Staff Assistant

Description:

Organizational Location: This position is with the Department of Homeland Security, within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations, Laredo Field Office, located in Laredo, TX.

Additional selections may be made to include other organizational divisions and/or units within the duty location(s) listed above.

Requirements:

Experience: You qualify for the GS-09 grade level if you possess 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, performing duties such as:

• Maintaining lists of issues/problems concerning functions that are the responsibility of the manager, schedules appointments and make all necessary arrangements for travel, meetings, and conferences.
• Managing administrative practices and procedures used are consistent with established policies, procedures, regulations, and missions.
• Participating with other staff members in researching, gathering, and compiling briefing materials, talking points, and executive summaries for use by the manager at meetings, and conferences.
• Receiving developmental assignments regarding the conduct of special surveys, program evaluations and management surveys relative to the administration of the office's procedures and operations.
• Routinely obtaining advance knowledge of management's position(s) with regard to collective bargaining, and the investigation into and disposition of grievances and unfair labor practices, proposed and final discipline/adverse action, Equal Employment Opportunity complaints, appeals to the Merit Systems Protection Board, and other labor and employee relations matters.

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:

• Serving as the office manager and ensuring that administrative practices and procedures used are consistent with established policies, procedures, regulations, and missions
• Analyzing data gathered and compiling the referenced materials for presentation to the executive senior leader
• Providing advice and guidance to executive senior leader and staff on the proper preparation and processing of correspondence and other written material
• Conducting research on a variety of documents in order to gather, correlate, analyze, identify, and recommend solutions to resolve internal management problems and improve efficiency
• Coordinating all labor-management meetings for grievances and oral replies, and takes notes during these proceedings for the manager

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.

Education Substitution GS-09: Successful completion of a Master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in any field, or a L.L.B. or J.D. from an accredited college or university may substitute for experience required at this level. This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. 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. You are required to submit proof of your claim.

Education Substitution GS-11: Successful completion of Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M. from an accredited college or university may substitute for the experience required at this level. This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. Check with your school to determine how many credits comprise three years of graduate education. 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: Combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements for the grade levels specified in the table, and may be computed by first determining the applicant's total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determining the applicant's education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; and then adding the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grades GS-9 and GS-11. More information on this qualification standard is located here .

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 04/08/2025.

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.