Clarification from the agency

For details regarding who can apply for this Job Opportunity Announcement please see the Summary section.

Joining the Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations will allow you to use your technical and administrative expertise to provide advice on the use of automated systems related to the entry process. This position starts at a salary of $33,394 (GS-05, Step 1) to $53,773 (GS-07, Step 10) with promotion potential to $79,586 (GS-11, Step 10). Apply for this exciting opportunity to strengthen the Department's ability to perform homeland security by contributing to the process of entering merchandise into the United States.

In this Entry Specialist position, you will become a key member of a team of Homeland Security professionals responsible for a wide range of admissibility and control requirements. Typical work assignments include:

• Providing customer service to Customs brokers, importers and carriers by responding to processing questions related to importation of merchandise.
• Resolving discrepancies in the Automated Commercial System (ACS) or Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) for entry processing to prevent liquidation, suspension, closure or other action.
• Providing advice on various filer based transactions and collecting and depositing revenue for imported merchandise.
• Managing the entire ACS/ACE protest and claims module to ensure accountability, accurate tracking, and proper disposition.
• Analyzing a variety of ACS/ACE reports to ensure filer integrity and compliance with laws, rules and regulations.

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 the last three years (additional details below)
• You may be required to pass a background investigation and/or polygraph
• You may be required to pass initial and random drug testing

Qualifications

GS-5: You qualify at the GS-5 level if you possess three (3) years of progressively responsible experience that demonstrated the ability to interpret and correctly apply laws, rules, and regulations; and deal effectively with others to secure their cooperation in complying with requirements. Such experience may have been gained in administrative, professional, technical, investigative, or other responsible work. Experience in substantive and relevant secretarial, clerical, or other responsible work may be qualifying as long as it provided evidence of the skills necessary to perform the duties of the position to be filled. Experience of a general clerical nature (typing, filing, routine procedural processing, maintaining records, or other non specialized tasks) is not creditable.

GS-7: You qualify at the GS-7 level if you possess one (1) year of specialized experience to include working with and observing a higher graded entry specialist in the processing of entries; examining assigned entry forms, invoices, entry permits, and other forms; applying conversion tables of foreign weights and measures and verifying the conversion of foreign currency to United States currency as submitted on the assigned entry; and searching for and assembling pertinent information from office files and records.

OR

Education Substitution

GS-5: You may substitute the successful completion of a Bachelor's degree or a full 4-year course of study in any field leading to a Bachelor's degree for the experience required at the GS-5 grade level. This education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. One year of full-time undergraduate study is defined as 30 semester or 45 quarter hours.

GS-7: You may substitute the successful completion of one year of fulltime graduate education for the experience required at the GS-7 level. This education must have been obtained from an accredited college or university and demonstrate the skills necessary to do the work of the position. Check with your school to determine how many credit hours comprise a year of graduate education. If that information is not available, use 18 semester or 27 quarter hours.

OR

GS-7: You may also substitute superior academic achievement for the experience required at the GS-7 level. You must have completed the requirements for a Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with a grade point average of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale, or have a class standing in the upper third of a graduating class or major subdivision, or membership in a national scholastic honor society. Refer to www.cbp.gov for additional information.

OR

Combining Experience and Education: To combine your education and experience, you must convert each to a percentage, and then add the percentages. The combined total of your percentage of education and experience must equal at least 100% in order to qualify. If your education is currently described in quarter hours, convert the quarter hours into semester hours by multiplying the quarter hours by the fraction 2/3. To calculate your percentage of graduate education, divide the number of graduate semester hours in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level, by 18. To determine your percentage of qualifying experience, you must divide your total number of months of qualifying experience by the required number of months of experience. Add your percentages of education and experience. The two percentages must total at least 100%.

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 05/09/2018.

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 more information visit this link.

Residency: If you are not currently a CBP employee, you must meet one or more of the following primary residency criteria for at least three years prior to applying to this announcement:

1. Resided in the United States or its protectorate or territories (excluding short trips abroad, such as vacations);
2. Worked for the United States government as an employee overseas in a federal or military capacity; or
3. Been a dependent of a United States federal or military employee serving overseas.

Exceptions may be granted if you provide complete state-side coverage information regarding participation in "Study Abroad" programs, overseas church missions, or state-side addresses of anyone who worked or studied with you overseas. You must provide information and related documentation at the time of application.

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.

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. Information about ICTAP or CTAP eligibility can be found here. To be considered well qualified under CTAP/ICTAP, you must be placed in the Well-Qualified category for this position, as described above. In addition, you must submit the supporting documents listed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

How you will be evaluated

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

We will review your resume and supporting documentation to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. If you meet the minimum qualifications, we will use an online self-assessment questionnaire to place you in one of three categories based on your experience, education and training. Your entire application package will then be reviewed. The final determination will be based on all the information provided in your application package.

If you meet the minimum qualifications, you will be placed in one of the following categories:

1. Best Qualified: Applicants possessing knowledge, skills and abilities and/or competencies substantially exceeding the minimum requirements of the position.
2. Well-Qualified: Applicants possessing knowledge, skills and abilities and/or competencies clearly exceeding the minimum requirements of the position.
3. Qualified: Applicants possessing knowledge, skills and abilities and/or competencies meeting the minimum requirements of the position.

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. For more information about veterans' preference visit this link.

If you are best qualified, you may be referred to the hiring manager for consideration and may be called for an interview. To preview the job questionnaire, see https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/10204538


Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Other Characteristics (KSAOs):
Candidates who meet the minimum qualification requirements are required to possess certain Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, or Other Characteristics (KSAOs) to successfully perform the functions of this position. Candidates will be asked to demonstrate their attainment of these KSAOs in their resume. The KSAOs are:

• Knowledge of Customs laws, regulations, policies and procedures related to admissibility, control, entry and export of merchandise, and tariff classification in order to screen entries and to classify and appraise entered merchandise.
• Ability to apply federal rules, regulations and procedures to specific situations or problems, and to make determinations on compliance.
• Knowledge of automated systems in order to input data, resolve problems, and obtain information used to make entry decisions.
• Knowledge of processing functions related to importation of merchandise in order to determine if all requirements have been met.