Clarification from the agency

U.S. Citizens, Career Transition Assistance Plan DHS employees, Reemployment Priority List, Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan Federal Employees.

Term Appointments: To meet agency needs, this position will be filled under a time-limited appointment, not-to-exceed (NTE) 4 Years. This is not a permanent appointment, and does not allow for conversion to a permanent competitive service. You will be separated when the NTE date of this appointment is reached.

Probationary Period: The first year of service of a term employee is a probationary period regardless of the method of appointment. Prior Federal civilian service is credited toward completion of the required probationary period.

Tenure of term employees: A term employee does not acquire a competitive status on the basis of his term appointment. The employment of a term employee ends automatically on the expiration of his term appointment unless he has been separated earlier.

Join the Mission. Build the Future.

Be a part of an historic opportunity to secure our Nation's borders. H.R.1 is driving the largest ever investment to modernize and construct cutting-edge Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities. As a key member of CBP's Office of Facilities and Asset Management, you will play a critical role in construction projects that support frontline personnel, modernize federal infrastructure, protect Americans, and secure our Nation's borders.

This is more than a job. This is your chance to be a part of history by helping to lead America towards a safer, stronger future.

This position starts at a salary of $106,437.00 (GS-13, Step 1) to $138,370.00 (GS-13, Step 10)

The Realty Specialist is responsible for a combination of long- and short-range planning, space acquisitions, assignment, and lease administration and utilization work involving complex projects in support of assigned agencies. The incumbent manages the region's real property portfolio, including owned, General Services Administration (GSA)-leased, CBP leased, permitting, licensing, etc. and guides real property asset management program decisions including the acquisition, disposal, and overall management of real property owned, leased, or consigned to CBP.

Typical Work assignments include:

• Performing work involving complex issues within a realty program by assessing and delivering on the space needs of multiple organizations, providing guidance to supported organizations on property acquisition or disposal, managing overall space planning, and working to ensure issues for tenants or other affected parties are included when drafting documents and working on projects. The programs represent the lifecycle process of acquiring, managing, and disposing of property and associated legal interests in property.
• Performing in accordance with appropriate regulatory guidance, technical and administrative duties relating to real property accountability, real estate transactions, and real property assignments.
• Working with extensive knowledge of real estate law, principles, practices, and markets.
• Acting as the Spokesperson for Real Property matters including discussions with high level OFAM and CBP officials in all programs and with federal, state and local representative staffs.
• Performing project planning and management functions, including the development of project management strategies, using CBP's Office of Information Technology and Office of Professional Responsibility tracking systems and budget estimates for approved and proposed projects.
• Developing options and alternatives for property acquisition (lease, purchase/construction and condemnation) by preparing a lease versus purchase analysis.

Condition of Employment and Continued Employment:

Position requires incumbent to have and maintain a Real Estate Contracting Officer (RECO) Warrant as outlined in DRS Instruction 119-02-002, DRS Real Estate Contracting Officer Warrant Program. The incumbent must enter the Leasing Certification Program (LCP) Level 2, which is a prerequisite for DRS RECO Warrant Appointment. The incumbent must meet all real property contracting experience (including progressively responsible experience at Level II), demonstrated skills, and education requirements for the Leasing Certification Program Level 3 within 24 months of appointment.

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)
• All pre-employment processes will be conducted in English
• 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 link.
• 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.
• Bargaining Unit: This is a bargaining unit covered position, represented under the National Treasury Employees Unions - NTEU. For local chapter contact information see Chapter Websites - National Treasury Employees Union - NTEU

Qualifications

Experience: You qualify for the GS-13 grade level if you possess 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, performing duties such as:

• Providing technical expertise to customers and external partners on a variety of real property actions to include fee acquisitions, leases, permits, and more covering the entire acquisition process from requirements development, market survey, instrument drafting and execution.
• Negotiating, resolving, and implementing advice and technical guidance from a variety of sources to include legal, environmental, construction, and technical sources.
• Obtaining, reviewing, and approving real property instruments such as surveys, title reports, appraisals, and title transfer documentation.
• Performing lease administration capabilities including enforcement of lease provisions, requests for rent adjustments, and resolution of day-to-day lease issues and negotiations.
• Developing project management strategies, schedules, requirements development, cost estimates, and coordination of various supporting activities (IT, security, furniture acquisition, etc.) to demonstrate project planning and management capabilities.

