Intelligence Research Specialist
Summary
This position is with the Department of Homeland Security, within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Intelligence, located in New York, NY.
Duties
In this position you will serve as an Intelligence Research Specialist (IRS), specializing as an all-source analyst, applying a full range of intelligence knowledge, skills, and abilities to provide insights that warn of potential threats and assessments on possible outcomes in regard to national security.
Major Duties include, but are not limited to:
- Executing intelligence processes across all phases of the CBP intelligence cycle: planning and direction, collection, processing and exploitation, analysis and production, and dissemination.
- Integrating data and information from all relevant sources to analyze situations or conditions that affect organization operations.
- Assessing and validating intelligence on measures of relevance, timeliness, and objectivity, and prepare professional intelligence reports for briefing and dissemination across the organization.
- Providing analytic direction and project monitoring services specified in interrelated geographical and functional areas; gathers, evaluates, analyzes, and abstracts data from multiple or specific sources; produces analyses, reports, and briefings; and formulates appropriate actions regarding problem areas, technical or administrative procedures.
- Researching, evaluating, integrating, and analyzing all-source data in the preparation of clear, concise, in-depth intelligence analytical products focusing on the threats and all relevant information related to CBP operations.
Pay
This position starts at a salary of $72,737.00 (GS-09, Step 1) to $114,413.00 (GS-11, Step 10) with promotion potential to $163,062.00 (GS-13 Step 10).
Requirements
- 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, 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. These rules include obtaining approval for outside employment or business activity.
- DHS uses E-Verify to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States.
Qualifications
GS-09 Level: You qualify if you possess 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, performing duties such as:
- Identifying intelligence gaps, problems, or potential difficulties;
- Interpreting policy as it relates to analytic production, and compliance with all established authorities, directives, and guidelines;
- Participating as a team member to develop and produce analytical products;
- Providing maintenance and control of classified material and derivative classification requirements;
- Resolving basic issues and moderate conflicts that arise; and relies on instruction and training to apply relevant policies.
Education Substitution GS-09: You may substitute a Master's degree or 2 full years of graduate education or a J.D or L.L.B. degree for experience required at the GS-9 grade level. Such education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position. Use 36 semester or 54 quarter hours if credit information is not available.
GS-11 Level: You qualify if you possess 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, performing duties such as:
- Collecting, analyzing, and disseminating baseline intelligence information using a variety of intelligence-gathering methods to include: link analyses, visual investigative analyses, crime mapping, and telephone toll record analyses to support operations;
- Extracting, compiling, and analyzing raw data and reporting to draft intelligence reports containing original analyses, assessments and recommendations under direct supervision and guidance;
- Brainstorming innovative methods using structured analytic techniques to determine validity to assess veracity of intelligence information;
- Preparing baseline intelligence products and collection support products under direct supervision;
- Presenting and briefing to internal peers a variety of intelligence topics and provides feedback to internal partners to close intelligence gaps in support of intelligence collection operations and analysis.
Education Substitution GS-11: You may substitute a Ph.D. or an equivalent doctoral degree, or three full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or an LL.M. for experience at the GS-11 grade level. Such education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. Use 54 semester or 81 quarter hours if credit information is not available.
Combining Education and Experience: To combine your education and experience, convert each to a percentage and then add the percentages. If your education is described in quarter hours, multiply by the fraction 2/3 to convert into semester hours, then divide the semester hours by 18. To determine your percentage of qualifying experience, divide your total months of experience by the required number of months of experience. Add your percentages together. The total must equal at least 100% in order to qualify. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify for positions at grades GS-9 and GS-11.
Additional Requirements:
- Your resume must explicitly indicate how you meet this requirement.
- Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations.
- You must meet all qualification requirements, including education if applicable, subject to verification at any stage of the application process.
- You must 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 09/08/2026.
- 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 and Residency
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. 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, 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.
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 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.