Information Technology Specialist (Security)

Summary

Organizational Location: This position is with the Department of Homeland Security, within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Information Technology, Cyber Security Directorate in Ashburn, VA.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

Open to all U.S. Citizens. This announcement will be utilized to fill positions through the Direct Hire Authority.

Duties

This position starts at a salary of $117,962.00 (GS-13, Step 1) to $153,354.00 (GS-13, Step 10) with promotion potential to $153,354 (GS-13 Step 10).

In this position, you will perform the typical work assignments below:

Fusing multiple intelligence disciplines to assess cyber threat capabilities of current and emerging threats to drive insight to inform policymakers/operators. Responsible for conducting in-depth research and analysis, developing information requirements necessary for answering priority information requests, evaluate threat decision making processes, and generate requests for information.

Identifying threat tactics, methodologies, and intelligence gaps/shortfalls, along with monitoring and reporting changes in threat dispositions, activities, tactics, capabilities, objectives, etc. related to designated cyber operations warning problem sets. Conducts research and evaluates technical and all-source intelligence to develop in-depth analysis and assessment on threats to systems, critical networks and critical infrastructure.

Analyzing technical and intelligence information to provide cyber threat indicators/indications, warnings, and trends. Synthesizes and places intelligence information into context; draws insights about the possible implications.

Preparing assessments and cyber threat profiles of current events based on collection and research using classified and open source information sources and understanding of the attackers' motivation, language, organization, and social behaviors, thereby helping organizations become more proactive in their security posture and defense.

Performing post-event analysis, and produces technical intelligence reports for users, senior officials, and other customers and as representative cases.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this position

Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered with Selective Service

Primary U.S. residency for at least three of the last five years (additional details below)

You may be required to pass a background investigation

CBP follows the DHS Drug-Free Workplace Plan for drug testing procedures

As an employee of CBP, you will be joining a workforce that is dedicated to accomplishing our mission while maintaining the trust of our Nation by strictly adhering to all government ethics standards. Your conduct will be subject to the ethics rules applicable to all Executive Branch employees, and to CBP employees specifically, as well as the criminal conflict of interest statutes. Once you enter on duty, these rules include obtaining approval for outside employment or business activity, to ensure such employment or business activity is not prohibited and does not interfere or conflict with performance of your official duties. Please review further details via the following .

DHS uses E-Verify, an Internet-based system, to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States. Learn more about including your rights and responsibilities.

Bargaining Unit: This position is not covered under the bargaining unit.

Qualifications

Basic Requirement: Individuals must have IT-related experience demonstrating each of the four competencies listed below.

Attention to Detail - Is thorough when performing work and conscientious about attending to detail.

Customer Service - Works with clients and customers (that is, any individuals who use or receive the services or products that your work unit produces, including the general public, individuals who work in the agency, other agencies, or organizations outside the Government) to assess their needs, provide information or assistance, resolve their problems, or satisfy their expectations; knows about available products and services; is committed to providing quality products and services.

Oral Communication - Expresses information (for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing oral presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately.

Problem Solving - Identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives, and to make recommendation You qualify for this position if you meet the basic requirement listed above and possess one year of specialized experience as described below.

Experience: You qualify for the GS-13 grade level if you possess 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, performing duties such as:

Performing incident response, networking, attack, sensing and warning (AS&W), cyber defense, pretesting, threat hunting, and threat intelligence.

Analyzing information from signals intelligence, all-source/operations intelligence, digital network intelligence, or fusion.

Analyzing data and writing reports. NOTE: Your resume must explicitly indicate how you meet this requirement, otherwise you will be found ineligible. Please see the "Required Documents" section below for additional resume requirements.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

You must meet all qualification requirements, including education if applicable to this position, subject to verification at any stage of the application process by 07/03/2024.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office.

Background Investigation: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is a federal law enforcement agency that requires all applicants to undergo a thorough background investigation prior to employment in order to promote the agency's core values of vigilance, service to country, and integrity. During the screening and/or background investigation process, you will be asked questions regarding any felony criminal convictions or current felony charges, the use of illegal drugs (e.g., marijuana, cocaine, heroin, LSD, methamphetamines, ecstasy), and the use of non-prescribed controlled substances including any experimentation, possession, sale, receipt, manufacture, cultivation, production, transfer, shipping, trafficking, or distribution of controlled substances. For additional information, review the following links: and the .

