Transportation Security Officer

Transportation Security Administration; State College (Centre County); On-site; USD 41,000 - 57,000; Full time

Job summary

Transportation Security Administration seeks Transportation Security Officers to protect travelers and aircraft, ensuring courteous, professional security across transportation sectors in State College, PA.

Duties include operating screening equipment, performing bag searches and pat-downs, and controlling access points while maintaining focus in busy, high-stakes environments to safeguard the travelling public.

Responsibilities

• Operating screening equipment and technology to identify dangerous objects in baggage, cargo and on passengers.
• Conducting bag searches and pat-downs, including physical interaction with passengers and lifting/carrying bags up to 50lbs.
• Controlling terminal entry and exit points and interacting with the public, giving directions and answering inquiries.
• Maintaining focus and composure in a stressful environment, making effective decisions in crisis and routine situations.
• Applying risk-based security screening protocols and updating knowledge of Standard Operating Procedures.

Job description

• Hiring Agency: Transportation Security Administration
• Department: Department of Homeland Security

Transportation Security Officers are responsible for providing security and protection of travelers across all transportation sectors in a courteous and professional manner. Their duties may also extend to securing high-profile events, important figures and/or anything that includes or impacts our transportation systems.

Key Responsibilities

Salary Information: The salary range for State College, PA (UNV - University Park Airport) is $40,736 to $56,844 or $19.52 to $27.24 per hour and includes locality pay of 17.06%. This Transportation Security Officer position is located in Transportation Security Administration, Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

As a Transportation Security Officer (TSOs) within Security Operations (SO), you will provide security and protection of air travelers, airports and aircraft in a courteous and professional manner. Duties may include but are not limited to: Operating various screening equipment and technology to identify dangerous objects in baggage, cargo and on passengers, and preventing those objects from being transported onto aircraft.

Performing searches and screening, which may include physical interaction with passengers (e.g., pat-downs, search of property, etc.), conducting bag searches and lifting/carrying bags, bins, and property weighing up to 50lbs. Controlling terminal entry and exit points. Interacting with the public, giving directions and responding to inquiries.

Maintaining focus and awareness while working in a stressful environment which includes noise from alarms, machinery and people, crowd distractions, time pressure, and disruptive and angry passengers, in order to preserve the professional ability to identify and locate potentially life threatening or mass destruction devices, and to make effective decisions in both crisis and routine situations.

Engaging in continuous development of critical thinking skills, necessary to mitigate actual and potential security threats, by identifying, evaluating, and applying appropriate situational options and approaches. This may include application of risk-based security screening protocols that vary based on program requirements.

Retaining and implementing knowledge of all applicable Standard Operating Procedures, demonstrating responsible and dependable behavior, and is open to change and adapts to new information or unexpected obstacles. Realistic Job Preview: The Realistic Job Preview gives you an honest, objective and vivid portrait of what it means to work as a Transportation Security Officer (TSO) and provides employee testimonies about both the good and the challenging aspects of being a TSO.

At TSA, the health and safety of our employees is a top priority.

Which agency is hiring for this position?

This position is with Transportation Security Administration, Department of Homeland Security.

What is the salary for this position?

The posted pay range is $40736 – $56844/yr.

What is the application deadline?

Applications close on 2026-10-19.

Who is eligible to apply?

This position is open under the 'Public' hiring path.