Criminal Investigator

Criminal Investigator

Department: Department of Homeland Security

Location(s): Los Angeles, California, San Diego, California, San Francisco, California, Denver, Colorado, Washington, District of Columbia, Miami, Florida, Tampa, Florida, Atlanta, Georgia, Honolulu, Hawaii, Chicago, Illinois, Phoenix, Illinois, New Orleans, Louisiana, Boston, Massachusetts, Baltimore, Maryland, Detroit, Michigan, Saint Paul, Minnesota, Kansas City, Missouri, Charlotte, North Carolina, Newark, New Jersey, Las Vegas, Nevada, Buffalo, New York, New York, New York, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Nashville, Tennessee, Dallas, Texas, El Paso, Texas, Houston, Texas, San Antonio, Texas, Seattle, Washington

Salary Range: $63148 - $101860 Per Year

Job Summary: Are you ready to defend the homeland? Launch an impactful career as a Criminal Investigator with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) at ICE! Join an elite team dedicated to defending the United States by tackling complex criminal threats and securing our nation's safety. This role requires no college degree and offers up to $50,000 in signing and retention bonuses. If you're bold, analytical, and ready to make a difference, join HSI and become a vital part of Homeland Security!

Major Duties:

• As a Criminal Investigator, at the full performance level, you will perform the following duties: Conduct and coordinate high-level comprehensive investigations involving individuals, groups, or large organizations operating at a local, national, or international level. Use electronic surveillance, interviews, polygraph examination, and physical surveillance to obtain evidence in investigative cases. Make arrests, confront multiple suspects, and secure scenes sometimes under potentially dangerous and hazardous environments. Take part in securing signed statements, affidavits, and documentary evidence for inclusion in reports or case records. Prepare sworn testimony on behalf of the government in criminal and federal grand jury cases. View Common Definitions of terms found in this announcement. Organizational Location: These positions are located in the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations at 235 duty locations throughout the country. These are non-bargaining unit positions. This job announcement has an applicant limit and will close early when the limit has been reached. While we appreciate your interest in this critical role at ICE, please note that applications will move forward in the order in which they were received. Salary: The salary range indicated in this announcement reflects the lowest and highest potential salaries for this position. The actual salary range will be based on the applicable locality pay for the selected duty location. General Schedule locality pay tables may be found under Salaries & Wages. Suitability: If you receive a tentative offer of employment for this position, you will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application prior to entry on duty. False statements on any part of the application may result in withdrawal of offer of employment, dismissal after beginning work, fine, or imprisonment. 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.

Qualifications: Qualification requirements must be met by the date of application submission. 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 GL-9 grade level if you possess one of the following: Experience: One (1) year of specialized experience at the GS-7 grade level or equivalent performing duties such as: Investigating or assisting with investigations in one or more programmatic areas such as narcotics, money laundering, financial crimes, human trafficking, fraud, international trade, network intrusion response, counterintelligence, counterterrorism, counterproliferation or general criminal or administrative investigations; Performing federal, state, and local law enforcement-related database queries; Collecting or analyzing information in support of general criminal or administrative actions; Conducting or assisting with interviews with generally cooperative individuals (e.g., suspects, witnesses, sources, and/or victims) to gather information.; AND Assisting in the preparation of reports in support of general criminal or administrative actions. OR Education: A master's (or equivalent graduate degree such as a L.L.B/J.D.) or 2 academic years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree. Graduate level education must have been from an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. OR Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of successfully completed graduate level education beyond the first full year and experience as described above that when combined meets 100% of the requirement. Graduate level education must have been from an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. In addition to above you will also be evaluated to determine demonstration of following competencies: Problem Solving - Identifies and analyzes problems; distinguishes between relevant and irrelevant information; provides options for resolving problems. Teamwork - Encourages and facilitates cooperation, pride, trust, and group identity; fosters commitment and team spirit; works with others to achieve goals. Interpersonal Skills - Considers and responds appropriately to the needs, feelings, and capabilities of different people in different situations; is diplomatic, tactful, and sensitive, and treats others with respect. AND Flexibility -Is open to change and new information; adapts behavior and work methods in response to new information, changing conditions, or unexpected obstacles. 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. 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. 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 considered well qualified for this position. In addition, you must submit the supporting documents listed under the required documents section of this job announcement.

How to Apply: Only resumes up to a total of two pages will be accepted. Applicants with resumes exceeding two pages will be removed from consideration. 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. Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section. The complete initial application must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 12/31/2025. This job announcement has an applicant limit and will close early when the limit has been reached. PLEASE NOTE: If your materials are not received by the closing date, your application will be evaluated solely on the information available and you may not receive full consideration or may not be considered eligible. Also, if you do not provide a valid email address, you may not be notified of required assessments and/or the outcome of your application. Ensure that your email in USAJOBS is accurate and accessible to you for the duration of the assessment process; once you submit your application, that is the address that will be used for all future communications including instructions for assessments. To begin the process, click the Apply Online button to create an account or log into your existing USAJOBS account. Follow the prompts to complete the announcement questionnaire. Please ensure you click the Submit My Answers button at the end of the process. To apply for this position, you must complete the Announcement Questionnaire https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12825672 and submit the required documentation outlined under the REQUIRED DOCUMENTS section. To update your application (including supporting documentation) at any time during the announcement open period, visit your USAJOBS account at https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login. There you will find a record of your application, the application status, and an option to Update Application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. ***Responses to the announcement questionnaire may not be changed or altered once the announcement has closed.*** Applications and supporting documentation will not be accepted by mail or email. If you need further assistance, contact the Human Resources Office listed on this announcement at least one day prior to the closing date for further instructions. One or more positions may be filled using this vacancy announcement. Applying to this announcement certifies that you give permission for DHS to share your application with others in DHS for similar positions.

Application Deadline: 2025-12-31