Industry Operations Investigator

Summary

The selectee serves as an Industry Operations Investigator (IOI). Work involves conducting investigations and inspections that require knowledge of industry operations and records, as well as the laws and regulations covering the regulated industries. Note that total salary range indicated in this announcement will be adjusted to include locality payment for selected duty location. General schedule pay tables may be found under https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/

Duties

Industry Operations Investigator (IOI) positions are with the Department of Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) in the Office of Field Operations (FO) Nationwide. IOI positions are mission critical positions that requires the ability to pay close attention to detail(s). IOIs conduct inspections/investigations of the firearms & explosives industries, including dealers, importers, and providing support to Criminal Investigators (Special Agent) on criminal investigations. If selected for this position, you will be responsible for performing the following duties: Conducting investigations and inspections of firearms and explosives licensees and permittees to determine compliance with applicable Federal laws and regulations. Examining business records, documents, and inventories to identify discrepancies, potential violations, and evidence of illegal firearms or explosives activities. Evaluating applicants for Federal firearms and explosives licenses or permits through interviews, premises inspections, and background investigations to determine eligibility. Observing investigations/inspections, which may involve fraudulent and/or incomplete records, firearms and explosives thefts, etc. Organizational Location: This position is with the Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Field Operations. Location is negotiable upon final selection. You will be asked for your location preferences once all pre-employment processes have been completed. The eligible locations are separated by field division, city, and field or satellite office below: ATLANTA, ATLANTA V (IO) FO ATLANTA, SAVANNAH (IO) SO BALTIMORE, WILMINGTON DE (IO) SO BOSTON, PORTLAND ME (IO) SO BOSTON, BURLINGTON (IO) SO CHARLOTTE, ASHEVILLE (O) SO CHARLOTTE, WILMINGTON NC (IO) SO COLUMBUS, TOLEDO (IO) SO CHICAGO, MERRILLVILLE II (IO) FO CHICAGO, FORT WAYNE (IO) SO COLUMBUS, COLUMBUS III (IO) FO COLUMBUS, EVANSVILLE (IO) SO DALLAS, FORT WORTH II (IO) FO DALLAS, TULSA III (IO) SO DALLAS, OKLAHOMA CITY (IO) FO DALLAS, LUBBOCK (IO) SO DENVER, SALT LAKE CITY II (IO) FO DENVER, HELENA II (IO) FO DENVER, BILLINGS (IO) SO DENVER, DENVER III (IO) FO DENVER, DENVER VI (IO) FO DENVER, CHEYENNE (IO) SO HOUSTON, AUSTIN II (IO) FO HOUSTON, WACO (IO) SO LOUISVILLE, LOUISVILLE II (IO) FO LOUISVILLE, PADUCAH (IO) SO LOUISVILLE, CLARKSBURG (IO) SO NASHVILLE, BIRMINGHAM (IO) FO NASHVILLE, HUNTSVILLE (IO) SO NASHVILLE, MOBILE (IO) SO NASHVILLE, MONTGOMERY (IO) SO KANSAS CITY, KANSAS CITY III (IO) FO KANSAS CITY, WICHITA (IO) SO KANSAS CITY, OMAHA II (IO) FO KANSAS CITY, KANSAS CITY VI (IO) FO KANSAS CITY, SPRINGFIELD (IO) SO KANSAS CITY, DES MOINES (IO) FO NEWARK, TRENTON (IO) SO NEWARK, NEWARK III (IO) SO NEW ORLEANS, LITTLE ROCK II (IO) FO NEW ORLEANS, NEW ORLEANS III (IO) FO NEW ORLEANS, BATTON ROUGE (IO) SO NEW ORLEANS, JACKSON (IO) FO NEW ORLEANS, GULFPORT (IO) SO NEW ORLEANS, OXFORD PHILADELPHIA, WILKES-BARRE (IO) SO PHILADELPHIA, PITTSBURGH III (IO) FO PHOENIX, PHOENIX III (IO) FO PHOENIX, ALBUQUERQUE II (IO) FO PHOENIX, LAS CRUCES (IO) SO SEATTLE, EUFENE (IO) SO SEATTLE, HONOLULU (IO) SO SEATTLE, SEATTLE II (IO) FO SEATTLE, SPOKANE II (IO) FO SEATTLE, BOISE (IO) SO SAN FRANCISCO, SAN JOSE (IO) SO SAN FRANCISCO, FRESNO (IO) SO SAN FRANCISCO, RENO (IO) SO ST. PAUL, SIOUX FALLS (IO) FO ST. PAUL, RAPID CITY (IO) SO ST. PAUL, ST PAUL II (IO) FO ST. PAUL, MADISON (IO) SO ST. PAUL, MILWAUKEE II (IO) FO TAMPA, ORLANDO II (IO) SO TAMPA, TAMPA II (IO) FO WASHINGTON, FALLS CHURCH III (IO) FO ATF will have the final determination based on the needs of the agency. Requirements

