Organizational Location: This position is with the Department of Homeland Security, within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Operations Support, Office of Laboratories and Scientific Services located in Long Beach, California; Newark, New Jersey; Guaynabo, Puerto Rico; or Ashburn, Virginia.

Duties

Joining the Custom's and Border Protection's Laboratories and Scientific Services Directorate (LSSD) will allow you to use your skills in supervising and directing the performance of employees working a full range of duties in physical, chemical, biological, microscopic and forensic analyses. Salary: The salary listed reflects the rest of U.S. scale and, if applicable, will be adjusted to meet the locality pay or cost of living expenses of the duty location upon selection. This position starts at a salary of $103,409 (GS-13, Step 1) to $134,435 (GS-13, Step 10) with promotion potential to $134,435. While serving as a Supervisory Physical Scientist (Branch Chief), your duties will include: Planning and assigning work to be accomplished by subordinates, setting priorities and preparing schedules for completion of the work, using selective consideration of the difficulty, the requirements of the assignment, and the capabilities of employees; Supervising a small to medium sized staff and performing a full range of supervisory personnel functions; Making technical decisions based on agency objectives, requirements, and precedents considering terms of assignments, time and cost limitations, etc., and directing or making technical determination as to course of action to pursue; Providing technical advice to higher-level CBP managers on chemical and physical testing and forensic analysis; and Collaborating with Technical Advisors on complex, new, unknown samples, or potentially controversial findings with review of background material, performance of preliminary exams, review of pertinent regulations, and determination of customer's request and proper approach.

Requirements

Qualifications

Basic Requirement: You qualify for this position if you meet the basic requirement listed below and possess the experience or substitution of education, if applicable, as described below: Degree: physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics. or Combination of education and experience -- education equivalent to one of the majors shown above that included at least 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science, plus appropriate experience or additional education. AND 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: Identifying development and training needs of employees and making provisions for such development and training. Developing organizational objectives and short-range goals of the Branch, contributing to the overall laboratory's goals and objective accomplishments. Resolving technical and operational questions regarding programs supervised. 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. More information on this qualification standard is located here. 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; and Meet all applicable Time in Grade requirements (current federal employees must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent grade band in the federal service) by April 24, 2024. 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, review the following links: Background investigation and the e-QIP process. 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 Probationary Period: All employees new to the federal government must serve a one year probationary period during the first year of his/her initial permanent federal appointment to determine fitness for continued employment. Current and former federal employees may be required to serve or complete a probationary period.

Education

Please see the Qualifications and Required Documents sections for more information if education is applicable to this position.

Contacts

• Address Laboratories and Scientific Services Directorate Please read entire announcement Please apply online Washington, DC 20229 US
• Name: CBP Hiring Center
• Phone: 952-857-2932
• Email: [email protected]