About Careertakes

👉 Important disclosure: Careertakes is a third-party recruiting platform supporting this hiring process. If selected, you will be employed directly by our client, Federal law enforcement (Customs and Border Protection).

Applicants for this role may also receive access to additional matched opportunities through the Careertakes platform.

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Position Overview

This opportunity is for an entry-level Border Patrol Agent (BPA) at the GL-5 / GL-7 grade levels with duty location listed in Surprise, AZ (and multiple mission-critical locations across the U.S.). The Confidential Client is hiring full-time, career federal law enforcement personnel who will train at a dedicated agency training academy and serve on an operational law enforcement team protecting the nation’s borders.

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Salary & Benefits

• Annual base salary range for newly appointed BPAs (GL-5 / GL-7): $51,632 – $92,912 per year.
• Eligible for federal benefits including health, dental, retirement (Thrift Savings Plan), and generous leave programs.
• Locality and law-enforcement pay adjustments may apply in certain duty locations; fully trained BPAs may be eligible for additional locality pay (up to ~25% in some locations per applicable pay reform).

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Incentives

• Recruitment incentive: up to $20,000 for newly appointed BPAs (first $10,000 upon successful completion of the training academy; remaining $10,000 for accepting a prioritized location).
• Retention incentive: eligible BPAs may qualify for up to $40,000 distributed over the first four years.
• Total potential incentives of up to $60,000, depending on assignment and eligibility.

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Duty Locations

Duty assignments may include the Southwest Border and other mission-critical stations. Assignments are made based on operational needs and may require relocation. Prioritized locations (for incentives) include, for example: Sierra Blanca, Presidio, Sanderson, Comstock, Lordsburg, Freer, Hebbronville, Ajo and multiple other sector stations across the U.S.

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What You’ll Do

As a Border Patrol Agent with the Confidential Client you will:

• Detect and question people suspected of violating immigration and customs laws; inspect documents and possessions to determine citizenship or violations.
• Prevent and apprehend undocumented noncitizens and smugglers at or near borders using surveillance (including night operations with infrared scopes) and patrol tactics.
• Interpret tracks, marks, and other physical evidence of illegal entry of persons or contraband.
• Conduct farm checks, building checks, traffic checks, city patrols, and transportation checks.
• Patrol international boundaries and coastal waterways using a range of government assets (vehicles, horses, vessels, off-road vehicles, ATVs, snowmobiles, motorcycles, etc.).

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Qualifications

You may qualify at GL-5 if you have one of the following:

• One (1) year of general work experience demonstrating decision-making, composure under stress, ability to learn regulations/methods, and information-gathering skills; OR
• A bachelor’s degree (four-year) from an accredited college or university; OR
• A combination of general work experience and college-level education (evaluated from resume and transcripts).

You may qualify at GL-7 if you have one of the following:

• One year of specialized work experience demonstrating abilities such as sound firearm judgment, effective interpersonal skills in law enforcement contexts, rapid information analysis and decision-making, arrests, or related criminal enforcement/security duties; OR
• A bachelor’s degree with superior academic achievement (by class standing, GPA ≥ 3.0, or honor society), OR one full year of relevant graduate-level education (e.g., criminal justice, homeland security, forensic technology, etc.); OR
• A combination of the above experience and education (evaluated from resume and transcripts).

Note: Applicants with prior federal or military law enforcement experience may qualify for higher grade levels (GL-9, GS-11). Experience and education will be validated during screening.

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Other Requirements

• U.S. citizenship is required.
• Must have been a primary U.S. resident for at least three of the last five years.
• Age restriction: candidates generally must be referred for selection before their 40th birthday per applicable federal law enforcement retirement provisions, with statutory exceptions for certain prior federal civilian law enforcement service or Veterans’ Preference-eligible applicants.
• Training: successful candidates will attend approximately six months of intensive training at the Confidential Client training academy (Artesia, NM) covering immigration and nationality law, federal law enforcement operations, driver training, physical techniques, firearms, and related courses.
• Language: Border Patrol work requires the ability to speak and read Spanish as well as English; language training will be provided at the training academy.

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Selection & Evaluation

Candidates are evaluated on experience, education, supporting documents (e.g., resume, transcripts), and entrance exam/assessment results. Duty assignments and grade placement are determined by the Confidential Client based on operational needs and candidate qualifications.

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Equal Opportunity & Hiring Transparency

Careertakes and our client are Equal Opportunity Employers committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce. We prohibit discrimination or harassment of any kind. To support a fair and efficient hiring process, AI tools may be used to assist with application review or resume screening. These tools do not replace human decision-making. Final hiring decisions are made by people.

If you have questions about how your data is used, please contact us directly.