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Accountant

Department of Homeland Security
Customs and Border Protection
Office of Finance
This job announcement has closed

Summary

Organizational Location: This position is with the Department of Homeland Security, within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Finance, Financial Management Division located in Washington DC.

Local Commuting Area: The local commuting area is defined as the area surrounding the duty station by which people reasonably travel back and forth from home to work.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
07/30/2018 to 08/03/2018
Salary
$114,590 to - $148,967 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 14
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Washington DC, DC
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-Time
Service
Promotion potential
14
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Announcement number
OF-SMP-10255635-MAP
Control number
504622700

This job is open to

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Federal employees - Competitive service

Current federal employees whose agencies follow the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's hiring rules and pay scales.

Federal employees - Excepted service

Current federal employees whose agencies have their own hiring rules, pay scales and evaluation criteria.

Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)

Federal employees whose job, agency or department was eliminated and are eligible for priority over other applicants.

Veterans

Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces or a spouse, widow, widower or parent of a veteran, who may be eligible for derived preference

Clarification from the agency

Current Federal employees with competitive status within the LCA; Current and former Federal employees who meet the established criteria in an Office of Personnel Management Interchange Agreement within the LCA; Current and former Federal employees with reinstatement eligibility who reside within the LCA; Individuals who are eligible under Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA)

Duties

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Joining the Customs and Border Protection Office of Finance will allow you to use your expertise in accounting to provide advisory and technical services to management. This position starts at a salary of $114,590 (GS-14, Step 1) to $148,967 (GS-14, Step 10). Apply for this exciting opportunity to strengthen homeland security by applying your technical experience in preparing financial statements and managing ledger operations.

In this Accountant position, you will become a key team member of Homeland Security professionals. Typical work assignments include:

  • Acting as a senior specialist, leads or performs internal control reviews, on-site reviews or other evaluations of assigned systems to assess areas such as adequacy of safeguards, effectiveness of systems employed, reliability of information and other compliance with law and regulation.
  • Providing expert advice in a specialized area of accounting. Develops procedural manuals, methods, and directives.
  • Conducting studies for special projects to determine accounting system adequacy, identifies accounting and budgetary problems, and develops and maintains progressive fiscal management techniques and practices.
  • Responsible for short and long-range planning and development activities to address current and future requirements of assigned financial systems and/or operations and to meet established goals and objectives.

Requirements

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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

Basic Requirements:

Degree in accounting or a related field such as finance, business administration or public administration that included or was supplemented by 24 semester hours in accounting coursework (this may include up to 6 hours of business law)

OR

at least 4 years of experience in accounting, or an equivalent combination of accounting experience, college-level education, and training that provided professional accounting knowledge. Your background must also include one of the following:24 semester hours in accounting or auditing courses of appropriate type and quality (which may include 6 hours of business law); a certificate as Certified Public Accountant or a Certified Internal Auditor (obtained through written examination); or completion of the requirements for a degree that included substantial course work in accounting or auditing (e.g., 15 semester hours, but that does not fully satisfy the 24 semester hour requirement), provided that (a) you have successfully worked at the full-performance level in accounting, auditing, or a related field; (b) at least two professional accountants have determined that you demonstrate a good knowledge of accounting (equal to four years of study); and (c) except for literal nonconformance to the requirement of 24 semester hours in accounting, your education, training, and experience fully meet the specified requirements.

GS-14: You qualify at the GS-14 level if you meet the basic requirements and possess one year of specialized experience that equipped you with the skills needed to perform the job duties. Examples include formulating a variety of financial management reports based on evaluation and analysis of accounting records and systems, and assisting management in applying financial data and recommending alternatives to resolve difficult problems.

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 08/03/2018.
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 possess the knowledge, skills and abilities and/or competencies clearly exceeding the minimum requirements of the position. This will be measured by a score of 85 or higher. In addition, you must submit the supporting documents listed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

Education

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

Additional information

Bargaining Unit: This position is covered by the bargaining unit.

CBP 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.

Every individual receives a fair opportunity throughout the federal recruitment and hiring process. Learn more here.

Follow U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Twitter @CustomsBorder

How you will be evaluated

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

Applicants will only be considered for the Eligibilities for which they claim (and provide supporting documentation) based on the responses provided in the job questionnaire: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/10255635

We will review your resume and supporting documentation to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. If you meet the minimum qualifications, your experience, education and training will be rated using an online self-assessment questionnaire based on the competencies and/or knowledge, skills, and abilities listed below. You will receive a score ranging from 70-100 based on your responses. 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 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/10255635

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:

  • Expert knowledge of financial management, fiscal and accounting theories, concepts, principles, and procedures, and generally accepted accounting principles and standards.
  • Ability to review analyzes and evaluates automated and/or manual accounting and financial management systems to coordinate and comprehensively plan and analyze cost/benefit relationships.
  • Ability to interpret complex financial and accounting data and provide appropriates analysis for management's use in decision-making. Extensive knowledge of state-of the-art automated accounting and financial management systems.

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