Intelligence Research Specialist

Organizational Location: This position is with the Department of Homeland Security, within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Intelligence. Location Washington D.C.

Qualifications:

Experience: You qualify for the GS-13 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 a senior expert and/or consultant, leading advanced Open-Source Intelligence analytic production on opensource materials from public, private, and U.S. and foreign government sources.
• Leading the production and review of intelligence products in accordance with analytic tradecraft standards, ensuring accuracy, relevance, and alignment operational priorities.
• Communicating complex issues clearly and concisely, tailoring verbal and written intelligence findings to the specific needs of agency leadership to ensure understanding and accessibility.
• Collaborating with organizational leadership during high-level engagements with the Intelligence Community, law enforcement agencies, federal partners, and interagency committees, providing strategic expertise and facilitating information-sharing efforts.
• Participating in interagency working groups and forums by contributing to discussions, sharing insights, and presenting intelligence findings to ensure agency interests are effectively communicated and addressed.

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 06/12/2026.

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

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.

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.

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.

Responsibilities:

In this position you will serve as a senior expert and consultant, leading advanced Open-Source Intelligence Branch (OSINT) analytic production on open-source materials from public, private, and U.S. and foreign government sources.

This position starts at a salary of $121,785.00 (GS-13, Step 1) to $158,322.00 (GS-13 Step 10)

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.

Major duties for this position include, but are not limited to:

• Compiling, collating, extrapolating, and exploiting information from CBP databases, open source reporting, Intelligence Community and Law Enforcement systems and databases in support of CBP border security operations.
• Identifying and applying the appropriate tools and methods to exploit information from a variety of sources to generate intelligence products that reveal the following: potential threat identities, associations, and travel/movements; organizational composition, tactics, techniques and procedures; and threat activities, chronologies, capabilities, resources and patterns.
• Communicating effectively, both orally and in writing, to highest levels of the IE.
• Conducting studies, preparing staff reports, and delivering briefings to managers and operators to enhance understanding and acceptance of findings and recommendations.
• Leading and engaging in complex research and analyses projects to develop and publish finished tactical, operational and strategic level intelligence products; selects the proper methods of dissemination, and coordinates dissemination of intelligence products.

This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a Top-Secret security clearance and eligibility for access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI).

Salary : $121,785