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Personnel Research Psychologist

Department of Homeland Security
Customs and Border Protection
Office of Human Resources Management
This job announcement has closed

Summary

Organizational Location: This position is with the Department of Homeland Security, within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Enterprise Services, Office of Human Resources Management, Personnel Research and Assessment Division (PRAD).

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
11/07/2022 to 11/14/2022
This job will close when we have received 100 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Salary
$79,363 to - $122,683 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 12 - 13
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Anywhere in the U.S. (remote job)
Remote job
Yes
Telework eligible
Not applicable, this is a remote position.
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
Competitive
Promotion potential
14
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Announcement number
HRM-DE-11688738-CCM
Control number
687664600

Duties

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This position starts at a salary of $79,363.00 (GS-12, Step 1) to $122,683.00 (GS-13, Step 10) with promotion potential to $144,976 (GS-14 Step 10).

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.

Typical duties include:

  • Planning and conducting job analysis studies, the results of which serve as the foundation for a variety of human resources programs including development of tests and assessments for frontline hiring and career paths for employee development.
  • Leading the development of innovative assessment tools in support of multiple-hurdle selection processes and conducting validity studies to determine the predictive effectiveness of new and existing assessments for specific occupations. Using classical test theory and item response theory to develop assessments, including computer adaptive tests.
  • Applying the knowledge base and scientific methods of psychology to critical human capital issues to include talent acquisition, succession planning, retention, employee motivation, and occupational skills gaps.
  • Designing and implementing surveys to support data driven decision-making around human capital issues or to enable program evaluation.
  • Participating in all phases of the research process, including problem definition, planning, execution, statistical analysis, and interpretation, and reporting of results. Preparing and presenting briefing materials that communicate technical information to non-technical audiences of all levels, documenting applied research study methods and results in technical reports.

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 at least three of the last five years (additional details below)
  • You may be required to pass a background investigation
  • CBP follows the DHS Drug-Free Workplace Plan for drug testing procedures
  • As an employee of CBP, you will be joining a workforce that is dedicated to accomplishing our mission while maintaining the trust of our Nation by strictly adhering to all government ethics standards. Your conduct will be subject to the ethics rules applicable to all Executive Branch employees, and to CBP employees specifically, as well as the criminal conflict of interest statutes. Once you enter on duty, these rules include obtaining approval for outside employment or business activity, to ensure such employment or business activity is not prohibited and does not interfere or conflict with performance of your official duties. Please review further details via the following link.

Qualifications

Basic Education Requirement: You must provide supporting documentation in your application to show you meet the basic education requirement listed. Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included a major field of study (or equivalent) in psychology.

You qualify for this position if you meet the basic education requirement as described above and possess one year of specialized experience, listed below.

Experience: You qualify for the GS-12 grade level if you possess 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, performing duties such as:

  • Serving under the guidance of others who are responsible for conducting job analysis and test development in accordance with regulatory and statutory guidelines governing the field of employee selection testing to include the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection procedures.
  • Working as part of a team to apply research techniques and measurement theories, principles, and practices to develop tools such as surveys or other assessments to meet organizational needs.
  • Utilizing a major statistical analysis package such as Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), Statistical Analysis System (SAS), or R for Statistical Computing to conduct descriptive, inferential, and multivariate statistical analyses.
  • Following established technical standards and guidelines for applying research and development findings which contribute to the field of industrial/organizational psychology or equivalent applied research field
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:
  • Serving as a team member in conducting job analysis and test development in accordance with regulatory and statutory guidelines governing the field of employee selection testing to include the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection procedures.
  • Working independently or as part of a team applying research techniques and measurement theories, principles, and practices to develop tools such as surveys or other assessments to meet organizational needs.
  • Utilizing a major statistical analysis package such as Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), Statistical Analysis System (SAS), or R for Statistical Computing to conduct descriptive, inferential, and multivariate statistical analyses.
  • Following established technical standards and guidelines for applying research and development findings which contribute to the field of industrial/organizational psychology or equivalent applied research field.
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.

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 11/21/2022.

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.

Additional information

This position is not covered under the bargaining unit

Positions with known promotion potential do not guarantee promotion, nor is the promise of promotion implied.

The Department of Homeland Security encourages persons with disabilities to apply, to include persons with intellectual, severe physical or psychiatric disabilities, as defined by 5 CFR § 213.3102(u), and/or Disabled Veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more as defined by 5 CFR § 315.707. Veterans, Peace Corps/VISTA volunteers, and persons with disabilities possess a wealth of unique talents, experiences, and competencies that can be invaluable to the DHS mission. If you are a member of one of these groups, you may not have to compete with the public for federal jobs. To determine your eligibility for non-competitive appointment and to understand the required documentation, click on the links above or contact the Servicing Human Resources Office listed at the bottom 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 minimum qualification requirements. If you meet the minimum qualifications, we will use an assessment questionnaire to place you in one of three categories based on your experience, education, and training.

Your final rating will be based on your cumulative score from the Assessment Questionnaire, and a Structured Resume Review.

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

  1. Best Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrate high proficiency in all of the critical competencies, including all Selective Placement Factors (SPF), and appropriate Quality Ranking Factors (QRF) as determined by the job analysis.
  2. Well-Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrates acceptable proficiency in all of the critical competencies, including all SPF's and appropriate QRFs as determined by the job analysis.
  3. Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrate basic proficiency in most of the critical competencies, including all SPFs and appropriate QRFs as determined by the job analysis.
The competencies or knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform this job are:
  • Knowledge of the principles, theories, and methods of industrial/organizational psychology or closely related discipline (e.g., experimental psychology, applied social psychology, or applied research/evaluation), including experience with assessment development and validation methods.
  • Knowledge of all phases of the research process, including problem definition, planning, execution, data collection, statistical analysis, and interpretation, and reporting of results.
  • Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing with all levels of management and employees.
  • Knowledge of experimental, statistical, and mathematical techniques to survey, investigate, and study the behavior, capacities, traits, interests, and activities of human beings
The Assessment Questionnaire requires that candidates meet a minimum proficiency and receive a passing score to be considered for the position.

Your application will be rated on the extent and quality of your experience, education and training relevant to the position. Your resume must support that you meet both specialized experience requirements described in the qualification section, and are proficient in the following skills/competencies below. Failure to demonstrate sufficient detail in the body of your resume may impact your final rating. Please note you are not required to provide specific narrative responses to the skills and competencies described in this section: The competencies that will be evaluated in the Subject Matter Expert (SME) Resume Review are:
  • Job Analysis, Test Development, and Validation
  • Research Methods & Statistics
  • Problem Solving
  • Written Communication
If you are best qualified, you may be referred to the hiring manager for consideration and may be called for an interview. Preview the job questionnaire https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/11688738


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