Customs Officer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Summary
Organizational Location: This position is with the Department of Homeland Security, within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations, Houston Field Office, Petroleum, Natural Gas & Minerals (PNGM) Center of Excellence and Expertise, located in Rosemont, Illinois, Newark, New Jersey and Houston, Texas.
Additional selections may be made to include other organizational divisions and/or units within the duty location(s) listed above.
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Duties
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This is a Recent Graduate appointment in the Pathways Program. Selected individuals are placed in a dynamic one year development program in the excepted service designed to lead to a competitive civil service career in the Federal government. At the successful conclusion of this program, the agency may non-competitively convert individuals to a term (position lasting 1-4 years with an extension up to 120 days) or permanent position within the competitive service. Conversion to a Federal competitive service position will be at the discretion of the agency and is neither guaranteed nor implied.
The selection will be made, and oversight of this position will be maintained by the Houston Field Office, but the physical location of this position will remain in the duty location chosen.
This position starts at a salary of $50,460.00 (GS-7, Step 1) to $80,243.00 (GS-9, Step 10) with promotion potential to $116,362.00 (GS-12 Step 10).
Salary listed reflects the rest of U.S. scale and will be adjusted to meet the locality pay of the duty location upon selection.
GS Salary : Visit this link to view the locality pay tables by geographic area. If you do not see your geographic area listed, select the "Rest of United States" pay table.
In this position, you will strengthen the Department's ability to perform homeland security functions by becoming a valuable member of a team of commercial, inspection, entry, liquidation, and Customs Officer employees.
Typical duties include:

• Responding to basic, repetitive questions regarding reporting requirements, and calculation methods.
• Participating in the review of company records on-site to establish if goods meet eligibility requirements, and to verify the adequacy of a company's drawback system.
• Examining the manufacturing process, and various records to determine eligible quantities of goods, to trace imported merchandise through to exportation, to ensure use complies with applicable laws and regulations, and, for unused merchandise claims, to ensure imported goods are neither used in the United States nor commercially interchangeable.
• Tracing documentation to ensure a clear record exists from importation through manufacture to exportation.

Requirements
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Conditions of employment

• 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, you will be joining a workforce that is dedicated to accomplishing our mission while maintaining the trust of our Nation by strictly adhering to all government ethics standards. 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. Once you enter on duty, these rules include obtaining approval for outside employment or business activity, to ensure such employment or business activity is not prohibited and does not interfere or conflict with performance of your official duties. Please review further details via the following link.
• Bargaining Unit: This is a bargaining unit covered position, represented under the National Treasury Employees Unions - NTEU. For local chapter contact information see Chapter Websites - National Treasury Employees Union - NTEU
• 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.

Qualifications
Experience: You qualify for the GS-07 grade level if you possess 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, performing duties such as:

• Analyzing customs documents
• Manufacturing records, export documentation, and accounting records
• Applying customs laws, regulations, and procedures
• Interpreting customs requirements
• Determining of rates of duty, classification of merchandise, and entry requirements

You qualify for the GS09 grade level if you possess 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, performing duties such as:

• Reviewing and making decisions on drawback claims of average difficulty and complexity
• Reviewing company records to establish if goods meet eligibility requirements
• Verifying the adequacy of a company's drawback system
• Presenting assigned portions of seminars and other outreach efforts to explain drawback eligibility and requirements

NOTE: Your resume must explicitly indicate how you meet this requirement, otherwise you will be found ineligible. Please see the "Required Documents" section below for additional resume requirements.
Education Substitution: GS-7: You may substitute superior academic achievement for the experience required at the GS-7 level. You must have completed the requirements for a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with a grade point average of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale, class standing in the upper third of a graduating class or major subdivision, or membership in a national scholastic honor society.
OR
GS-7: You may substitute the successful completion of one year of fulltime graduate education for the experience required at the GS-7 level. This education must have been obtained from an accredited college or university and demonstrate the skills necessary to do the work of the position. Check with your school to determine how many credit hours comprise a year of graduate education. If that information is not available, use 18 semester or 27 quarter hours.
Education Substitution: GS-9: You may substitute a Master's degree or 2 full years of graduate education in a qualifying field 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. Check with your school to determine how many credit hours comprise two years of graduate education. If that information is not available, use 36 semester or 54 quarter hours.
Combining Experience and Education: Combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements for the grade levels specified in the table, and may be computed by first determining the applicant's total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determining the applicant's education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; and then adding the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grades GS-9 and GS-11. (When crediting education that requires specific course work, prorate the number of hours of related courses required as a proportion of the total education to be used.)
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.
You must meet all qualification requirements, including education if applicable to this position, subject to verification at any stage of the application process by 07/28/2026.
In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
You are eligible for this appointing authority if you are an individual who: Completed, within the previous two years by 07/28/2026, a qualifying associate's, bachelor's, master's, professional, doctorate, vocational or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution or completed a qualifying career or technical education program (which may include Registered Apprenticeship Programs, Job Corps, AmeriCorps, and Peace Corps) . Review Recent Graduates for additional eligibility information. If you are a veteran who was unable to apply within two years of receiving your degree due to military service obligation, you have as long as six years after degree completion to apply. You must submit a copy of your transcripts showing type of degree received and date degree was received. In addition, if you are a veteran who was unable to apply within two years of receiving your degree due to military service obligation, please provide a copy of your DD-214 or a written statement from the armed forces certifying your dates of service and your rank, expected type of discharge and anticipated date of separation.
To be eligible for conversion, Recent Graduates must:

• Successfully complete at least year of continuous service in addition to all requirements of the program;
• Meet the qualification standards for the position to which the Recent Graduate will be converted;
• Meet agency-specific requirements and expectations as specified in the Participant's Agreement; and
• Perform their job successfully.

EXPECTED TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT:

• Orientation program for Recent Graduates hired for the program;
• Mentorship throughout the program;
• Individual Development Plan to create and track Recent Graduates' career planning, professional development, and training activities;
• At least 40 hours of formal, interactive training each year of the program;
• Positions offer opportunity for career advancement.

Recent Grad Promotions: Per CBP Policy, Recent Graduates are not eligible for promotions while in the one (1) year program.A Recent Graduate may be eligible for a promotion upon successful completion of the program if he/she meets the OPM qualification requirements for the position for which the Recent Graduate is being considered. Advancement to the next level upon successful program completion is approved by the Recent Graduate's supervisor and certified by HRM.
Background Investigation: 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 in order to promote the agency's core values of vigilance, service to country, and integrity. 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 (e.g., marijuana, cocaine, heroin, LSD, methamphetamines, ecstasy), 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.
For additional information on the preemployment process, review the following link: Applicant Resources | CBP Careers
Education
Please see the Qualifications and Required Documents sections for more information.
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.
Residency: 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 (as declared under international law) 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

Additional information
A Pathways Participant Agreement will be required if you are selected for a position. This agreement must be signed by all applicable parties prior to entrance on duty.
Positions with known promotion potential do not guaran