Mission Support Specialist

Summary

Organizational Location: This position is with the Department of Homeland Security, within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Laboratories and Scientific Services located in Long Beach, CA

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

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Duties

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As a Mission Support Specialist, you will plan and carry out a wide variety of administrative, management and program planning activities, policy research and other duties related to the mission support functions. You will assist in providing advice in all administrative specialty areas related to the missions and functions of the laboratory and contributes to management decisions for assigned program areas.

This position starts at a salary of $87,061.00 (GS-11, Step 1) to $135,657.00 (GS-12, Step 10) with promotion potential to $135,657 (GS-12 Step 10).

While serving as a Mission Support Specialist, your duties will include:

• Coordinating administrative mission support functions for the assigned office, including budget, inventory, property, fleet, workforce management, payroll, travel, and workers' compensation.
• Providing workforce management support and guidance to supervisors and staff on hiring authorities, personnel actions, time and attendance, premium pay, overtime, and leave entitlements.
• Serving as Injury Compensation Coordinator to assist employees, supervisors, and HRM with workers' compensation claims, procedures, and related updates.
• Performing as a Government purchase cardholder by reviewing purchase requests, executing purchases, reconciling transactions, and resolving procurement-related issues.
• Supporting property, fleet, facility, and physical security requirements by tracking records, processing invoices or transactions, briefing management, and recommending administrative resolutions.

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 position is not covered under the bargaining unit.

Qualifications

Experience:

GS-11 : 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:

• Processing administrative, budget, payroll, fleet, property, travel, or procurement data from reports or automated systems.
• Assisting with identifying workforce management, payroll, timekeeping, or leave-related issues and elevating recommended corrective actions.
• Tracking budget, purchase card, travel, fleet, property, or invoice information for review by management or senior staff.
• Assisting with fleet, property, facility, badge, credential, or physical security-related administrative requirements.
• Preparing or reviewing administrative records, forms, reports, or documentation for accuracy and compliance with established procedures.

GS-12: 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:

• Coordinating administrative mission support functions such as budget, procurement, property, fleet, travel, payroll, timekeeping, or workforce management.
• Reviewing purchase requests, acquisition requirements, invoices, or purchase card transactions for accuracy, compliance, reconciliation, or dispute resolution.
• Providing workforce management support involving personnel actions, hiring authorities, time and attendance, leave, overtime, premium pay, or workers' compensation coordination.
• Tracking and analyzing budget, fleet, property, facility, or travel information to brief management and recommend administrative resolutions.
• Coordinating facility, property, badge, credential, fleet, or physical security requirements in accordance with established policy and deadlines.

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.

GS-11: Education Substitution: Successful completion of a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree in an accredited college or university, or LL.M. degree, may be substituted for experience at the GS-11 grade level. Such education must demonstrate the skills needed to do the work. One year of fulltime 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, 54 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 3 years of full-time study requirement.

GS-11: Combining Education and Experience: Appropriate combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience also may be used to meet total qualification requirements for the GS-11 grade level. 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 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.

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 09/10/2026.

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) Eligibles: If you have never worked for the federal government, you are not CTAP eligible. View information about CTAP eligibility on 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

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.

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.