Federal Position Descriptions
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Commissioner

Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security
Responsibility
Management Scope

The commissioner leads a workforce of more than 60,000, including 45,600 uniformed law enforcement officers. The commissioner oversees a budget of over $15 billion and six operational offices:
• Office of Border Patrol.
• Office of Field Operations.
• Office of Air and Marine.
• Office of International Affairs.
• Office of Internal Affairs.
• Office of International Trade.

Primary Responsibilities

• Has dual mission of securing the nation’s borders while facilitating legitimate trade and travel.
• Safeguards America’s borders, protects the public from dangerous people and materials and enhances the nation’s global economic competitiveness by enabling legitimate trade and travel.
• Integrates border management, which includes immigration control and trade and travel processing.
• Strengthens America’s borders by keeping terrorists and their weapons out of the U.S.
• Facilitates lawful international trade and travel while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws and regulations, including immigration and drug laws.
• Secures the border using state of the art technology such as ground based radar systems, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and an increased intelligence infrastructure.
• Ensures a balanced focus between the two essential facets of CBP – immigration and trade.
• Continues to modernize the way in which law enforcement agencies and the intelligence community work together in their efforts to screen passengers and cargo entering the United States.
• Advances U.S. economic competitiveness and promotes economic prosperity with public, private and international partners.
• Promotes organizational integration, innovation and agility to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of CBP.

Strategic Goals and Priorities
[Depends on the policy priorities of the administration.]
Requirements

• Effective partnership with federal, state, local and foreign partners.
• An understanding of all constituencies (such as mayors of port cities, etc.) is preferred.
• An understanding of the Intelligence Community and the importance of timely and accurate intelligence to the department. Intelligence is an integral aspect of CBP.
• An appreciation for technology and systems integration. CBP is implementing many technology projects ranging from nonintrusive screening technology, border security tools, ACE (Automated Customers Environment).
• Understanding of how vital trade is to our nation’s economy and how critically important well-staffed and equipped ports of entry are to trade and travel facilitation and in the interdiction of drugs and other contraband.
• Strong communication skills, in addition to commercial/private sector experience, to couple with law enforcement understanding.
• Ability to work with the trade community to develop creative ways to facilitate the passage of legitimate trade and travel while enhancing border security.

Competencies

• Building Organizational Capabilities: Must have the ability to appoint and develop the best team to achieve the goals of the department.
• Team Leadership: Ability to lead and motivate an organization of large scale and rally the workforce around a common goal.
• Collaboration and Influencing: Must understand and develop relationships between component organizations and DHS, as well as the relationships between the commissioner, Congress and the administration. Must work with appointed teams and partner organizations to accomplish the missions of CBP.

Past Appointments
  • Kevin McAleenan (2018-2019): Deputy Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection; Assistant Commissioner of the Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations; CBP’s area director of Los Angeles International Airport.
  • R. Gil Kerlikowske (2014-2017): Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy, White House; Chief of Police, Seattle, Washington; Deputy Director, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, US Department of Justice
  • W. Ralph Basham (2006-2009): Director of the United States Secret Service; Director of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC); Chief of Staff for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
AGENCY

Department of Homeland Security

Mission: To ensure that homeland is safe, secure and resilient against terrorism and other potential threats.

COMPENSATION

Level III $168,400 (5 U.S.C. § 5314)1

REPORTS TO

Secretary of Homeland Security

SENATE COMMITTEE

Finance

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Footnote
  1. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116-260, December 27 ,2020), contains a provision that continues the freeze on the payable pay rates for certain senior political officials through January 1, 2022. The compensation information is based on guidance from the Office of Personnel Management and can be accessed here. If you are selected for this position, please consult the agency’ HR representative for further guidance on compensation.
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