Job opening: Refugee Officer
Salary: $117 962 - 181 216 per year
Published at: Apr 02 2024
Employment Type: Full-time
This position is located in the USCIS Refugee, Asylum and International Affairs Directorate (RAIO), International and Refugee Affairs Division (IRAD) Headquarters.
Duties
The responsibilities described are for the full performance level. At developmental grade levels, assignments will be of more limited scope performed with less independence, and limited complexity.
Serve as a program manager and expert in refugee, international, parole and related humanitarian adjudications to develop standards, policies, procedures, and training materials.
Inform operations by collecting and analyzing information from various sources and present results in written and/or oral form.
Review standard operating procedures (SOPs), lesson plans, and other training materials, official forms, policy guidance and other materials to ensure consistency with laws, agency policies and program integrity.
Develop, revise, and conduct training for officers on refugee, international, parole and other related humanitarian adjudications, policies, and procedures.
Respond to complex and sensitive inquiries from a variety of sources on a range of refugee, international, parole and related humanitarian procedures, laws, regulations, and policies.
Adjudicate humanitarian cases that are precedent-setting and have a national impact.
Lead the planning, development, and implementation of multiple projects by coordinating with internal and external partners.
Advise senior leadership on the formulation and development of policies and procedures governing refugee, international, parole, and other related humanitarian adjudications.
Qualifications
As a Refugee Officer (Headquarters), you will serve as a recognized authority in refugee, parole, and other humanitarian immigration benefit adjudications administered by IRAD and related law, policy, and procedures, and play a key role in furthering IRAD's effectiveness and technical direction by providing expert guidance to field components, senior leaders, various Federal agencies, congressional staff, and the public. HQ Refugee Officers develop, refine, and implement law, policy, and operational guidance, communications, forms, agreements, and other products to support operations.
The qualifications for this position must be met by 11:59 PM (Eastern Time) on 04/11/2024.
Current Federal employees must have served 52 weeks at the lower grade or equivalent grade band in the Federal service. The Time-in-Grade requirement must be met by 11:59 PM (Eastern Time) on 04/11/2024.
GS-13: You qualify at the GS-13 level if you possess one (1) year of specialized experience, which is equivalent to at least the GS-12 level in the federal government, that equipped you with the skills needed to successfully perform the duties of the position. You must have experience performing the following duties:
Analyzing refugee, asylum, or international field program operations with regard to production, quality and service to the public;
Reviewing refugee, asylum, or related immigration benefits decisions to ensure proper application of all relevant guidance;
Adjudicating complex and sensitive humanitarian immigration benefit cases that are discretionary, precedent-setting, have high visibility and are important to the agency;
Preparing reports, analyses, and field guides in support of refugee, asylum, international, parole, and other related humanitarian adjudications and program management objectives.
GS-14: In addition to the requirements at the lower grade level(s), to qualify at the GS-14 level if you possess one (1) year of specialized experience, which is equivalent to at least the GS-13 level in the federal government, that equipped you with the skills needed to successfully perform the duties of the position. You must have experience performing the following duties:
Adjudicating refugee, asylum, or related immigration cases that are sensitive, precedent-setting and have a national impact;
Serving as an expert in formulating standards, policy, and procedures governing the execution of the U.S. Refugee Admission Program;
Conducting analysis regarding long-range planning of new refugee, asylum, or international operations programs while assessing productivity, efficiency and the effectiveness of program operations;
Providing expert guidance in the organization, development, and implementation of multiple projects related to complex refugee, asylum, parole, international, or other related humanitarian immigration benefits.
Please read the following important information to ensure you submit everything we need to consider your application: It is your responsibility to ensure that you submit your responses and appropriate documentation prior to 04/11/2024. Your resume will be used to determine your qualifications for the position advertised in this announcement. Therefore, your resume must highlight your most relevant, significant experience related to the requirements found in the qualification section of this announcement, as well as any applicable education. USCIS will only review the first 5 pages of your resume to determine your initial eligibility/qualifications for a position. As such, please be sure to include content to support your eligibility/qualifications for this position within the first 5 pages. Please note that your full resume will be made available to the hiring manager if you are referred. Be clear and specific when describing your work history since Human Resources cannot make assumptions regarding your experience. Your application will be rated and ranked based on your responses to the online questions.
Please ensure EACH work history includes ALL of the following information:
Job Title (include series and grade if Federal Job)
Duties (be specific in describing your duties)
Employer's name and address
Supervisor name and phone number
Start and end dates including month, day and year (e.g. June 18 2007 to April 05 2008)
Start and end dates for each grade/pay level if you've held a federal position.
Full-time or part-time status (include hours worked per week)
Salary
Determining length of General or Specialized Experience is dependent on the above information and failure to provide the above information may result in a finding of ineligible.
Note: Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration.
Federal Experience: If you are using current or prior federal experience as a basis for qualifying for this position, the grade levels and length of employment (mm/dd/year) at each grade level must be listed in your work history. This information will be further validated if selected for this position.
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 criteria 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 service. Please provide the dates and amount of time/hours worked earning this experience.
Education
EDUCATIONAL SUBSTITUTION: There is no educational substitution at this grade level.
Training: If you have not already done so, you will be required to attend the residential, paid RAIO Combined Training course and the Division-specific course(s) that relate to this position, at a USCIS training facility. These courses will last approximately seven weeks, and may, in some cases depending on the position, last up to eleven weeks. In addition, if you have not already done so, you will be required to attend the residential, paid BASIC Immigration Officer training program, lasting approximately six weeks, at a USCIS training facility. The trainings must be completed successfully according to the standards of the agency. Failure to do so will be grounds for mandatory removal from the position. Such failure will result in either reassignment to a different position, demotion, or separation by appropriate procedures.
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