FEDERAL AIR MARSHAL (Direct Hire)

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

An entry level Federal Air Marshal serves as a Federal Law Enforcement Officer for the Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Law Enforcement/Federal Air Marshal Service (LE/FAMS). The Federal Air Marshals' (FAMs) primary function is to protect commercial passenger flights by deterring and countering the risk of terrorist activity, aircraft piracy, and other crimes to protect the nation's transportation infrastructure. FAMs may serve in a variety of law enforcement capacities both in the air and on the ground, including Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) operations. Federal Air Marshals are equipped to operate independently in a highly stressful environment with little or no back-up available. Duties may include but are not limited to: Participates in multi-agency task forces involving other federal, state, and local agencies in support of an integrated Federal law enforcement and intelligence approach to proactively fight terrorism. Coordinates and administers law enforcement, investigative, analytical, or advisory activities to ensure compliance with federal laws, regulations, and other mandatory guidelines. Makes arrests without warrants for any offense against the United States committed in their presence, or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States if there is probable cause to believe that a felony is being or has been committed. Seeks and executes warrants for arrest or seizure of evidence upon probable cause that a violation has been committed; and identifies and interviews witnesses and suspects. Presents information regarding law enforcement activities to the appropriate U.S. Attorney, as necessary. Such law enforcement activities may involve matters of extreme sensitivity with difficult planning and coordination problems because of jurisdictional concerns involving other nations, and federal, state, county, and local governments. This position is a primary Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) position and is covered under the Special LEO Retirement Provisions. Law Enforcement Availability Pay (LEAP) is approved for this position to compensate for unscheduled duty in excess of a basic workweek. Federal Air Marshals must work or be available to work an average of two extra hours per non excludable work day. LEAP is not authorized until all initial training requirements are successfully completed and upon issue of the Federal Air Marshal badge and credential. This position is covered under the special retirement provisions for law enforcement officers. Applicants that have no prior federal law enforcement experience must meet the maximum age for entry into a "covered position" which is the date immediately preceding the applicant's 37th birthday and must be able to retire at the mandatory age of 57 years with 20 years of service as a federal law enforcement officer. Applicants who are preference eligible veterans are exempted from this age restriction. TSA is hiring for law enforcement jobs that have an exciting opportunity! Once onboarded, you may be assigned for up to one year to support the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force. The law enforcement component of the D.C. Task Force is a partnership of over 20 federal and local agencies working together to make D.C. the safest city in America. Once the assignment ends, you'll transition back to support TSA. Visit the D.C. Task Force page for more information.

Requirements

You must possess U.S. Citizenship or be a U.S. National. You must complete a favorable Background Investigation (BI). Selective Service registration is required. AGE: Applicant must be at least 21 years old at the time of application. Prior to appointment, an applicant must not have reached his or her 37th birthday unless the applicant can provide proof of current or previous service in a Federal civilian law enforcement retirement-covered position (after subtracting the year/months of prior Federal service worked in a primary law enforcement position, the applicant must be less than 37 years of age). This is a rigorous/primary law enforcement position. Applicants who reach age 37 at any time during the process up to entry on duty and did not provide proof of a Federal civilian law enforcement position covered by Federal civilian law enforcement retirement provisions, will be disqualified. NOTE: Applicants who are preference eligible veterans are exempted from this age restriction. POLYGRAPH EXAMINATION: Selectees must successfully complete and achieve favorable results on a law enforcement pre-employment polygraph examination. For details regarding Polygraph Reciprocity, please see the Next Steps section of the announcement. Those who take the polygraph under this announcement will be required to travel at their own expense to the examination location. Polygraph examinations are typically conducted in Atlantic City, NJ. (NOTE: This requirement also applies to any current TSA employee. An unfavorable polygraph examination may result in negative administrative actions, up to and including separation from federal service). PHYSICAL ABILITY: Federal Air Marshals engage in moderate to arduous physical exertion. As such, Federal Air Marshal selectees must successfully pass the medical screening process and physical requirements for law enforcement officers. Federal Air Marshals are required to engage the use of defensive tactics and physical control techniques. MEDICAL CLEARANCE: Selectees will be required to pass a pre-employment medical examination and maintain medical standards. See Qualifications section for additional Conditions of Employment.