Physical Demands- During field inspections, remote properties, buildings and market surveys, the incumbent may be required to bend and climb ladders, walk numerous flights of stairs, standing, stooping, reaching, lifting heavy objects of fifty pounds or less, and work in unheated and unfinished buildings.
Work Environment- Incumbent may be required to travel throughout an assigned geographical area to complete his/her assignments. Incumbent may be exposed to slippery or uneven ground, falling objects, or environmental and other construction hazards when working in undeveloped properties, in space/properties under alteration/construction, or when inspecting the space in a building.

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 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 by 04/16/2026.

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. The USA Hire Assessments includes a cut score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment.

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 consideration.

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: Applicant Resources | CBP Careers

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

Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) Eligibles: If you have never worked for the federal government, you are not CTAP/ICTAP eligible. View information about CTAP/ICTAP eligibilityon OPM's Career Transition Resources website. To be considered eligible under CTAP/ICTAP, you must be placed in the Well-Qualified category for this position, as described within this announcement. In addition, you must submit the supporting documents listed under the Required Documents section of this job 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 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).

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
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork
• Occupational Judgement Assessment
• Decision Making
• Occupational Reading Assessment
• Reading Comprehension
• Occupational Reasoning Assessment
• Reasoning

If you meet the minimum qualifications, we will use responses you provide on the application questionnaire and the result of the online assessments required for this position to place you in one of three categories based on your experience, education, and training:

1. Highly Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrate high proficiency in all of the critical competencies, including all Selective Placement Factors (SPF), and appropriate Quality Ranking Factors (QRF) as determined by the job analysis.
2. Well-Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrates acceptable proficiency in all of the critical competencies, including all SPF's and appropriate QRFs as determined by the job analysis.
3. Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrate basic proficiency in most of the critical competencies, including all SPFs and appropriate QRFs as determined by the job analysis.

Veterans: Qualified veterans who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10% are listed in the best-qualified category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level, or higher. This position is not considered scientific/professional. Other 10-point preference eligibles and veterans with 5-point preference who meet the eligibility and qualification requirements are placed above non-preference eligibles within the category in which they qualify. View information on veterans' preference.

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 the job questionnaire https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12875682

• Your resume: A resume describing your job-related qualifications is required and will be used for the purpose of reviewing your qualifications and determining what training, if any, would be required when placed. A resume in English is required. It must contain your full legal name, phone number, relevant work history including a detailed description of your duties, the dates you performed those duties (MM/DD/YY), your hours worked per week, job title, as well as series, grade, and salary (if applicable). For additional required items, see the link. It is recommended that you upload your resume as a PDF instead of a Word document to ensure document quality. Ensure that your uploaded resume is not a password protected document, to include Office 365 passwords. 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.
• Your responses to the job questionnaire: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12875682
• Your responses to the USA Hire Competency Based Assessment
• Are you claiming special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP), Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP), or the Reemployment Priority List (RPL)? You must submit a separation notice; your most recent SF-50 (noting your current position, grade level and duty location); a copy of your most recent performance rating of record; an agency certification that you cannot be placed after injury compensation has been terminated; an OPM notification that your disability annuity has been terminated; or a Military Department of National Guard Bureau notification that you are retired under 5 U.S.C. 8337(h) or 8456; or RPL registration documentation.
• Are you a veteran? To apply veterans' preference you must submit proof of eligibility as appropriate for your preference type:
  • Five Point Preference: DD 214 listing the character of service and either qualifying medal(s) or service period
  • Ten Point Preference: DD 214 showing character of service and supporting documentation as listed on the Standard Form 15 (application for 10 Point Veterans' Preference). Submitting an SF-15 with your application is encouraged. Veterans with a service-connected disability must also submit a VA Disability Award letter dated 1991 or later, OR supporting documentation as listed in the SF-15
  • If you are currently serving on active duty, you must submit a written statement from the armed forces certifying your dates of service, rank, expected character of service, and anticipated date of separation. If you apply with a written statement at this stage, your preference will be verified by a DD 214 upon separation from the military.
  • For more information about veterans' preference visit this link.
• Are you a current or former federal employee? If yes, it is recommended that you submit a copy of your SF-50(s) (Notification of Personnel Action) to support your experience. Examples of appropriate SF-50s include promotions, within-grade increases and accessions. Retired former federal employees are required to submit your retirement SF-50 and encouraged to submit your most recent annuity statement.
• Are you a current or former political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee? Submit a copy of your initial and termination SF-50s.
• If you are requesting a reasonable accommodation to the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, submit documentation to support your request, including the Reasonable Accommodation Request Form found here.

Next steps