Organizational Location: This position is with the Department of Homeland Security, within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations, International Operations and Advisory Directorate (IOAD), International Field Office, Preclearance, located at various Preclearance locations.
This is a Reassignment Opportunity Bulletin. You must be currently serving or have previously served as a full-time permanent GS-12 with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and are currently serving or have served in the 0401 series within the last five years to qualify under this Bulletin.
If you are currently serving in the 0401 series as a GS-12 or higher or have done so within the last five years and are willing to take a change to lower grade, you will also be considered for this position. This position will be filled through reassignment on a permanent basis through time-limited rotational assignments with a minimum tour of two years. At the end of the reassignment, you will be returned to a position at the same level as this Preclearance position.
At the discretion of management, the assignment may be extended for additional periods up to a maximum of six years depending on the host country and the Department of State. You may be returned at any time to your former position or to a different position of equivalent grade and pay as this Preclearance position. Geographic Location: You may select up to two (2) locations where you would be willing to work.
This position starts at a salary of $76,463.00 (GS-12, Step 1) to $99,404.00 (GS-12, Step 10). Salary above excludes COLA. Please see here for specific COLA Rates. In this position you will become a key member of a team of homeland security professionals responsible for detecting and preventing terrorists and instruments of terror from entering the U.S.
Typical work assignments include: Serving as a technical consultant and providing expert guidance to CBP Officers, travelers, host country agencies, and others on the interpretative techniques and regulatory requirements (including complex and unusual issues and requirements) pertaining to the processing of agriculture related material.
Interacting with other CBP units, other agencies, and foreign entities to exchange information and provide guidance on admissibility and/or compliance.
Responding to a wide range of technical and regulatory agricultural inquiries from within CBP, other agencies, the public and industry which requires expertise, experience, sound judgment, diplomacy, tact and in-depth knowledge of applicable laws, quarantines, regulations, regulatory requirements of other agencies, and port operations.
Participating in target and analysis teams (e.g., Manifest Review Units, Document Analysis Units, and Passenger Analysis Units) to collect and analyze advanced information, and identify potential high risk agricultural and biological targets (people or conveyance) based on anomalies, emerging agricultural and biological threats, lookouts, links analysis and/or other agency input.
Please see the Qualifications and Required Documents sections for more information if education is applicable to this position.
Return Rights: No more than one hundred and fifty (150) calendar days before the end of tour, but not less than ninety (90) calendar days prior to the end of the initial tour, as well as the conclusion of any extensions, employees are expected to formally request, through a fully completed Notice of Intent (NOI), express intent to return to the United States.
Please refer to Article 40 Section 6 of the National Collective Bargaining Agreement for additional information with regards to Extension Request and Return Procedures. Home Leave: In addition to annual leave, you will earn five, ten, or fifteen days home leave on each two year assignment depending on your foreign post assignment and the post differential rate.
This leave is granted to you when you have your Preclearance assignment extended for another tour and is to be used between tours. The Government pays your per diem and transportation expenses from your post of duty in a Preclearance station to your former official residence in the United States. In addition, it also pays for the transportation expenses of your dependents who accompany you on home leave to your residence in the United States.
You must be admissible to the country you are selected for before a final offer is issued. Employees must select the locations of interest and review the admissibility requirements of those countries. You must certify that if accompanied, your family members, are admissible to enter and temporarily reside in the country. Follow this link to the admissibility requirements of each country.
You should review the below concerning inadmissibility: If you are not admissible to a specific country, your applications for that location will not be considered further. If your fail to certify that you have reviewed the admissibility requirements of the country you are applying for, your application will not be considered further.
If you certify that you are admissible, and the Agency later learns that you were inadmissible, your application will not be considered further, and the Agency may pursue other appropriate action, as necessary. If you are selected and report to the country, and the Agency later learns that you were inadmissible, the Agency may curtail the assignment and require you to return to your permanent position in the United States.
The Agency may pursue other appropriate action, as necessary. Living Quarters Allowances (not payable if claiming temporary lodging allowance): Employees receive payment of an annual tax-free quarters allowance for housing while in a Preclearance station. This allowance is intended to cover the cost of suitable, adequate living quarters for the employee and his/her family, plus the cost of heat, light, fuel, gas, electricity, and water.
However, at some duty stations government subsidized housing is provided.
Temporary Lodging Allowance (not payable if claiming living quarters allowance): A temporary lodging allowance is a tax-free quarters allowance that is granted to you for the reasonable cost of temporary quarters, which are incurred by you and your family for a period not to exceed (1) 60 days after first arrival at a new post in a foreign area, or a period ending with the occupation of permanent quarters, if earlier; and (2) 30 days immediately preceding final departure from the post subsequent to the necessary vacating of residence quarters.
Education Allowance: Payment for most actual costs of education for each dependent are determined by the Department of State and are subject to change. Medical Requirements: The Agriculture Specialist position has medical qualification standards.
A pre-placement medical examination is required to ensure those tasked with the position's responsibilities are medically and physically capable of performing the essential tasks and job functions in an efficient and safe manner without endangering the health and safety of co-workers, the public, or oneself. Persons in this position must demonstrate they are physically and mentally capable of performing the essential functions of the position.
The medical qualification standards cover any disease or condition that may potentially interfere with the safe and efficient performance of the job duties or training may constitute grounds for medical disqualification. The medical standards also include specific vision and hearing requirements as noted below. Vision: Distant Visual Acuity: Must be at least 20/30 or better in the best eye with or without correction.
Individuals who have undergone refractive eye surgeries/procedures (e.g., photorefractive laser surgery, keratoplast, LASIK) may be qualified provided they have no post-operative adverse complications and they meet the vision requirements. Near Vision: Must be 20/30 or better Snellen with or without corrective lenses. Color Vision: Must be able to distinguish colors (i.e., red, green, yellow, blue, orange, purple, pink, brown, black, white, gray).
Use of an X-chrome lens is not acceptable. Visual Fields: a minimum of 140 degrees in the horizontal meridian. Hearing: Hearing level in each ear must not exceed 40 decibels (dB) for the average of the following frequencies: 500, 1000, 2000, and 3000 Hertz (Hz). The difference in hearing level between the better ear thresholds and worse ear thresholds may not exceed 15dB for the average of 500, 1000, 2000, and 3000 Hz.
The difference in hearing level between the better ear and worse ear may not exceed 30dB at 4000 or 6000 Hz. The use of hearing aids to meet the standards is acceptable. This link provides an overview of Preclearance overseas locations, the benefits of working in Preclearance and the pre-deployment process.
cbphiring-applicantinquiry@cbp.dhs.gov · 855-500-3722
This position is with Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security.
The posted pay range is $76463 – $99404/yr.
Applications close on 2026-10-21.
This position is open under the 'Fed Transition' hiring path.
Source: USAJOBS.gov — U.S. Federal Government · Retrieved 2026-10-15 · Not affiliated with or endorsed by OPM or USAJOBS.gov
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