The requirements listed below must be met by the closing date of the announcement. Must be U.S. Citizen or National Selective Service registration is required for males born on, or after, December 31, 1959. Those not registered should have an approved exemption on file. May be required to serve a one-year probationary period. Pass drug screening and subject to random drug test. Suitable for Federal employment determined by background investigation. Must sign a mobility agreement. This position requires you to be able to lift up to 55 pounds. MOBILITY PLAN: New employees hired pursuant to this vacancy announcement must sign a mobility agreement. The purpose of ATF's mobility policy is to enhance career development and progression, and achieve mission and business effectiveness. To accomplish these objectives, the mobility plan will facilitate the movement of employees through special short-term assignments or permanent reassignments throughout the Bureau. Applicants who decline to sign a mobility agreement, as required, will be removed from the hiring process. This is a non-bargaining unit position. Qualifications

All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement. GS-5: You qualify for the GS-5 grade level if you have three years of progressively responsible experience, 1 year of which was equivalent to at least the GS-4 performing duties such as: Gathering pertinent data Communicating effectively orally and in writing. OR A bachelor's degree or successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in ANY FIELD leading to a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university. Conferred date must be listed on your unofficial or official transcripts. GS-7: You qualify for the GS-7 grade level if you possess: 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level, performing all of the following duties: Analyzing records, documents, or reports and applying the applicable laws and regulations; Examining records, documents, inventories and reports for evidence of falsification and documents discrepancies; Verifying inventories, utilizing intelligence data to analyze records, and examining business operations; Preparing reports detailing the facts found from inspections in accordance with the laws and regulations. OR A bachelor's degree in any field with Superior Academic Achievement (SAA). To qualify for SAA, you must meet one of the following: A grade point average of "B" (a GPA of 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0) for all completed undergraduate courses, or those completed in the last two years of undergraduate study. A grade point average of "B+" (a GPA of 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0) for all courses in the applicant's major field of study, or those courses in the applicant's major completed in the last two years of undergraduate study. Rank in the upper one-third of the applicant's class in the college, university, or major subdivision. Membership in a national honor society (other than freshman honor societies) recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies. OR Successful completion of one year of full-time graduate education from an accredited college or university in any field. 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. NOTE: Your resume must indicate how you meet the qualifications above, otherwise, you will be found ineligible. Please see the "Required Documents" section below for additional resume requirements. Combining Experience and Education: 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 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 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. After you submit this application, you will receive an e-mail informing you that a USA Hire assessment is required of you. You will have 48 hours from the closing date of this announcement (11/16/2026) to complete the assessment as this assessment is part of your application. Background Investigation: You will be required to undergo a background investigation prior to employment. During the screening and/or background investigation process, you will be asked questions regarding any felony criminal convictions, the use of illegal drugs 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. If you are a current or former Federal employee: You must submit your most recent SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action) or equivalent agency form. Do not submit an award SF-50, these do not contain sufficient information about your appointment. Your SF-50 should list the full position title, series, grade and step, organization, duty location, service computation date, effective date, and your service type and tenure status. An SF-50 showing 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. Examples of appropriate SF-50's include: Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old Drug Testing: You must satisfactorily complete a drug test prior to being hired. More information on the ATF Drug Policy can be found here.

