Investigative Technology Specialist (Foreign)

Who may apply

Limited to the following applicant groups:

  • Internal to an agency
  • Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)
Bangkok
Full-time Security Clearance: Top Secret
Application Deadline:
2026-08-24
Posted:
2026-08-13

5 days left to apply

Salary: $76,463 – $118,204 per year (GS-12/13)

Job Details

Position Overview

This position is located in the DEA, Bangkok, Thailand Country Office.

This position primary purpose is to function as a telecommunications hardware advisor to the Special Agent in Charge, Assistant Special Agent in Charge or Country Attache' and provides technical expertise to DEA personnel in the operation and use of the worldwide DEA Teleprocessing Systems (OATS), Office Automation (OA) System, and Secure Mail System (SMS).

Duties

As an Investigative Technology Specialist your typical work assignments may include:
  • Conducts sight surveys of DEA facilities and recommends telecommunications equipment needs associated with a DEA foreign region/office.
  • Develop layouts, drawings, equipment inventory and operating cost statistics for each facility utilizing telecommunications equipment.
  • Evaluates, modifies, develops, establishes, installs, and maintains telecommunications systems software/hardware packages using new and advanced communications equipment and techniques.
  • Develops and maintains procedures and software for the reliability and integrity of the computer system data.
  • Provides technical advice to senior management concerning telecommunications problems and questions, and in developing alternatives and options to meet requirements in a variety of physical and environmental circumstances.

ASSIGNMENT INFORMATION: Length of Tour: Employees are limited to a maximum of five years of service in an overseas assignment. The initial tour of duty for this assignment is 3 (three) years. After the initial tour of duty has been completed, extensions may be granted in one-year increments up to the five-year maximum. Employees who wish to remain on an overseas assignment in excess of the five-year maximum must request a tour extension or renewal before the end of their current assignment. Employees who are approved to extend their overseas assignment beyond the five-year maximum will forfeit the right to return to an office of preference. They will be placed in an appropriate position at a DEA domestic office where a vacancy exists. At the conclusion of an overseas tour, DEA will attempt to return employees to their home location. If such a placement is not possible, employees' office of preference lists will be considered. However, employees are reminded that assignments are determined based on the needs of DEA.

Bangkok, Thailand Country Office
Post (Hardship) Differential* 10%
Post (Cost of Living) Allowance* 10%
Danger Pay Allowance: 0%
Home Leave: Allowed after the initial 24 months incident to tour renewal.
Housing Allowances: Housing paid for by U.S. Government, Bangkok is a furnished post.
Foreign Language: None
Rest & Recuperation: 2
Relocation Incentive: No
Educational Allowances**: Yes, see below

*Post (cost of living) allowance, post (hardship) differential, and danger pay allowance (if applicable to the advertised post) are subject to change. Detailed post (cost of living) allowance information can be found here. Detailed post (hardship) differential information can be found here. Detailed danger pay allowance information can be found here and here.

Overseas Transition Preparation: Please contact DEA Family Liaison Officers Kieran Mandato ([email protected]) or N'Dorah Z. Walker ([email protected]) for Post Reports that detail living conditions for employees and their families at post. Click here for a Prospective Post Priorities Worksheet that can help you consider what is important to you and your family in the foreign PCS decision-making process. For more information regarding the foreign PCS process, please see the PCS Foreign Assignment Relocation Handbook and the Foreign Orientation Handbook.


Qualifications & Requirements

For more information on eligibility requirements see: DEA Employment Eligibility

Applicants must meet the required qualification requirements described below by the closing date of the announcement. If you are qualifying based on education or if there are mandatory education requirements listed below, you MUST submit a copy of your college transcripts with your application.

Basic Qualification Requirements:
Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- electrical or electronic engineering, mathematics, physics, public utilities, statistics, computer science, telecommunications management, information systems management, business administration, industrial management, or other fields related to the position to be filled.

Other Education: Communications/electronics or automatic data processing training in technical institutes or business schools above the high school level or in Armed Forces schools that included advanced instruction in addition to basic courses, may be substituted for general experience on a month-for-month basis.

AND

Applicants applying for the GS-12 must meet one of the following requirements:

A. Have at least one full year of specialized experience that is at least equivalent to work performed at the GS-11 grade level. Specialized 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.

Qualifying experience must demonstrate the following: 1) Experience in overseeing a telecommunications program that provides technical expertise, guidance, and direction that is provided for agency organizations that are distributed globally/internationally; 2) Interpreting, designing, and updating telecommunications schematics and utilizing them to maintain organizational telecommunications systems; and 3) Representing the agency and serve as a technical authority in the management of telecommunications systems, devices, and infrastructure.

Applicants applying for the GS-13 must meet one of the following requirements:

A. Have at least one full year of specialized experience that is at least equivalent to work performed at the GS-12 grade level. Specialized 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.

Qualifying experience must demonstrate the following: 1) Provide technical advice or interpret the application of telecommunications systems and devices using general guidance or information derived through formal or informal communications with similarly aligned experts or personnel; 2) Develop policies and procedures or reviewing, modifying and adapting similar documents to support compliance, testing, and validation of telecommunications systems and devices used within the organization; and 3) Apply telecommunication theories, concepts, or unconventional practices to resolve system compatibility, networking, troubleshooting, or maintenance efforts for a field or regional office.

