this application. Click here on how to build a resume in USAJOBS.
  4. Select documents you want included in this application.
  5. Review package to acknowledge your documents were reviewed.
  6. Select if you want to include your demographic information.
  7. After reading and certifying the application is true and submitted in good faith, select "Continue to Agency Site."
  8. Follow onscreen prompts and instructions to complete your application.
  9. Add the supporting documents by indexing your documents with the dropdown.
    • Upload any missing required documents or optional documents.
  10. Review and Submit Application.
  11. While logged in, you can check the status of your application by selecting "+" next to the job title for this position.
  12. You can review or revise your application at any point during the open period of the announcement.
    • To update an application, you should log into your USAJOBS account and select "+" next to the job title for this position. Select "Update Application" for this job.
    • Note: When you click Update Application, you will be prompted to re-select your documents from USAJOBS. Documents submitted with the first application will no longer be associated with the applicant record. So it is important that you select all documents you want to use in the re-application.
  13. To ensure compliance with an applicable preliminary nationwide injunction, which may be supplemented, modified, or vacated, depending on the course of ongoing litigation, the Federal Government will take no action to implement or enforce the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to Executive Order 14043 on Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees. Therefore, to the extent a Federal job announcement includes the requirement that applicants must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 pursuant to EO 14043, that requirement does not currently apply.
Please note: The eligibility section of the application process is designed to allow you to choose how you wish to be considered for this vacancy announcement. You will ONLY be considered for the appointment eligibilities that you select. You must provide the supporting documentation to support your claim. Please review the list of documentation provided in the eligibilities language to ensure you provide the appropriate information. You may choose more than one eligibility.

Agency contact information

Shaunte Sankey
Address
United States Park Police
1100 Ohio Drive S.W.
Washington, DC 20024
US

Next steps

Once the Occupational Questionnaire is received you will receive acknowledgement that your submission was successful. If you are among the most qualified candidates and your name is referred to the hiring official, you may be contacted directly for a possible interview. You will be notified of the status of your Application Package at the time candidates are referred for consideration, and when the selection process is complete.

The duties of positions in this series require moderate to arduous physical exertion involving walking and standing, use of firearms, and exposure to inclement weather. Manual dexterity with comparatively free motion of finger, wrist, elbow, shoulder, hip, and knee joints is required. Arms, hands, legs, and feet must be sufficiently intact and functioning in order that applicants may perform the duties satisfactorily. Sufficiently good vision in each eye, with or without correction, is required to perform the duties satisfactorily. Near vision, corrective lenses permitted, must be sufficient to read printed material the size of typewritten characters. Hearing loss, as measured by an audiometer, must not exceed 35 decibels at 1000, 2000, and 3000 Hz levels. Since the duties of these positions are exacting and responsible, and involve activities under trying conditions, applicants must possess emotional and mental stability. Any physical condition that would cause the applicant to be a hazard to himself/herself, or others is disqualifying.

Prior to appointment, selectees must be determined physically fit by an authorized physician to perform strenuous and physically demanding duties, pass a medical examination, and pass the Physical Efficiency Battery (PEB). The PEB is a fitness test consisting of five different components: 1) agility run - measures the ability to get up from the ground and sprint while changing directions; 2) bench press - measures upper body strength for one repetition; 3) 1.5 mile run - measures cardio/respiratory fitness; 4) sit and reach - measures flexibility in the lower back, legs and shoulders; and 5) body composition - measures body fat. Prior to appointment, selectees will be tested in all five components, and must pass the agility run, bench press and 1.5 mile run in the 25th percentile.


Note: We cannot accept applications on behalf of Federal Agencies. Application instructions are listed within the Job Description.


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