Education

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements, please see the statements below. Education must be reviewed and certified by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, in order for it to be creditable towards your qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from accredited institution. FOREIGN EDUCATION: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the requirements. You must show proof the education credentials have been deemed to be at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. education program. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. For special instructions pertaining to foreign education and a list of organizations that can evaluate foreign education, see the Department of Education website. If you are qualifying on foreign education, you MUST submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. All documentation must be in English or include an English translation. Veterans: Qualified veterans who meet the requirements for veterans' preference will be placed above non-veterans for selection consideration. If you are using education to qualify for this position: You must submit a transcript, which may be unofficial, as long as it contains a full listing of courses, credit earned, grade and grade-point-average, subject area, degree(s) earned, and dates of award. Note: If you are selected for this position, official transcripts will be required prior to your first day. Your transcript must come from a nationally accredited educational institution recognized by the Department of Education. Please do not submit electronic transcripts with documentation security protection. These may prevent our application system from accepting and processing the document. If submitting a foreign transcript, you must have the transcript reviewed by an approved foreign education review organization recognized by the Department of Education. Your transcript must also be in English or have an English translation included. Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs: The Fair Chance Act prohibits Federal agencies from requesting an applicant's criminal history information before the agency makes a conditional offer of employment. If you believe a DOJ employee or Federal contractor acting on its behalf has violated your rights under this Act, you may submit a written complaint within 30 days of the date of the alleged non-compliance directly to [email protected]. Note: In accordance with 5 U.S. Code § 9202(c) and 5 C.F.R § 920.201(b) certain positions are exempt from the provisions of the Fair Chance Act. How You Will Be Evaluated

Your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the job qualifications listed on this announcement. If you are qualified for this job, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses on the application questionnaire. If you rate yourself higher than is supported by your application materials, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. USA Hire: You will be asked to take the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments where you will be evaluated on critical competencies relevant to this position. You must meet all qualifications, including meeting or exceeding the cut score on the required assessments. Be sure to review all instructions prior to beginning your USA Hire Assessments. Your assessment results will be kept on record for one year and used toward future positions for which you might apply that require the same assessments. The USA Hire Assessment will be used to assess the following competencies: Reading Reasoning Interaction When addressing the specialized experience statement, applicants must present evidence of the experience in their resume. If the specialized experience statement is repeated in the applicant's resume, Human Resources will deem the applicant as ineligible. If you would like to preview the application questionnaire, please see: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13109263. Other Information

Additional selections may be made from this announcement. Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution. Candidates will not be hired based on their race, sex, color, religion, or national origin. Notice to Prospective Employees of Ethical Obligations from ATF's Human Resources Operations Division. Please click on the following link to read important information. DOJ Notice to Prospective Employees of Ethical Obligations Career Transition Programs (CTAP or ICTAP): These programs apply to Federal and/or DOJ employees who meet the definition of surplus or displaced from a position in the competitive service. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: Meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria; Be rated well-qualified for the position with a score of 85 or above based on the competencies listed above; and Submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility. Probationary Period: As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: 1) your performance and conduct; 2) the needs and interests of the agency; 3) whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and 4) whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. EEO Statement/Policy: The United States government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service or other non-merit factor. Reasonable Accommodation: ATF provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the job application and hiring process, and you meet the eligibility requirements listed above, please notify the human resources specialist listed on the vacancy announcement, or contact the ATF's Office of Equal Employment Opportunity at (202) 648-8760 or send an email to [email protected]. The decision on granting a reasonable accommodation is handled on a case-by-case basis. Selective Service: If you were born male, on or after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System, or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. Additional information is found at: www.sss.gov.