Summary

Organizational Location: This position is with the Department of Homeland Security, within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Trade, Regulations and Rulings, located in Washington, DC.

Duties

Help

As an Economist you will be responsible for performing multiple, varying, and complex economic analyses related to CBP regulatory actions. This position starts at a salary of $85,447.00 (GS-11, Step 1) to $133,142.00 (GS-12, Step 10) with promotion potential to $133,142 (GS-12 Step 10).

Typical duties may include:

• Planning, initiating, and conducting complex, multi-faceted economic analyses of CBP regulatory actions affecting border security, passenger processing, and international cargo movements.
• Designing and executing comprehensive cost-benefit evaluations, including developing regulatory baselines, assessing quantitative and qualitative costs and benefits, and rigorously evaluating regulatory alternatives in compliance with EO 12866, OMB Circular A-4, the Regulatory Flexibility Act, the Paperwork Reduction Act, and the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
• Developing or adapting economic methodologies to address unprecedented or complex regulatory questions; identifying and obtaining appropriate data; coordinating with internal and external subject matter experts; and ensuring analyses are transparent, reproducible, and suitable for inclusion in public rulemaking dockets.
• Drafting, reviewing, and finalizing substantial portions of regulatory documents and analytical reports, translating complex findings into clear, actionable information and presenting results persuasively to senior leadership, policymakers, and technical/non-technical stakeholders.
• Serving as a senior economic advisor representing CBP in intra- and interagency workgroups; reviewing regulations and supporting analyses from other DHS components and agencies; developing and implementing best practices and methodological standards; and mentoring junior staff to strengthen regulatory economic analysis across the organization.

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. Some positions fall under a special pay rate depending on the series, grade level and location of the position.Please visit this link to view special pay rate charts.

Requirements

Help

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

Qualifications

Basic Requirement: You must provide supporting documentation in your application to show you meet the basic requirement below.

Degree: economics, that included at least 21 semester hours in economics and 3 semester hours in statistics, accounting, or calculus.

OR

Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in economics, as shown in above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

You qualify for this position if you possess one year of specialized experience as described below and meet the basic requirement listed above.

Experience: You qualify for the GS-11 grade level if you possess 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, performing duties such as:

• Assisting with portions of major, complex economic analyses and cost-benefit evaluations of regulatory actions related to the movement of people, international cargo, and international trade/customs revenue functions.
• Conducting background economic research; developing regulatory baselines; identifying potential costs, benefits, and alternatives; gathering required data (including expert elicitation); and performing the necessary economic calculations for regulatory analyses.
• Using quantitative and qualitative analytical techniques to produce complete, transparent, meticulously documented, and reproducible economic analyses that assess national, regional, and local economic impacts.
• Drafting portions of regulatory impact analyses and other written reports that describe the regulatory action, affected parties, and analytical methods in a manner accessible to a broad audience.
• Reviewing regulations and supporting analyses from other organizational components; participating in intra- and inter-agency workgroups on homeland security, customs revenue, and international trade policies; and synthesizing innovative ideas for economic analysis, data collection, presentation, and methodologies.

Education Substitution GS-11: Successful completion of a Ph.D. or an equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree in any field, or L.L.M for the experience required at the GS-11 grade level. Such education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. Check with your school to determine how many credit hours comprise three years of graduate study. If that information is not available, use 54 semester or 81 quarter hours. You are required to submit proof of your claim.

Combining Education and Experience: To combine your education and experience, you must convert each to a percentage and then add the percentages. The combined total of your percentage of education and experience must equal at least 100% in order to qualify. If your education is currently described in quarter hours, convert the quarter hours into semester hours by multiplying the quarter hours by the fraction 2/3. To calculate your percentage of graduate education, divide the number of graduate semester hours in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level, by 18. To determine your percentage of qualifying experience, you must divide your total number of months of qualifying experience by the required number of months of experience. Add your percentages of education and experience. The two percentages must total at least 100%.

Experience: You qualify for the GS-12 grade level if you possess 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, performing duties such as:

• Conducting independent cost-benefit and regulatory impact analyses of moderately to highly complex regulatory actions, including developing regulatory baselines, assessing quantitative and qualitative costs and benefits.
• Applying advanced economic theory and quantitative/qualitative research methods-using statistical/econometric software and other analytical tools-to collect, analyze, and interpret economic data related to border security, passenger and cargo movement, international trade, and customs revenue issues.
• Planning, organizing, and executing all phases of economic studies or segments of larger projects, from problem definition and hypothesis formulation through data collection, analysis, interpretation of results, and preparation of clear, well-documented, and reproducible reports suitable for inclusion in public rulemaking dockets.
• Reviewing proposed regulations and supporting analyses from other organizational components; contributing professional economic expertise in intra- and interagency workgroups; and helping to develop or standardize methods and best practices for regulatory analysis to support policy development and continuity.
• Communicating complex economic concepts, methods, and findings-both orally and in writing-to senior management, interagency partners, and non-technical stakeholders, including defending analytical approaches, addressing skepticism, and negotiating or building consensus among parties with differing interests.

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.

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; and
• Meet all applicable Time in Grade requirements (current federal employees must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent grade band in the federal service) by 07/31/2026.

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.

Education

Please see the Qualifications and Required Documents sections for more information if education is applicable to this position.

Additional information

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

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based A