Qualifications and evaluation

Under the provisions of the Direct Hire Authority (DHA), rating, ranking and veterans' preference does not apply. All applicants who meet the minimum qualification requirements, as defined in the job opportunity announcement, will be referred for selection consideration. While veterans' preference does not apply in DHA, preference eligibles are encouraged to submit their supporting documentation (DD-214 stating disposition of discharge or character of service, VA letter, SF-15, etc.). You will be evaluated based on a comparison of the position requirements against the quality and extent of the experience and/or related education reflected in your resume and supporting documentation. In your resume, please list all of your employment activities, beginning with the present and working back no more than 10 years, and include the beginning and ending dates for each. You should list all full-time and part-time work, paid and unpaid, and the number of hours worked per week for each. You should also list all consulting/contracting work, all military service duty locations, temporary military duty locations over 90 days, self-employment, or other paid work, and all periods of unemployment. The entire period must be accounted for without breaks. EXCEPTION: Do not list employment that occurred prior to your 18th birthday. Please see the FAM Resume Builder Tip Sheet. Limit your resume to no more than two pages. Initially, applicants will be evaluated through an online application process. Applicants will be asked a series of occupational assessment questions linked to the competencies determined necessary for successful job performance. These responses will then be used to rate (pass/fail) applicants relative to the requirements for this position. The most qualified candidates will be referred for further consideration through the remainder of the assessment process. Veterans: Qualified veterans who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10% are listed in the best-qualified category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level, or higher. (This position is not considered scientific/professional.) Other 10-point preference eligibles and veterans with 5-point preference who meet the eligibility and qualification requirements are placed above non-preference eligibles within the category in which they qualify. View information on Veterans' Preference. NOTE: The following steps in the hiring process may require the applicant to travel at his or her own expense. Referred Applicants: Applicants will be required to pass the FAM Assessment Battery (FAB), which includes writing, logic-based reasoning, and situational judgment components. Additional information on the FAB computer-based assessment can be obtained by clicking on the following link: FAM Assessment Battery Preparation Manual. Applicants who successfully pass the FAB will be required to complete a panel interview at a specified FAMS field office. Applicants who successfully pass the Physical Ability Test (PAT) will then take the panel interview, be interviewed by a field office executive, and have their fingerprints taken. Further information regarding the PAT can be found at the following link: FAM PAT Training Guide. NOTE: Applicants are required to travel at his or her own expense to complete assessments. The ability to reschedule assessments are extremely limited.

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. 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 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. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process. After acknowledging you have reviewed your application package, complete the Include Personal Information section as you deem appropriate and click to continue with the application process. You will be taken to the online application which you must complete in order to apply for the position. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation is included with your application package, and submit the application. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete. It is your responsibility to verify that your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) is complete, accurate, and submitted by the closing date. Uploaded documents may take up to one hour to clear the virus scan. Additional information on how to complete the online application process and submit your online application may be found on the USA Staffing Applicant Resource Center. We encourage you to apply online. If you have any questions, please see Agency Contact Information for further assistance. 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.

Required documents

NOTE: Your resume must clearly demonstrate how you meet this requirement; otherwise, you will be deemed ineligible. Additionally, copying and pasting information from the announcement into your resume will not adequately convey your qualifications. Resume Requirements: 1. All applicants are required to submit a resume. Limit your resume to no more than two pages. The USAJOBS database will not allow an applicant to submit an application that includes a resume over two pages. 2. Narrative description of duties with start and end dates (including month and year) for work experience. 3. Number of hours worked in a position (i.e., full-time or part-time). If part-time, (i.e., less than 40 hours per week) state the total number of hours worked per week. 4. If you are a current Federal employee or previous Federal employee, provide your performance level for federal civilian positions (i.e., band or grade). Do NOT include photographs (or links to social media such as LinkedIn), inappropriate content, classified information, nor personal information such as age, gender, religion, social security number, etc. on your resume. Utilizing the USAJOBS Resume Builder and completing all available fields is strongly encouraged. In addition to a resume and the assessment questions, you must submit copies of any of the following documents if you are applying based on current or former Federal Government Status, Veterans' Preference or eligible Veterans' Service (a veteran who was honorably discharged from the armed forces after completing at least three (3) years of continuous active duty service), or education or a combination of education and experience: DD-214 - If you are claiming Veterans' Preference or eligible Veterans' Service, provide a copy of your DD-214 (Member Copy 4), Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, or other appropriate documentation to prove your entitlement and to provide verification of an Honorable Discharge. SF-50 Notification of Personnel Action - Current TSA employees are strongly encouraged to submit the most recent non-Award SF-50, at the time of application, to support eligibility for Status consideration. TSA employees who do not submit the SF-50 with the application must document their current TSA position in their resume and may be required to provide the SF-50 document during the selection process. TSA employees may obtain a copy of their most recent non-Award SF-50 at https://eopf.opm.gov/dhs/. Law Enforcement SF-50 - Applicants age 37 or over, or those who will reach age 37 at any time during the process up to entry on duty must submit proof of a Federal civilian law enforcement position covered by Federal civilian law enforcement retirement provisions. Documentation must include two SF-50s with the earliest and most recent dates serving in a covered Law Enforcement Officer position or as defined in 5 USC 8336(c) so that the number of months can be determined. Examples of applicable retirement codes in Box 30 include but are not limited to: 6, E, M, MF, MR, O, OF and OR. Candidates who have a break in their time serving as a Federal Law Enforcement Officer must provide ALL applicable non-award SF-50s. (NOTE: Applicants who are preference eligible veterans are exempted from this age restriction.). NOTE: If you have previous law enforcement (LE) Federal experience, you must enter the number of MONTHS when you respond to the questionnaire. For example, if you have 5 years of Federal LE experience, you must enter 60 months, 4 years would be 48 months, etc. Otherwise, the system may screen you out. SF-15 and VA Letter - If you are claiming Veterans' Preference based upon a Compensable Disability, Widow or Spouse Entitlement, or as a Purple Heart recipient, you must submit your DD-214 or other proof of entitlement; an SF-15, and the required proof of disability, i.e., Department of Veterans Affairs letter dated 1991 or later. Transcripts - If you are qualifying based on education OR if there are mandatory education requirements listed under the Qualifications and Evaluations section, you MUST submit a copy of your college transcript(s) with your application. If selected, an official/sealed college transcript(s) will be required to verify education prior to employment. Detail Documentation - Eligible applicants who wish to qualify for this position based upon experience obtained while serving on a detail with TSA must submit signed copies of the corresponding TSA form 1160, Terms And Conditions For Temporary Internal Assignment -Detail, or an SF-52, Request for Personnel Action, as supporting documentation along with their application otherwise the experience cannot be credited. If you do not submit required documentation described in this job opportunity announcement, your application may be deemed incomplete and you will be ineligible for further consideration for this vacancy.