Additional information on the position qualification requirements are located in the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Qualifications Standards Handbook.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants must meet time-in-grade and time after competitive appointment requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Education


See the qualifications section of this vacancy announcement for education requirements.
Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. For a list of accredited organizations recognized as specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials, visit: www.naces.org/members.php.

If you are claiming education as any part of your qualifications for this position, you must submit an official transcript, unofficial transcript, or a list including courses, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned.

Conditions of Employment

  • U.S. Citizenship is required.
  • Employment is subject to the successful completion of a background investigation. Must be able to obtain and maintain a security clearance.
  • Incumbent is subject to random drug testing.
  • Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit: http://www.dhs.gov/E-Verify/.
  • Selective Service: Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see http://www.sss.gov/).
  • Individuals and dependents are required to pass a physical examination given by the State Department (details available here).
  • Applicant must possess and maintain a valid motor vehicle operator's license while employed in the position and will be required to operate the motor vehicle with applicable OPM regulations and related requirements of DOJ/DEA.
  • Employee required to become certified Investigative Technology Specialist, GS-391-13 within 12-18 months of assignments.
  • Employee must sign the agreement and comply with management-directed temporary and permanent change of station (PCS) movement to meet mission requirements.
  • Entitled to Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime (AUO).

Evaluations

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position.

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

  • Attention to Detail
  • Customer Service
  • Decision Making
  • Flexibility
  • Influencing/Negotiating
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration.

To preview the application questionnaire, click the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13029791

The assessment questionnaire includes four short, free-response essay questions which provides an opportunity for you to highlight your dedication to public service for the hiring manager and agency leadership (or designee(s)). While your responses are not required and will not be scored, we encourage you to thoughtfully address each question in 200-words or less. You will be asked to certify that you are using your own words and have not used a consultant or artificial intelligence (AI) such as a large language model (LLM) like ChatGPT or Copilot. Applicants will only be considered for the Eligibilities for which they claim in the job questionnaire AND must provide the supporting documentation. Applicants will not be considered for Eligibilities for which they did not claim, regardless of the documentation submitted with the application.

All qualified Non-Competitive applicants and the best qualified Merit Promotion applicants will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration.

Agency and Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP and ICTAP) candidates must be well qualified for the position to receive consideration for selection priority. Candidates are considered well qualified if their knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) exceed the minimum qualifications described in the announcement.

Required Documents

All required documents listed below, that are applicable to you, must be submitted to our automated system by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement.

  1. Resume - must be no more than two pages in length; resumes exceeding two pages will be removed from consideration. Resume should include applicants' name, email address, phone number, relevant work/volunteer experience, education and training. Include the start and end dates (from month/year to month/year), work schedule (e.g. part or full-time), the number of hours per week worked/volunteered, job title and description of duties performed. Education/Certification/Licensure when relevant or required for position. See Guidance for Applicants on 2-Page Resume and visit the USAJOBS Help Center for more information.
  2. Transcripts, if applicable and you are qualifying based on education. See the Qualification and Education sections of this announcement for more information. If selected, an official/sealed college transcript(s) will be required to verify education prior to employment.
  3. SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action): SF-50(s) must show the effective date, position title, series, grade, salary, tenure, competitive status, position occupied, full promotion potential, and name of agency. Multiple SF-50s may be needed to show all required information. Award SF-50s often do not show the required information. To verify the time in grade requirement, applicants must submit a SF-50 verifying the highest grade held for at least 52 weeks. Examples include, promotions with an effective date greater than one year, within grade increases demonstrating the highest grade held for at least 52 weeks or appointments/conversion of appointments with an effective date greater than one year.
  4. Career Transition Assistance Program documentation, if applicable. (e.g., reduction-in-force (RIF) separation notice, RIF separation SF-50 personnel action, certification of expected separation, etc.), most recent Performance Rating and more recent Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) noting current position, grade level, and duty location.
  5. Other Qualification documents (e.g. certificates, certifications, etc.), if applicable. See the Qualification section of this announcement for more information.

How to Apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. The application process is as follows:

  1. Click the Apply Online button.
  2. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation.
  3. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date.
  4. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice.
  5. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials.
  6. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended.
  7. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link.
  8. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused.

Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us.

You may update your application documents and some questions related to your personal information at any time during the announcement open period. However, you will not be able to make changes to questions related to assessing the minimum qualifications and competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics) mentioned in the "How You Will Be Evaluated" section above. To make an allowed update to your application, return to your USAJOBS account (https://usajobs.gov). There you will find a record of your application, the application status, and an option to Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed.

To view the announcement status or your application status: Visit https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/howto/application/status/. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application.

Once the online application package is received, you will be notified through USAJOBS of your qualification status and referral or non-referral to the hiring official for further consideration. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted. We will notify you by email the outcome after each of these steps has been completed. Your application status will be updated up to four times during the following hiring phases:
  1. After applications are received.
  2. After applications are assessed to determine qualifications.
  3. After candidates are referred to the hiring manager.
  4. If selected, candidates may receive additional notifications regarding the next steps in the hiring process.
Your status will also be updated on your USAJOBS account throughout the process.