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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, Office of Human Resources Management, Personnel Research and Assessment Division (PRAD), located in Washington, DC.

Overview

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Job canceled
Open & closing dates
07/30/2025 to 08/05/2025
Salary
$142,488 to - $185,234 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 14
Location
2 vacancies in the following location:
Washington, DC
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
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
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
HRM-SMP-12733899-JPH
Control number
841970300

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Current Federal employees with competitive status; Current/former Federal employees covered by an OPM Interchange Agreement; CTAP DHS employees, Reemployment Priority List, ICTAP Federal Employees; Priority Reemployment List; Current/former Land Management employees who meet the Land Mgmt Workforce Flexibility Act; Current/former Federal employees with reinstatement eligibility; Veterans under VEOA; Certain Military Spouses; Individuals eligible under a noncompetitive special hiring authority.

Duties

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This position serves as a Senior Personnel Research Psychologist, establishing and implementing best practices in competency- based assessment, evaluation, and organizational development to support building and sustaining a mission-ready workforce within Customs and Border Protection. This position starts at a salary of $142,488.00 (GS-14, Step 1) to $185,234.00 (GS-14, Step 10).

Typical Work assignments 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.
  • Applying behavioral science theories to improve employee morale, engagement, and organizational performance and efficiency, to include developing and conducting culture and climate assessments, creating engagement tools and resources, and working with offices across CBP to identify and conduct organizational interventions.
  • 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.
  • DHS 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.
  • Bargaining Unit: This position is not covered under the bargaining unit.

Qualifications

Basic Education Requirement: 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 must provide supporting documentation in your application to show you meet the basic education requirement listed.

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

Specialized Experience: You qualify for the GS-14 grade level if you possess 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, performing duties such as:

  • Leading a team in conducting job analysis and test development in accordance with laws and regulations.
  • Leading others in 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.
  • Developing new approaches, methods, techniques, and hypotheses related to assigned projects.
  • Conducting research and development which contributes 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; 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 08/05/2025.

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 on the preemployment process, review the following link: Applicant Resources | CBP Careers

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

Telework: No - exemptions related to telework may be available in very limited cases

Additional Hiring and Special Appointing Authorities: See "THIS JOB IS OPEN TO" section above for what additional Appointing Authorities may apply. Veterans, military spouses, Peace Corps/VISTA volunteers, and people 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 and to understand what documentation would be required with your application, please click on the appropriate link below. You must provide documentation supporting your eligibility prior to the closing date of this announcement. If you have any questions regarding your eligibility, please contact the CBP Hiring Center via the contact information listed at the end of this job opportunity announcement.


Performance Appraisal: You may be asked to provide a copy of your recent performance appraisal and/or incentive awards. Additionally, if you are a former federal employee, and have been separated from Federal service for over 52 weeks, it is recommended that you submit your most recent rating of record (performance appraisal) when applying.

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.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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 in the job questionnaire AND must provide the supporting documentation. Applicants will not be considered for Eligibilities for which they did not claim, regardless of the documentation submitted with the application. https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12733899

We will review your resume and supporting documentation to ensure you meet the minimum qualification requirements. If you meet the minimum qualifications, your experience, education, and training will be rated using an assessment questionnaire.

This self-assessment will be used to assess the following competencies or KSAs:

  • 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.
If you are best qualified, you may be referred to the hiring manager for consideration and may be contacted for an interview. As a part of the interview process, additional selection criteria may be administered by the hiring manager. Preview the job questionnaire https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12733899

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. View information about CTAP/ICTAP eligibilityon OPM's Career Transition Resources website. To be considered well qualified under CTAP/ICTAP, you must be rated at a minimum score of 85 for this position. In addition, you must submit the supporting documents listed under the Required Documents section of this announcement.

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