Clarification from the agency

Current career or career-conditional Department of Homeland Security employees in the competitive service and Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) eligibles.

The selectee will serve as an Investigative Analyst in the Office of Field Operations, Riverside Resident Office. Typical work assignments include:

• Conducting analysis of suspected criminal activities; developing target packets/profiles; and utilizing systems to perform protective intelligence research and criminal analysis.
• Identifying, analyzing, and extracting pertinent information from the investigative cases. Reviewing and evaluating data, material, and documents to develop leads and case profiles.
• Participating as an active member on anti-crime task forces, providing criminal research and analytical assistance pertaining to on-going investigations.
• Drafting written documents and presenting research findings to applicable stakeholders and maintaining ongoing collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Apply for this exciting opportunity to impact the ability of the Secret Service to successfully complete its investigative, protective and support mission. This Investigative Analyst position starts at a salary of $71,957.00, GS -09, step 1 with promotion potential to 161,313.00, GS-13 step 10.

Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship is required.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for Selective Service

If selected for this position, you will be required to:

• Obtain and maintain a top-secret Tier 5 clearance. For more information visit OPM Mythbuster Page.
• Submit a credit check after a conditional offer of employment has been accepted.
• Submit to a drug test prior to your appointment and random drug testing while you occupy the position.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period or trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

To be considered qualified for this position you must meet the following qualification requirements for the respective grade level in which you are applying.

You qualify for the GS-9/11 level (starting salary $71,957.00) if you possess one of the following:

One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level performing duties such as:

• Assisting in determining leads for further research and analysis in criminal investigations.
• Conducting research and database searches from a variety of sources.
• Assisting with processing and evaluating analytical assignments and/or research projects in support of criminal investigations.

OR
You have successfully completed a master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B., or J.D., in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position.

OR
You have the specialized experience, but less than one year; and you have at least one year of graduate education as described, but less than the required two years. You have computed the percentage of the requirements that you meet, and the total is at least 100%. (To compute the percentage, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then, divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond the first year (total graduate semester hours minus 18) by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify.) (Note: you must attach a copy of your transcripts. Failure to provide your transcript will result in an ineligible rating.)

OR
You have the experience AND the education. (Note: you must attach a copy of your transcripts. Failure to provide your transcripts will result in an ineligible rating.)

GS-11: You qualify for the GS-11 level (starting salary $87,061) if you possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level performing duties such as:

• Conducting analysis of investigative cases.
• Accessing and collecting data and/or evidence from a variety of sources
• Preparing link analysis in criminal investigations.
• Determining investigative leads for further research and analysis. OR

OR
A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or three full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related.

OR
A combination of graduate level education and experience. This will be calculated using your resume and unofficial transcripts or a list of courses/course hours submitted with your application.

Time-in-Grade Requirements: Under competitive merit promotion procedures, any individual who is currently holding, or who has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under a non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet "time-in-grade" requirements (have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade of the grade for which you are applying). Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to current competitive service employees applying for a Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. NOTE: All current or former Federal employees must provide a copy of their SF-50, "Notice of Personnel Action" that indicates proof of status and time-in-grade eligibility. The SF-50 must include your position, title, series, grade, step, tenure (1 or 2), and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). You may need to submit more than one SF-50 to comply.

The qualification requirements listed above must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

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.

How you will be evaluated

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

Your application will be rated on the extent and quality of your experience, education and training relevant to the duties of the position. All answers provided in the online process must be substantiated by your resume.
Upon review, your resume and/or supporting documents need to support your answer choices and reflect the one year of specialized experience requirement, in order to be considered. Candidates who possess the one year of specialized experience will be evaluated in a pre-certificate structured interview process. Candidates who are deemed best-qualified based on the results of the pre-certificate structured interview will be referred to the hiring manager for further consideration. The competencies or knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform this job are:

• Accountability
• Attention to Detail
• Criminal Investigation
• Customer Service
• Flexibility
• Interpersonal Skills
• Oral Communication
• Partnering
• Resilience
• Technical Competence
• Written Communication

Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) Eligibles: If you have never worked for the Federal government, you are not CTAP eligible. View information about CTAP eligibility on OPM's Career Transition Resources website. To be considered well qualified under CTAP, you must be rated at a minimum score of 85.0 for this position. In addition, you must submit the supporting documents listed under the required documents section of this announcement.

An interview may be required for this position. If an interview is required, failure to complete the interview may result in removal from further consideration.

Due weight will be given to performance appraisals and incentive awards in merit promotion selection decisions in accordance with 5 CFR 335.103(b)(3).

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.

In addition to addressing the vacancy specific questions, you must also submit the following documentation:

• Resume - Limit your resume to no more than two pages. The USAJOBS database will not allow an applicant to submit an application that includes a resume over two pages. In order to receive credit for experience contained in an uploaded resume, your employment history should show relevant work experience in month/year format (MM/YYYY), reflecting starting date and ending date, and include the number of hours worked per week. To learn how to format and submit a two-page resume, please visit the USAJOBS Help Center.
• If tentatively selected for the position, you may be required to provide additional documentation (SF50s) to validate eligibility for the position.
• Are you qualifying based on education or you are qualifying based on a combination of education and experience? Submit a copy of your college/university transcript (unofficial is acceptable) it must show school name, student's name, credit earned, degree, and date awarded. Education must be obtained from an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet Federal qualification requirements if you can show that your foreign education is comparable to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States. For example, specific courses accepted for college-level credit by an accredited U.S. college or university, or foreign education evaluated by an organization recognized for accreditation by the Department of Education as education equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. college or university. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence with your application. See Recognition of Foreign Qualifications for more information.
• Are you claiming special priority selection rights under the Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP)? Submit a copy of your agency notice, copy of your most recent performance appraisal (with at least a satisfactory rating) and your most current SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location.
• Are you a current United States Secret Service Employee? Submit a copy of your SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, showing your tenure code as career or career-conditional (codes 1 or 2, in block 24), and position occupied in the competitive service (code 1, in block 34) In addition, the SF50s must show the highest grade or promotion potential level attained competitively. An award SF-50 does not contain the required information. If you are applying for a higher grade, please provide the SF-50s which shows the length of time you have been in your current/highest grade and that supports one year of experience (i.e., With-in Grade Increase (WRI) SF-50). You may need to submit more than one SF-50 to comply. Also submit your performance appraisals and/or incentive awards.
• Are you a current or former political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee? Submit a copy of your applicable SF-50, along with a statement that provides the following information regarding your most recent political appointment: Position title, Type of appointment (Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES, or Presidential Appointee) Agency, beginning and ending dates of your appointment.

Next steps