Residency: There is a residency requirement for all applicants not currently employed by CBP. Individuals are required to have physically resided in the United States or its protectorates (as declared under international law) for at least three of the last five years. If you do not meet the residency requirement and you have been physically located in a foreign location for more than two of the last five years, you may request an exception to determine if you are eligible for a residency waiver by meeting one or more of the following conditions:

Working for the U.S. Government as a federal civilian or as a member of the military

A dependent who was authorized to accompany a federal civilian or member of the military who was working for the U.S. government

Participation in a study abroad program sponsored by a U.S. affiliated college or university

Working as a contractor, intern, consultant or volunteer supporting the U.S. government Probationary Period: All employees new to the federal government must serve a one year probationary period during the first year of his/her initial permanent federal appointment to determine fitness for continued employment. Current and former federal employees may be required to serve or complete a probationary period.

Education

Please see the Qualifications and Required Documents sections for more information if education is applicable to this position.

Additional information

The Department of Homeland Security encourages persons with disabilities to apply, to include persons with intellectual, severe physical or psychiatric disabilities, as defined by 5 CFR § 213.3102(u), and/or Disabled Veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more as defined by 5 CFR § 315.707., /, and possess a wealth of unique talents, experiences, and competencies that can be invaluable to the DHS mission. If you are a member of one of these groups, you may not have to compete with the public for federal jobs. To determine your eligibility for non-competitive appointment and to understand the required documentation, click on the links above or contact the Servicing Human Resources Office listed at the bottom of this announcement.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

This position is being filled under a Direct Hire Authority. We will review your and supporting documentation to ensure you meet the minimum qualification requirements. All applicants who meet minimum qualifications and any basic requirements applicable to this position, will be forwarded to the hiring manager for consideration and may be contacted for an interview. As a part of the interview process, additional selection criteria may be administered by the hiring manager.

The competencies or knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform this job are:

Knowledge of cyber-attack stages (e.g., reconnaissance, scanning, enumeration, gaining access, escalation of privileges, maintaining access, network exploitation, covering tracks) to identify at what stage an attack is taking place enabling the proper reporting to support the mission.

Knowledge of IT certification and accreditation requirements, network operations, and computer forensic principles.- Knowledge of what constitutes a "threat" to a network to understand what has the capabilities to impact the network and identify mitigations in support of mission functions.

Ability to develop analytic solutions, methods, approaches, and procedures to situations for which information is incomplete to enable continued mission support.

Knowledge of writing cyber-related intelligence products from multiple sources to produce guidance, advice, and reports for leadership in support of the mission. Veterans: Veterans preference does not apply to selections made using the Direct Hire Authority. Veteran applicants will be considered along with all other applicants who apply.

Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) Eligibles: If you have never worked for the federal government, you are not CTAP/ICTAP eligible. View information about on OPM's Career Transition Resources website. To be considered under CTAP/ICTAP, you must have knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies as defined above which clearly exceed the minimum qualification and any applicable basic requirements for the vacancy. In addition, you must submit the supporting documents listed under the Required Documents section of this job announcement.

Required Documents

Your : A resume describing your job-related qualifications is required and will be used for the purpose of reviewing your qualifications and determining what training, if any, would be required when placed. A resume in English is required. It must contain your full legal name, address, phone number, complete work history including a detailed description of your duties, the dates you performed those duties (MM/DD/YY), your hours worked per week, job title, as well as series, grade, and salary (if applicable). For additional required items, see the link. *Note- It is recommended that you upload your resume as a PDF instead of a Word document to ensure document quality. Ensure that your uploaded resume is not a password protected document, to include Office 365 passwords.

Your responses to the job questionnaire:

Are you claiming special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP)? You must submit a separation notice; your most recent SF-50 (noting your current position, grade level and duty location); a copy of your most recent performance rating; an agency certification that you cannot be placed after injury compensation has been terminated; an OPM notification that your disability annuity has been terminated; or a Military Department of National Guard Bureau notification that you are retired under 5 U.S.C. 8337(h) or 8456.

Are you a current or former federal employee? If yes, it is recommended that you submit a copy of your SF-50(s) (Notification of Personnel Action) to support your experience. Examples of appropriate SF-50s include promotions, within-grade increases and accessions.

Are you a current or former political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee? Submit a copy of your initial and termination SF-50s.