Correctional Officer

Berlin, NH
Justice, Bureau of Prisons/Federal Prison System

Closing date: 05/25/2023 to 05/24/2024
Salary: $46,495 – $66,929 per year
Pay scale & grade: GL 05 – 07

Why work for the Federal Bureau of Prisons?

You can have a meaningful career with an agency that truly values a diverse workforce. You will find a diverse workforce employed from entry level jobs to senior management positions. We protect public safety by ensuring federal offenders serve their sentences of imprisonment in facilities that are safe, humane, and provide reentry programming. Employees at correctional facilities perform correctional work regardless of their specific occupation.

Duties

  • Provides supervision, care and correctional treatment of inmates and guidance to lower-graded Correctional Officers. Incumbent is concerned with maintenance of institution security contributing to the health and welfare of the inmates and the promotion of good public relations.
  • Enforces rules and regulations governing facility security, inmate accountability and inmate conduct to ensure judicial sanctions are carried out and inmates remain in custody. From time to time, may be authorized to carry firearms and to use physical force, including deadly force, to maintain control of inmates.
  • During institution emergencies or other periods of heavy workload or limited staff, may be required to work long and irregular hours, unusual shifts, Sundays, holidays and unexpected overtime. Information as to operations and procedures is provided by post orders, BOP program statements, local supplements, custodial manual, internal correspondence and staff meetings. Incumbent must be flexible and have a broad knowledge base to use own initiative in the resolution of problem situations.

Qualifications

To be considered for the position, you must meet the following qualification requirements:

Education:

GL-05: 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.

GL-06: Nine (9) semester hours or fourteen (14) quarter hours of graduate level education in a major study in criminal justice, social science, or other field related to this position.

GL-07: One full academic year of graduate education with major study in criminal justice, social science, or other field related to the position is qualifying for GL-07.

OR

Experience:

GL-05: At least 3 years of full-time general experience, one year of which was equivalent to the GL-04 grade level. This experience must have demonstrated the aptitude for acquiring the qualifications required for correctional work, and, in addition, demonstrate the possession of personal attributes important to the effectiveness of correctional officers, such as:

  • Ability to meet and deal with people of differing backgrounds and behavioral patterns.
  • Ability to be persuasive in selling and influencing ideas.
  • Ability to lead, supervise, and instruct others.
  • Sympathetic attitude towards the welfare of others.
  • Ability to reason soundly and to think out practical solutions to problems.
  • Ability to make decisions and act quickly, particularly under stress.
  • Poise and self-confidence, and ability to remain calm during emergency situations.

General experience may have been gained in work such as:

  • Social case work in a welfare agency or counseling in other types of organizations.
  • Classroom teaching or instructing.
  • Responsible rehabilitation work, e.g., in an alcoholic rehabilitation program.
  • Supervising planned recreational activities or active participation in community action programs.
  • Management or supervisory work in a business or other organization that included directing the work flow and/or direct supervision of others.
  • Sales work, other than taking and filling orders as in over-the-counter sales.

GL-06: You must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade level in federal service. This experience must have equipped the applicant with the particular qualifications and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, performing duties, such as, ensuring individuals confined in a correctional or mental health facility adhere to the rules and regulations; responding to domestic disturbances; or apprehending and arresting individuals violating the law.

Examples of occupations where specialized experience may have been gained:

  • Correctional Officer
  • Detention Officer
  • Police Officer
  • Border Patrol Agent
  • State Trooper
  • Sheriff
  • Park Ranger
  • Deputy Sheriff supervising inmates in a jail
  • Mental Health Residential Facility Worker