Personnel Security Specialist - SV-0080-G/H - Transportation Security Administration - Reston, Virginia - EXPIRED

These Personnel Security Specialist positions are located in the Personnel Security Section of the Security Branch in the Security Services and Assessments Division, Office of Law Enforcement/Federal Air Marshal Service (OLE/FAMS), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS). If selected, you will interact with applicants, senior managers and other team members in support of the personnel security program objectives and initiatives associated with all aspects of background investigations. Specific duties include but are not limited to:

• Communicating with field offices to provide case information or to resolve issues related to personnel security requirements or procedures.
• Adjudicating complex issues and reports of investigations; interpreting and applying suitability/fitness factors and adjudicative guidelines and making recommendations effecting final suitability/fitness and security clearance eligibility.
• Reviewing requests for personnel or facility security clearances to assure that all required information is provided, requesting missing information from the originators, and granting clearances when derogatory information is absent.
• Reviewing security forms to identify the presence or absence of derogatory information, evaluating the impact of various kinds of derogatory information on the granting, denying, or revoking of security clearances and federal employment eligibility; and making EOD determinations for TSA applicants.
• Preparing written correspondence to include, but not limited to, letters of interrogatories, case summaries, eligibility notifications, and notices of adverse actions.
• Managing individual case loads and ensuring metrics and timelines are satisfied. Keeping the Team Lead or management abreast of recurring problems or systemic deficiencies.
  
  The major duties described above reflect the full performance level of this position. Typically, the lower Pay Band (Pay Band G) performs the similar duties such as providing case work for review and direct supervisor approval.

To qualify for the SV-G Pay Band (equivalent to GS-11), you must meet one of the qualification requirements (A, B, OR C) outlined below.
A. Experience: If you are qualifying based on experience, your application must clearly outline one year of specialized experience at the SV-F Pay Band or GS-9 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: applying a knowledge of the laws, regulations, Executive Orders, and/or agency procedures related to personnel security programs, accessing classified information, OPM suitability requirements and fitness requirements; adjudicating various levels of background investigations and rendering suitability/fitness and clearance eligibility decisions; and experience with personnel security processes and of personnel investigations processing systems necessary to perform background investigations, and using computers and computer applications effectively to analyze and communicate personnel security related information in the appropriate format.

OR B. Education: A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in a related field; OR three full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; OR LL.M., if related.
OR C. Combining Education and Experience: Combinations of successfully completed higher level graduate education (beyond second year) and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements for this position, and may be computed by first determining your total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the band level; then determining your education as a percentage of the education required for the band level; and then adding the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify for the position.
GRADUATE EDUCATION: Education at the graduate level in an accredited college or university in the amounts indicated above meets the requirements for this position. Such education must demonstrate adjudicative knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. One (1) year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement.
TRANSCRIPTS: Applicants who meet the qualifications listed above based on education or a combination of education and experience must provide proof of education such as a list of completed college courses or the date and school of degree including the number of semester or quarter hours or a transcript from an accredited college or university. The information must be provided as an attachment to the application by the closing date of the announcement. If selected, you must supply a transcript or certification of degree.

To qualify for the SV-H Pay Band (equivalent to the GS-12), you must have at least one year of specialized experience at the SV-G or GS-11 in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private sector. Specialized experience is defined as experience that has equipped you with the knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Such experience includes: applying an advanced knowledge of the laws, regulations, Executive Orders, and/or agency procedures related to personnel security programs, accessing classified information, OPM suitability requirements and fitness requirements; adjudicating various levels of background investigations and rendering suitability/fitness and clearance eligibility decisions as well as processing due process cases; resolving complex issues reported during background investigations; ensuring metrics and timelines are met; and experience with personnel security processes and of personnel investigations processing systems necessary to perform background investigations, and using computers and computer applications effectively to analyze and communicate personnel security related information in the appropriate format.



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.

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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