Clarification from the agency

Current Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees in the competitive service who hold a non-temporary career or career-conditional appointment only.

As a Special Assistant - Temporary Promotion NTE 1-Year, you will perform the following duties:

• Coordinate implementation of projects and policies and keep the supervisor informed of activities and events that may affect programs and policies;
• Provides advice and guidance on undefined issues and elements for programs essential to the organization's mission, such as major programs of national scope and impact; plans, directs, and executes liaison operations for critical department-wide programs, with national or international implications;
• Advises and recommends active approaches for avoiding and/or resolving problems and reducing conflicts; recommends long-range program plans, goals, objectives, and milestones, which serve as the basis for substantive changes in the organization and administration programs affecting large numbers of people;
• Provides authoritative guidance in the resolution of complex problems or issues impacting major DHS programs
• Researches and writes reports or other working documents that provide authoritative guidance on complex and wide-impacting program issues; writes correspondence, memoranda, briefings/announcements, or other documents relevant to program activities.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position.
• You must successfully pass a background investigation.
• You must successfully pass a drug screen.
• Males born after 12/31/59 must certify registration with Selective Service.
• Requirements by Closing Date: Unless otherwise noted, you must meet all requirements by the closing date of the announcement.
• Time in Grade: Current Federal employees must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade in the Federal service. Time in grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.
• Probationary Period: This is a full-time permanent position (Career/Career-Conditional appointment). Upon appointment to this position, you may be required to serve a one-year probationary period.

Qualifications

Please limit your resume to 2 pages. If more than 2 pages are submitted, only the first 2 pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility/qualifications.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Do not copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.

You qualify for the GS-15 grade level if you possess one (1) year of specialized experience at the GS-14 grade level or equivalent performing the duties such as:

• Providing advice and guidance on agency programs, policies, or issues that impact multiple offices
• Reviewing and advising on policies and initiatives to ensure alignment with organizational goals and administrative requirements
• Analyzing and evaluating programs to measure effectiveness and recommend improvements; and
• Coordinating with senior officials and stakeholders to address issues and ensure consistent implementation of agency priorities.

In addition to the above requirements, your resume will be reviewed to determine possession of the following competencies:

• Partnering
• Organizational Awareness
• Problem Solving/Decision making
• Analyzing/Planning and Evaluating
• Technical Competence

Qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Qualification claims will be subject to verification.

National Service Experience (i.e., 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.

Current or Former Political Appointees: 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.

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. Veterans, Peace Corps, VISTA volunteers, and persons with disabilities 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' two-page resumes will first be evaluated for specialized experience as described in the Qualifications section of this announcement. Applicants demonstrating that experience will be further evaluated for possession of the competencies listed below using a structured resume review, a structured interview, or a combination of these two assessment methods.

The competencies needed to perform this job are:

• Partnering
• Organizational Awareness
• Problem Solving/Decision making
• Analyzing/Planning and Evaluating
• Technical Competence

Results of the competency evaluation will be used to determine the final pass/fail status of each applicant. Passing applicants must demonstrate possession of all competencies listed above.

Interviews may be required for this position. 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).

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

Pursuant to Executive Order 12564, and the DHS Drug-Free Workplace Plan, ICE is committed to maintaining a drug-free workplace and, therefore, personnel in safety- or security-sensitive positions (testing designated positions) are subject to random drug testing. Moreover, other drug testing of employees (e.g., reasonable suspicion drug test) may be conducted in order to ensure a safe and healthy work environment. All applicants tentatively selected for employment at ICE are subject to pre-employment drug testing and a final offer of employment is contingent upon a negative drug test result.

1. 2-Page Resume showing relevant experience, education and training. Work experience must include: job title, duties, employer's name, employer's telephone number, employer's address, starting and ending dates (MM/YY), hours worked per week, and indicate whether or not we may contact your current supervisor. Please limit your resume to 2 pages. If more than 2 pages are submitted, only the first 2 pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility/qualifications. In describing your experience on your resume, please be clear and specific. We will not make assumption regarding your experience. Do not copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position. (for more information, see the How do I write a resume for a federal Job-Two-Page Resume Limit).
2. Are you a current ICE employee? Submit a copy of your most recent SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action that demonstrates your eligibility for consideration, e.g., length of time you have been in your current grade; your highest grade held; your current promotion potential and proof of permanent appointment if applying based on an interchange agreement. Examples of appropriate SF-50s include promotions, within-grade increases, and accessions.
3. 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 and beginning and ending dates of appointment.
4. You may be asked to provide a copy of your recent performance appraisal and/or incentive awards.

Failure to submit required documents will result in disqualification for this vacancy.

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