Special Assistant
What you'd do
Protect your homeland and defend your culture. Join USCIS, America's frontline defense against illegal foreign infiltration and fraud. As an Special Assistant, you will perform mission-critical responsibilities to support senior leaders in a rapidly changing environment which necessitate agile thinking and superior relationship building. Responsibilities are highly varied, and span the full-spectrum of leadership and execution.
Major duties
Serve as a senior principal advisor and consultant to senior leadership on the full range of strategic, programmatic, operational, policy, legislative, and administrative matters affecting the directorate. Identify, frame, and analyze the most complex and politically sensitive issues affecting service center adjudications, including the implications of new legislation, executive orders, regulations, and policy initiatives. Develop authoritative policy positions, options papers, decision memorandum, and strategic recommendations for and with executive leadership. Conduct and direct comprehensive strategic, operational, and policy analyses of program performance, productivity, quality, customer experience, and resource utilization which improve operational, technological, fiscal, and stakeholder performance. Direct the work of senior subject matter experts and project teams across organizational lines; resolve conflicts, allocate resources to achieve outcomes that materially advance directorate, agency, and department priorities. Identify highly visible issues within the directorate that necessitate senior leadership intervention and formulate and recommend viable and practical solutions to resolve them.
What you need to qualify
The qualifications for this position must be met by 11:59 PM (Eastern Time) on 07/27/2026. Current Federal employees must have served 52 weeks at the lower grade or equivalent grade band in the Federal service. The Time-in-Grade requirement must be met by 11:59 PM (Eastern Time) on 07/27/2026. GS-14: You qualify at the GS-14 level if you possess one (1) year of specialized experience, which is equivalent to at least the GS-13 level in the federal government, that equipped you with the skills needed to successfully perform the duties of the position. You must have experience performing the majority of the following duties: Advising and consulting with senior leadership on the full range of strategic, programmatic, and operational matters affecting mission-critical objectives. Developing authoritative policy positions, options, decision memorandum, and strategic recommendations for and with senior leadership. Analyzing policy and regulatory guidance to solve ambiguous problems without clear boundaries. Building strong and sustaining relationships across functional lines of responsibilities to resolve controversial and sensitive organizational problems. Please read the following important information to ensure you submit everything we need to consider your application: It is your responsibility to ensure that you submit your responses and appropriate documentation prior to 07/27/2026. You must upload your resume under the "Resume" category. Resumes submitted under the "Other Documents" category will not be considered. Your most recently submitted resume will be used to determine your qualifications for the position advertised in this announcement. Therefore, your resume must highlight your most relevant, significant experience related to the requirements found in the qualification section of this announcement, as well as any applicable education. Limit your resume to no more than two pages. The USAJOBS database will not allow an applicant to submit an application that includes a resume over two pages. To help ensure your resume remains clear and easy to read, we recommend using margins of at least 0.8 inches and a font size of at least 11 point. Be clear and specific when describing your work history since Human Resources cannot make assumptions regarding your experience. Your application will be rated and ranked based on your responses to the online questions. Please ensure EACH work history includes ALL of the following information: Job Title (include series and grade if Federal Job) Duties (be specific in describing your duties) Employer's name and address Supervisor name and phone number Start and end dates including month, day and year (e.g. June 18 2007 to April 05 2008) Start and end dates for each grade/pay level if you've held a federal position. Full-time or part-time status (include hours worked per week) Salary Determining length of General or Specialized Experience is dependent on the above information and failure to provide the above information may result in a finding of ineligible. Note: Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Federal Experience: If you are using current or prior federal experience as a basis for qualifying for this position, the grade levels and length of employment (mm/dd/year) at each grade level must be listed in your work history. This information will be further validated if selected for this position. 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 criteria 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 service.
Before you apply
Federal applications are different: your resume should be 3–5 pages and mirror the language of this announcement. Read our federal resume guide first — it's the #1 reason qualified people get screened out.
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