Clarification from the agency

Current U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees who are currently working in a permanent competitive service position

Field Office Center:
Atlanta- Consumer Products & Mass Merchandising (CPMM)
Buffalo- Industrial & Manufacturing Materials (IMM)
Chicago- Base metals (BM)
Detroit- Automotive & Aerospace (AA)
Houston- Petroleum, Natural Gas & Minerals (PNGM)
Laredo- Machinery (MACH)
Los Angeles- Electronics (ELEC)
Miami- Agriculture & Prepared Products (APP)
New York- Pharmaceuticals, Health & Chemicals (PHC)
San Francisco- Apparel, Footwear & Textiles (AFT)

Please note: Due to multiple vacancies per duty location; you may be contacted by selecting officials from different Centers of Excellence and Expertise locations. You will be asked to identify your Center of Excellence preferences in the on-line application process. Applicants will be limited to selecting FIVE duty locations. In some cases, the duty stations may not have a vacancy during the life of this announcement.

Salary: 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.

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 $41,365.00 (GS-07, Step 1) to $65,778.00 (GS-09, 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
• 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-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.

GS-9:You qualify at the GS-9 level if you possess one (1) year of specialized experience to include examining assigned entry forms, invoices, affidavits, etc., and initially classify the entered merchandise; estimating the correctness of the dutiable and non dutiable charges as entered by the importer or his agent; assuring that the importer or agent has the right to make entry; checking the conversion of foreign weights and measures to United States units and the conversion of foreign currency to United States currency at the prevailing rates of exchange; and recommending the acceptance or rejection of the entry as presented. Knowledge of automated systems such as Automated Commercial System (ACS), Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), and Automated Manifest System (AMS) is required along with knowledge of a range of processing functions related to importation of merchandise including an understanding of various functions associated with the importation of merchandise in order to determine if all requirements have been met.

OR

Education Substitution

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.

GS-9: You may substitute a Master's degree or 2 full years of graduate education in a qualifying field or a J.D or L.L.B. degree for experience required at the GS-9 grade level. Such education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position. Check with your school to determine how many credit hours comprise two years of graduate education. If that information is not available, use 36 semester or 54 quarter hours.

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; 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 08/31/2018.

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.

Probationary Period: Current and former federal employees may be required to serve or complete a probationary period.

Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) Eligibles: If you have never worked for the Federal Government, you are not CTAP eligible. Information about CTAP eligibility can be found here. To be considered well qualified under CTAP, 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.

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/10271565

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/10271565

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.