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Economist

Department of Homeland Security
Customs and Border Protection
Office of Trade

Summary

Organizational Location: This position is with the Department of Homeland Security, within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Trade, Regulations and Rulings, located in Washington, DC.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Posted yesterday · Apply by 07/31/26
Due by 11:59 p.m. ET on July 31, 2026
Location
2 vacancies in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
No
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$85,447 - $133,142 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 11 - 12
Promotion potential
12
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Appointment type
Permanent
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Represented by a union
Yes
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Financial disclosure required
No
Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.
Announcement number
OT-IMP-1297995-KEG
Control number
876816900

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Current U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees who are currently working in a permanent competitive service position; Career Transition Assistance Plan CBP employees.

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Duties

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As an Economist you will be responsible for performing multiple, varying, and complex economic analyses related to CBP regulatory actions. This position starts at a salary of $85,447.00 (GS-11, Step 1) to $133,142.00 (GS-12, Step 10) with promotion potential to $133,142 (GS-12 Step 10).

CBP Office of Trade is the architect of the most robust customs system in the world and the second largest revenue source for the U.S. Government. We facilitate legitimate trade, enforce U.S. laws, and protect the American economy as well as consumer health and safety. Collaborating with industry and government partners, we create a fair, competitive, and safe trade environment, and we enforce U.S. trade law to protect national economic security. Our expertise in the trade community allows us to lead the development of streamlined and efficient processes that provide certainty for legitimate importers, while combatting transnational crime.

Typical duties may include:
  • Planning, initiating, and conducting complex, multi-faceted economic analyses of CBP regulatory actions affecting border security, passenger processing, and international cargo movements.
  • Designing and executing comprehensive cost-benefit evaluations, including developing regulatory baselines, assessing quantitative and qualitative costs and benefits, and rigorously evaluating regulatory alternatives in compliance with EO 12866, OMB Circular A-4, the Regulatory Flexibility Act, the Paperwork Reduction Act, and the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
  • Developing or adapting economic methodologies to address unprecedented or complex regulatory questions; identifying and obtaining appropriate data; coordinating with internal and external subject matter experts; and ensuring analyses are transparent, reproducible, and suitable for inclusion in public rulemaking dockets.
  • Drafting, reviewing, and finalizing substantial portions of regulatory documents and analytical reports, translating complex findings into clear, actionable information and presenting results persuasively to senior leadership, policymakers, and technical/non-technical stakeholders.
  • Serving as a senior economic advisor representing CBP in intra- and interagency workgroups; reviewing regulations and supporting analyses from other DHS components and agencies; developing and implementing best practices and methodological standards; and mentoring junior staff to strengthen regulatory economic analysis across the organization.

GS Salary: Visit this link to view the locality pay tables by geographic area. If you do not see your geographic area listed, select the "Rest of United States" pay table. Some positions fall under a special pay rate depending on the series, grade level and location of the position.Please visit this link to view special pay rate charts.

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)
  • All pre-employment processes will be conducted in English
  • 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 is a bargaining unit covered position, represented under the National Treasury Employees Unions - NTEU. For local chapter contact information see Chapter Websites - National Treasury Employees Union - NTEU
  • 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.

Qualifications

Basic Requirement: You must provide supporting documentation in your application to show you meet the basic requirement below.

Degree: economics, that included at least 21 semester hours in economics and 3 semester hours in statistics, accounting, or calculus.

OR

Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in economics, as shown in above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.


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

Experience: You qualify for the GS-11 grade level if you possess 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, performing duties such as:
  • Assisting with portions of major, complex economic analyses and cost-benefit evaluations of regulatory actions related to the movement of people, international cargo, and international trade/customs revenue functions.
  • Conducting background economic research; developing regulatory baselines; identifying potential costs, benefits, and alternatives; gathering required data (including expert elicitation); and performing the necessary economic calculations for regulatory analyses.
  • Using quantitative and qualitative analytical techniques to produce complete, transparent, meticulously documented, and reproducible economic analyses that assess national, regional, and local economic impacts.
  • Drafting portions of regulatory impact analyses and other written reports that describe the regulatory action, affected parties, and analytical methods in a manner accessible to a broad audience.
  • Reviewing regulations and supporting analyses from other organizational components; participating in intra- and inter-agency workgroups on homeland security, customs revenue, and international trade policies; and synthesizing innovative ideas for economic analysis, data collection, presentation, and methodologies.

