Clarification from the agency

These positions will be filled through the Office of Personnel Management's Direct Hire Authority for the occupation and is open to all U.S. citizens.

As a Special Assistant, GS-13 you will perform the following duties:

• Serves as the principal executive staff expert, operational analyst, and advisor to the Principal Legal Advisor (SES), other SES level manager(s), or either division/office chiefs, on a wide range of issues related to organizational and managerial directives, theory, practices, and guidelines governing administrative OPLA programs.
• Executes detailed assessments and evaluations of issues related to administration, human resources and/or other programmatic reviews and evaluations associated with work unit core mission functions.
• Handles the planning and logistics of special initiatives and programs initiated by senior leadership.
• Perform a full range of executive and management support, administrative support, research and program assessment and evaluation duties, a variety of liaison activities, and special assignments related to the sensitive missions and functions of the office.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position.
• You must successfully pass a background investigation.
• You must successfully pass a drug screen.
• Males born after 12/31/59 must certify registration with Selective Service.
• Requirements by Closing Date: Unless otherwise noted, you must meet all requirements by the closing date of the announcement.
• Probationary Period: This is a full-time permanent position (Career/Career-Conditional appointment). Upon appointment to this position, you may be required to serve a one-year probationary period.

Qualifications

Please limit your resume to 2 pages. If more than 2 pages are submitted, only the first 2 pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility/qualifications.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.
Do not copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.

You qualify for the GS-12 grade level if you possess one (1) year of specialized experience at the GS-11 grade level or equivalent performing duties such as:

• Ensuring documents incorporate and consider most recent and operational guidance; AND
• Reviewing and assessing materials to ensure submissions meet standards for content, clarity, and conciseness; AND
• Planning, scheduling, and logistics for reoccurring events or special events, training, or conferences for multiple senior leaders or executives.

You qualify for the GS-13 grade level if you possess one (1) year of specialized experience at the GS-12 grade level or equivalent performing duties such as:

• Designing, developing, and implementing new projects to improve program efficiencies and general operations; AND
• Performing operational research, document reviews, creating reports, submitting written proposals, briefings, or other working documents for managers; AND
• Serving as an advisor to a member of a senior leadership team or division or office chief manager in support of a program related to administration, organizational and managerial directives, theory, practices, program oversight and analysis, or procedures governing administrative programs; AND
• Performing detailed assessments of issues related to administration, human resources or other programmatic reviews and evaluations.

Qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Qualification claims will be subject to verification.

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.

Current or Former Political Appointees: 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.

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.

If selected, you will be assigned to provide administrative support to one of the following key OPLA executive- and senior-leadership positions:

The Executive Deputy Principal Legal Advisor (EDPLA) serves as the senior advisor to the Principal Legal Advisor on all matters affecting OPLA's operations. The EDPLA, along with the Deputy Principal Legal Advisors (DPLAs), is a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES), and oversees the DPLAs and the Chief of Staff (COS).

The DPLA for Legal Operations is responsible for OPLA's largest directorate, overseeing OPLA's 25 field locations across the United States. Staffed by over 1,500 attorneys and nearly 200 support staff, FLO is responsible for the litigation of the nearly four million immigration-related cases pending before the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), including contested removals, custody redeterminations, and applications for relief from removal, as well as the provision of legal advice and counsel to ICE's operational clients in the field.

The DPLA for General and Administrative Law (GAL) oversees four OPLA headquarters divisions responsible for all general law advice and litigation within OPLA, counseling ICE leadership, operational directorates, and other OPLA divisions on matters ranging from commercial and administrative law, ethics and professional conduct, information law, and labor and employment law.

The DPLA for Enforcement and Litigation (E&L) oversees six OPLA headquarters divisions that focus on close client engagement and specialized legal advice and counsel to enforce our nation's immigration, customs, and criminal laws and policies, defending the operational authorities and decisions of ICE officers and agents in the federal courts, and guiding and supporting the advocacy of ICE attorneys before the immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals, with special emphasis on cases involving criminal noncitizens, human rights violators, and noncitizens who threaten our national security.

OPLA's Chief of Staff (COS) advances OPLA's mission through strategic initiatives and collaboration, and by overseeing four divisions charged with ensuring that all members of OPLA's workforce have the information, training, administrative support, and resources they require to successfully carry out their duties and responsibilities.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position.

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Decision Making
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Reading Comprehension
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork

In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

We will review your resume and supporting documentation to ensure you meet the minimum qualification requirements.

Direct Hire Authority: These positions will be filled through the Office of Personnel Management's Direct Hire Authority. The "Rule of Three", Category Rating and Veterans Preference will not apply to this vacancy. For more information on Direct Hire Authority, please see: OPM Direct Hire Fact Sheet.

Veterans: Although the Direct Hire Authority permits hiring without regard to Veterans Preference, applicants who are eligible for Veterans Preference are still encouraged to include that information in their application and submit supporting documentation (i.e. DD-214, or other substantiating documents). Staffing Policy View information on veterans' preference.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) Eligibles: If you have never worked for the federal government, you are not ICTAP eligible. View information about ICTAP eligibility on OPM's Career Transition Resources website. To be considered eligible under ICTAP, you must be placed in the well qualified category for this position. In addition, you must submit the supporting documents listed under the required documents section of this job announcement.

Pursuant to Executive Order 12564, and the DHS Drug-Free Workplace Plan, ICE is committed to maintaining a drug-free workplace and, therefore, personnel in safety- or security-sensitive positions (testing designated positions) are subject to random drug testing. Moreover, other drug testing of employees (e.g., reasonable suspicion drug test) may be conducted in order to ensure a safe and healthy work environment. All applicants tentatively selected for employment at ICE are subject to pre-employment drug testing and a final offer of employment is contingent upon a negative drug test result.

Failure to submit required documents will result in disqualification for this vacancy.

Next steps