Personnel Security Specialist

Summary

Securing Travel, Protecting People - At the Transportation Security Administration, you will serve in a high-stakes environment to safeguard the American way of life. In cities across the country, you would secure airports, seaports, railroads, highways, and/or public transit systems, thus protecting America's transportation infrastructure and ensuring freedom of movement for people and commerce.

Duties

• This Personnel Security Specialist position is located in the Personnel Security Section (PSS), Chief Security Office (CSO), Law Enforcement (LE), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Duties include but are not limited to: Reviewing security forms to identify the presence or absence of derogatory information, evaluates the impact of various kinds of derogatory information on the granting, denying, or revoking of security clearances and Federal employment eligibility, and makes EOD determinations for TSA applicants. 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 or mitigated. Adjudicating complex reports of background investigations while interpreting and applying suitability (fitness) factors and adjudicative guidelines and making recommendations affecting final suitability (fitness) and security clearance eligibility. Managing individual caseloads and ensuring metrics and timelines are satisfied. Communicating with field offices to provide case information or to resolve issues related to personnel security requirements or procedures. Preparing written correspondence to include but not limited to letters of interrogatories, case summaries, eligibility notifications, and notices of adverse actions. Enrollment and unenrollment processing into designated programs. Reviews and validates all alerts and takes necessary action on actionable alerts to include the final adjudication, as applicable. The major duties described above reflect the full performance level of this position. Typically, the lower pay band (F and G Band) performs the same duties but will receive more guidance and training; and/or projects/work assignments may be less complex.

Qualifications

To qualify for the SV-F Pay Band (equivalent to GS-9), you must have one year of specialized experience at the SV-E Pay Band or GS-7/8 in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private sector. Specialized experience is defined as: Experience providing administrative support for personnel security related tasks such as reviewing, initiating or adjudicating requests for clearance/security access for a federal agency or organization. OR Education: Master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related. To qualify for the SV-G Pay Band (equivalent to GS-11), you must have 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 providing guidance on personnel security policies including evaluating and adjudicating various levels of background investigations and rendering suitability/fitness and clearance eligibility decisions in accordance with federal policies; and Experience utilizing Office of Personnel Management (OPM) systems. OR Achievement of a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in a field of study which is in or directly related to this position. or Three full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree. or LL.M., if related. To qualify for the SV-H Pay Band (equivalent to GS-12), you must have one year of specialized experience at the SV-G Pay Band or GS-11 in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private sector. Specialized experience is defined as: Such specialized experience is defined as: Experience providing guidance on personnel security policies including evaluating and adjudicating various levels; of background investigations and rendering suitability/fitness and clearance eligibility decisions in accordance with federal policies; and Experience utilizing Office of Personnel Management (OPM) systems. Providing technical guidance on all personnel security issues to include request to grant, deny, revoke, suspend, or restrict security eligibility; Performing a wide variety of security administration functions (i.e. managing security database; preparing and maintaining security and incident reports; updating and maintaining security-related process guides and training materials). 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. 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. 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. You must meet the qualification requirements for this position no later than the closing date of the vacancy announcement.

Requirements

You must possess U.S. Citizenship. You must have reached the minimum age (18) at the time of application. You must complete a favorable Background Investigation (BI). Selective Service registration is required. Must be able to obtain and maintain a Top Secret clearance. Must successfully pass both pre- and post-employment drug testing. If you fail to meet the conditions of employment or any other pre-employment requirements, such as missing any of the scheduled appointments, the hiring agency may rescind their tentative offer of employment. Applying to this announcement certifies that you give permission for TSA to share your application with others in DHS for similar positions. Any offers of employment made pursuant to this announcement will be consistent with all applicable authorities, including Presidential Memoranda, Executive Orders, interpretive U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) guidance, and Office of Management and Budget plans and policies concerning hiring. These authorities are subject to change.

Education

For positions requiring positive education requirements, or if you are using education to meet all or part of the qualification requirements, you MUST submit a copy of your transcripts or an itemized list of college courses from an accredited college or university, which includes equivalent information from the transcript (course title, semester/quarter hours, and grade/degree earned) in your resume. The information must be provided with the application by the closing date of the announcement. If selected, the applicant must supply a transcript or certification of degree.

How to apply

All of the following must be received in our office by 11:59 PM EST (Eastern Standard time) on the closing date of this announcement. If we do not receive all required information by the closing date, your application may not be considered. Note: There will be application cut off dates; the first cut-off date is 11:59 pm (EST) August 20th, 2025. Additional application packages will be reviewed and issued to management on an as-needed basis. If hiring needs change during the open period, this announcement may be closed without any further notice. The vacancy questionnaire includes four short, free-response essay questions. This provides an opportunity for you to highlight your dedication to public service for the hiring manager and agency leadership (or designee(s)). While your responses are not required and will not be scored, we encourage you to thoughtfully address each question. Please provide a response of 200 words or less to each question. You will be asked to certify that you are using your own words and did not use a consultant or artificial intelligence (AI) such as a large language model (LLM) like ChatGPT or Copilot. To apply for this position, you must complete the online application and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section above. Your application must include: Resume Self-Assessment Questionnaire for this position Applicable supporting documents (see Required Documents Section) To begin, click Apply to access the online application. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account to apply. If you do not have a USAJOBS account, you will need to create one before beginning the application. Follow the prompts to select your résumé and/or other supporting documents to be included with your application package. You will have the opportunity to upload additional documents to include in your application before it is submitted. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside about two (2) hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: Visit https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/howto/application/status/. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. Veterans 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 documentation that is required, click on the links above or contact the Servicing Human Resources Office listed at the bottom of this announcement.