Transportation Security Specialist (Field Canine Coordinator) - SV-1801-I - Transportation Security Administration - Boston, Massachusetts - EXPIRED

This Transportation Security Specialist position is located in the National Explosives Detection Canine Team Program Branch (NEDCTP) within the Threat Assessment Division of the Office of Security Operations (OSO), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS). If selected for this position, you will serve as the Field Canine Coordinator (FCC) for TSA\'s NEDCTP, reporting to the Regional Canine Coordinator (RCC). Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Assisting management with, and providing NEDCTP oversight to multiple airports, mass transit, maritime, and multimodal systems; providing leadership, technical expertise, guidance, and direction to ensure the overall effectiveness and utilization of canine teams; ensuring that program policy, standards, and guidelines are communicated in a clear and effective manner to a variety of internal and external stakeholders, while also ensuring adherence to such measures; serving as a liaison to civilian and law enforcement officials on the Federal, state, and local government levels in order to build partnerships, provide technical assistance, and market the Program.
• Managing an average of 15-30 Explosives Detection Canine Teams (EDCTs); overseeing and evaluating the utilization and training of EDCT assets, and aiding in recommending improvements to correct deficiencies; conducting comprehensive, annual canine assessments and performing supplemental assessments as needed, or when deficiencies have been identified; troubleshooting in a variety of areas including canine training practices, explosives handling, and program oversight/management.
• Coordinating training, certification missions, and data entry into the secured canine website; providing assistance to the participants in administrative matters, cargo requirements and coordinating additional resources and materials needed to accomplish training and operations.
• Monitoring training and utilization of EDCTs to ensure the overall effectiveness of each TSA canine asset; coordinating and conducting Short Notice Assessments (blind tests) to ensure canine effectiveness in the operational environment; spending several hours per week with each canine unit, to include making unannounced visits to unit training activities during all hours and weather conditions; attending the in-brief, evaluation period, and out-brief of recurrent evaluations and initial evaluations; providing assistance to the evaluation team, as requested.
• Performing an inventory of explosives every 30 days at each site; supervising the handling, storage, security, and accounting of TSA provided explosives to ensure compliance with explosives safety policies; assisting the Canine Explosives Section (CES) with the delivery of explosive materials to assigned participant locations.
• Reviewing stakeholder requirements to ensure compliance with the Statement of Joint Objectives/Other Transaction Agreements; reviewing training and cargo requirements, funding requests, canine records, and response requirements; reviewing participant fiscal documents and verifying monthly claims submitted by the participant for reimbursements of operating costs.
• Conducting a periodic review of the Standard Operating Practices and Procedures to ensure that such procedures are effectively being carried out; reviewing participant inspections of explosive storage magazines, bunkers, and training sites.

To qualify for the SV-I Pay Band (equivalent to GS-13), you must have one year of specialized experience at the SV-H Pay Band or GS-12 in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private sector. Specialized experience is defined as experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Such experience includes: training, handling and evaluating explosives detection dogs from initial through advanced levels of explosives detection training; overseeing and training explosives detection canine teams (canine and handler); and applying Federal regulations governing the security, transport, and safe handling of live explosive substances used as canine training aids.

Desirable Factor: Experience handling or training explosives detection canines within the TSA National Explosives Detection Canine Team Program (NEDCTP).

National Service Experience (i.e., volunteer experience): 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.

NOTE: Credit for experience is given based on a 40-hour workweek. Part-time experience is credited on a part-time ratio, i.e., working 20 hours per week for two months equals one month of experience. No additional credit is given for overtime.

You must meet the qualification requirements for this position no later than the closing date of the vacancy announcement.

HOW YOU WILL BE EVALUATED:

You will be evaluated based on a comparison of the position requirements against the quality and extent of the experience and/or related education as reflected in your resume and supporting documentation. You are encouraged to ensure work experiences clearly show possession of the competencies required for this position. We will compare your resume and supporting documentation to your responses on the assessment questionnaire. If, after reviewing your resume and any supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your application materials, your category placement may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job.

When completing the assessment questionnaire for this position, you will be prompted to elect if you wish for your application to be considered as External (where Veterans’ Preference applies), as Status (current or former Federal Employees), and/or Internal to TSA as a current permanent or competitive temporary employee. At that time, please select the answer(s) that apply to you and your application to this position.

Candidates will be rated and ranked using Category Grouping procedures. Under Category Grouping, candidates will be rated and ranked into one of three categories:

Best Qualified - applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are highly proficient in all requirements of the job and can perform effectively in the position;

Well Qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceed the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in most of the requirements of the job; and

Qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in some, but not all of the requirements of the job.
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