Summary This position is located within the Police Service of the VA Medical Center in Jackson, MS. The mission of the Physical Security Specialist is to serve and protect Veterans, patients, employees, contractors, volunteers, affiliates, visitors, and others who frequent VA facilities. This is accomplished through crime prevention activities, typical law enforcement actions, emergency response capabilities, special training and tactics, weapons, and equipment and systems utilization. Responsibilities Major duties and responsibilities include: Evaluates risk and develops procedures and physical security measures designed to safeguard personnel, property, and operations from unauthorized access, espionage, terrorism, sabotage, damage and theft; Ensures security requirements and appropriate safeguards, cameras, and panic and intrusion alarms are implemented; Monitors and evaluating existing and planned security projects to ensure timely and quality service conforms to statutory, contractual, and technical requirements; Collects information and preparing reports on the facility's compliance with VA operations and regulations; Conducts system audits and evaluates reports of alleged security violations; Performs law enforcement assignments to prevent or resolve offenses; Initiates appropriate actions to pursue and apprehend offenders who are leaving the scene of a crime or who attempts to resist arrest; Performs bomb search functions as required by coordinating such search activities with local bomb squad; Conducts full investigations over prolonged periods; Performs search and seizure for evidence to develop case information; Establishes, develops, and maintains effective working relationships with other staff offices; Attends security meetings to gather and share new/changed security program information with security personnel; Develops documents, spreadsheets, graphs, reports and presentations using various automated systems and software packages; Ensures physical security surveys are followed up promptly; Performs related duties as required. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:00pm/7:30am - 3:30pm, subject to change based on the needs of the facility. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Physical Security Specialist/PD99826S Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized DESIGNATED DRUG-TESTING POSITION: Applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Applicants will not be appointed to the position if a verified positive drug test result is received. Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Pre-employment physical required Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 You may be required to serve a probationary/trial period Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/26/2025. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: One (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 grade level in federal service that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of a Physical Security Specialist, and that is typically in or related to the work of this position. Specialized experience includes: responding to reports of crimes and/or calls for police assistance; securing crime scenes and/or accident sites; conducting searches to collect and secure evidence and contraband; developing physical security-related documents, spreadsheets, graphs, and presentations using various automated systems and software packages; and interacting with the general public in a courteous and professional manner. NOTE: Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. ~OR~ Education: Have successfully completed a master's or equivalent graduate degree, or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, or an LL.B. or J.D. in a field related to this position that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with application. Education cannot be credited without documentation. ~OR Combination: Possess equivalent combinations of successfully completed graduate level education (in excess of the first year or 18 semester hours) and specialized experience to meet total experience requirements. NOTE: If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify, a copy of your transcript is required. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Computer Skills Criminal Law Interpersonal Skills Personnel Security and Safety Public Safety and Security Security 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; religions; 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements and Work Environment: The work requires full use of extremities, normal hearing, and vision to conduct on-site security surveys, inspections, and assessments. The duties require prolonged standing, walking, crouching, bending, lifting, reaching, pushing, stooping, and climbing stairs and ladders indoors and outdoors. On-site surveys, inspections, and assessments require exposure to a wide variety of working elements, both indoors and outside, general and specialized office space. Clothing is subject to being soiled when checking basements, crawl space, attics and other similar areas. Wearing of safety clothing and equipment when in construction or industrial areas is required. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. Education A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. Additional Information Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.