Education Substitution GS-11: Successful completion of a Ph.D. or an equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree in any field, or L.L.M for the experience required at the GS-11 grade level. Such education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. Check with your school to determine how many credit hours comprise three years of graduate study. If that information is not available, use 54 semester or 81 quarter hours. You are required to submit proof of your claim.

Combining Education and Experience: 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: 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:
  • Conducting independent cost-benefit and regulatory impact analyses of moderately to highly complex regulatory actions, including developing regulatory baselines, assessing quantitative and qualitative costs and benefits.
  • Applying advanced economic theory and quantitative/qualitative research methods-using statistical/econometric software and other analytical tools-to collect, analyze, and interpret economic data related to border security, passenger and cargo movement, international trade, and customs revenue issues.
  • Planning, organizing, and executing all phases of economic studies or segments of larger projects, from problem definition and hypothesis formulation through data collection, analysis, interpretation of results, and preparation of clear, well-documented, and reproducible reports suitable for inclusion in public rulemaking dockets.
  • Reviewing proposed regulations and supporting analyses from other organizational components; contributing professional economic expertise in intra- and interagency workgroups; and helping to develop or standardize methods and best practices for regulatory analysis to support policy development and continuity.
  • Communicating complex economic concepts, methods, and findings-both orally and in writing-to senior management, interagency partners, and non-technical stakeholders, including defending analytical approaches, addressing skepticism, and negotiating or building consensus among parties with differing interests.
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 07/31/2026.
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

Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) Eligibles: If you have never worked for the federal government, you are not CTAP eligible. View information about CTAP eligibilityon OPM's Career Transition Resources website. You must submit the supporting documents listed under the Required Documents section of this announcement. To be considered well qualified under CTAP, you must be rated at a minimum score of 85 for this position.

Education

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

Additional information

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
Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here.

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.

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/12979951

After CBP completes its hiring, the resumes of the remaining candidates referred for selection consideration may be shared with other DHS Components. During the application process, you may choose to opt-in if you would like your name, application material, and assessment results to be shared. There is no guarantee of further consideration, and you can continue to explore other job opportunity announcements.

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics). The USA Hire Assessment will be used to assess the following general competencies:

  • Attention to Detail
  • Flexibility
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Self-Management
  • Teamwork
  • Decision Making
  • Arithmetic
  • Mathematical Reasoning
  • Reading Comprehension

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 https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12979951

In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

Customs and Border Protection

Customs & Border Protection (CBP): Securing America's Borders
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is calling on those who want to help protect American interests and secure our Nation. DHS Components work collectively to prevent terrorism; secure borders and our transportation systems; protect the President and other dignitaries; enforce and administer immigration laws; safeguard cyberspace; and ensure resilience to disasters. We achieve these vital missions through a workforce spanning hundreds of occupations. Make an impact; join DHS.

Discover a challenging and rewarding career with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the sole organization responsible for securing the nation's borders. At CBP, we:

  • Secure and enforce trade and travel while enforcing hundreds of U.S. regulations, including immigration and drug laws
  • Screen passengers, vehicles, and shipments entering our country
  • Seize illegal narcotics, vehicles, and agricultural products and prohibited goods.
  • Prevent unauthorized entry into the country
  • Rescue individuals who fall into dangerous conditions traversing our border
Find us on X at @CBP and @CBPJobs
Find us on LinkedIn at U.S. Customs and Border Protection
CBP employees demonstrate the highest level of commitment to protect and serve the United States of America and to exemplify the CBP Core Values of Vigilance, Service to Country and Integrity. Learn more about CBP's mission, core values and careers at https://www.cbp.gov/about

Agency contact information

CBP Hiring Center HR Contact
Phone
855-500-3722
Email
cbphiring-applicantinquiry@cbp.dhs.gov
Address
Office of Trade
Please read entire announcement
Please apply online
Washington, DC 20229
US

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Learn more about what it's like to work at Customs and Border Protection, what the agency does, and about the types of careers this agency offers.

http://www.cbp.gov

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