Physical Security Specialist

Physical Security Specialist

This position is located within the Police Service of the VA Medical Center in Jackson, MS. The mission of the Physical Security Specialist is to serve and protect Veterans, patients, employees, contractors, volunteers, affiliates, visitors, and others who frequent VA facilities. This is accomplished through crime prevention activities, typical law enforcement actions, emergency response capabilities, special training and tactics, weapons, and equipment and systems utilization.

Major duties and responsibilities include :

• Evaluates risk and develops procedures and physical security measures designed to safeguard personnel, property, and operations from unauthorized access, espionage, terrorism, sabotage, damage and theft;
• Ensures security requirements and appropriate safeguards, cameras, and panic and intrusion alarms are implemented;
• Monitors and evaluating existing and planned security projects to ensure timely and quality service conforms to statutory, contractual, and technical requirements;
• Collects information and prepares reports on the facilitys compliance with VA operations and regulations;
• Conducts system audits and evaluates reports of alleged security violations;
• Performs law enforcement assignments to prevent or resolve offenses;
• Initiates appropriate actions to pursue and apprehend offenders who are leaving the scene of a crime or who attempts to resist arrest;
• Performs bomb search functions as required by coordinating such search activities with local bomb squad;
• Conducts full investigations over prolonged periods;
• Performs search and seizure for evidence to develop case information;
• Establishes, develops, and maintains effective working relationships with other staff offices;
• Attends security meetings to gather and share new / changed security program information with security personnel;
• Develops documents, spreadsheets, graphs, reports and presentations using various automated systems and software packages;
• Ensures physical security surveys are followed up promptly;
• Performs related duties as required.

Work Schedule : Monday - Friday, 8 : 00am - 4 : 00pm / 7 : 30am - 3 : 30pm, subject to change based on the needs of the facility.

Requirements :

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job. All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Pre-employment physical required. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12 / 31 / 1959. You may be required to serve a probationary / trial period. Subject to background / security investigation. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements.

Qualifications :

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09 / 26 / 2025. Time-In-Grade Requirement : Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows 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.

You may qualify based on your experience and / or education as described below :

Specialized Experience :

One (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 grade level in federal service that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of a Physical Security Specialist, and that is typically in or related to the work of this position. Specialized experience includes : responding to reports of crimes and / or calls for police assistance; securing crime scenes and / or accident sites; conducting searches to collect and secure evidence and contraband; developing physical security-related documents, spreadsheets, graphs, and presentations using various automated systems and software packages; and interacting with the general public in a courteous and professional manner.

Education :

Have successfully completed a masters or equivalent graduate degree, or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, or an LL.B. or J.D. in a field related to this position that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. NOTE : Transcripts must be submitted with application. Education cannot be credited without documentation.

Combination :

Possess equivalent combinations of successfully completed graduate level education (in excess of the first year or 18 semester hours) and specialized experience to meet total experience requirements.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position :

Computer Skills Criminal Law Interpersonal Skills Personnel Security and Safety Public Safety and Security Security