Additional information

The reflected salary on the announcement does not include locality pay. Salary will be adjusted in accordance with the locality pay of the final approved duty location selected (El Segundo, CA 36.47%; South San Francisco, CA 46.34%; Denver, CO 30.52%; Orlando, FL 17.06%; Sunrise, FL 24.67%; East Point, GA 23.79%; Chicago, IL 30.86%; Chelsea, MA 32.58%; Hanover, MD 33.94%; Romulus, MI 29.12%; Edina, MN 27.62%; Charlotte, NC 19.67%; West Orange, NJ 37.95%; Las Vegas, NV 19.57%; Queens, NY 37.95%; Tinicum, PA 28.99%; Coppell, TX. 27.26%; Houston, TX 35.00%; Chantilly, VA 33.94%; Renton, WA 31.57%). Applicants will only be considered for those duty locations to which they indicate a preference. Pay Setting: Initial pay will be set in accordance with TSA MD 1100.53-7, Setting Pay Upon Appointment, and 1100.53.8, Setting Pay After Appointment. Promotion Potential: The highest pay band of a non-supervisory Federal Air Marshal is SV-1801-I. However, applicants will be hired only at the G Band level under this vacancy announcement. Movement to a higher level will depend on the employee's ability to do more complex, higher level work; there is no guarantee of promotion. Payment of relocation expenses (Permanent Change of Station) is not authorized. Qualified non-competitive eligible candidates may be referred for consideration on a separate, unranked list. Eligibility to apply for other Federal positions: TSA is an Excepted Service agency exempt from most of Title 5 United States Code, including regulations which apply to displaced Federal employees (CTAP/ICTAP) of other agencies, and employment with TSA does not confer "Competitive Status" that generally results from selection and service in Competitive Service agencies. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has established an Interchange Agreement, which allows most permanent TSA employees to apply and be considered for vacancies in Competitive Service agencies. Information from OPM on this or other Interchange Agreements is available at: www.opm.gov/ To ensure the accomplishment of our mission, DHS requires every employee to be reliable and trustworthy. To meet those standards, all selected applicants must undergo and successfully pass a background investigation as a condition of placement into this position. 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. Fair Employment: It is the policy of the Government not to deny employment simply because an individual has been unemployed or has had financial difficulties that have arisen through no fault of the individual. Information about an individual's employment experience will be used only to determine the person's qualifications and to assess his or her relative level of knowledge, skills, and abilities. Although an individual's personal conduct may be relevant in any employment decision, including conduct during periods of unemployment or evidence of dishonesty in handling financial matters, financial difficulty that has arisen through no fault of the individual will generally not itself be the basis of an unfavorable suitability or fitness determination. TSA employees who are absent for the purpose of performing military duty may apply for any vacancies announced in their absence. See "Required Documents" for additional information.