Clarification from the agency

This announcement is advertised under Direct Hire Authority and is open to all United States Citizens or Nationals. CTAP, ICTAP, RPL Applicants: Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority List (RPL), and Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) eligibles only within the Local Commuting area of Seattle, WA, or Woodlawn, MD. CTAP, ICTAP, RPL eligible applicants may only select the local commuting area from which they were separated.

• Leads the design, standardization, and enterprise-wide deployment of advanced detection engineering strategies across CMS environments.
• Evaluates, designs, and implements next-generation cybersecurity capabilities, including machine learning–based anomaly detection, user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA), and AI-assisted threat analytics.
• Leads enterprise threat modeling efforts to identify architectural attack paths and systemic risk across interconnected CMS systems and environments.
• Technical authority on quantum computing risks and their impact on enterprise cybersecurity architecture.
• Leads the assessment of cryptographic dependencies across CMS systems, including public key infrastructure, key exchange mechanisms, digital signatures, data-at-rest encryption, and secure communications protocols.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen or National to apply for this position.
• You will be subject to a background and suitability investigation.

Qualifications

ALL QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS MUST BE MET BY THE CLOSING DATE OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.

Your resume (limited to no more than 2 pages) must include detailed information as it relates to the responsibilities and specialized experience for this position. Evidence of copying and pasting directly from the vacancy announcement without clearly documenting supplemental information to describe your experience will result in an ineligible rating. This will prevent you from receiving further consideration.

There is a BASIC REQUIREMENT and a MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT for this position. You must meet both requirements.

BASIC REQUIREMENT:
You must have IT-related experience at the GS-14 grade level in the federal government--gained through paid or unpaid work in the private or public sectors and/or specific, intensive training--that demonstrates you possess the following four competencies:

1. Attention to Detail - Is thorough when performing work and conscientious about attending to detail.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Problem Solving - Identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives, and to make recommendations.

AND

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT:
In order to qualify for this GS-15 position, you must clearly demonstrate in your resume at least one year (52 weeks) of qualifying IT-related specialized experience equivalent to the GS-14 grade level in the Federal government, obtained in either the private or public sector, to include:

1. Executing the hands-on design, build, and deployment of enterprise cybersecurity architectures for systems; AND
2. Developing, coding, testing, and implementing detection engineering capabilities, including detection as code, custom analytics, and fully integrated Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), and cloud native security solutions; AND
3. Building and tuning advanced security capabilities such as AI and machine learning driven monitoring, anomaly detection, and emerging technologies, including post-quantum approaches; AND
4. Integrating and engineering end-to-end security monitoring environments by connecting network, endpoint, cloud, and platform data sources into unified, operational capabilities to deliver enterprise-wide comprehensive visibility and coordinated defensive action.

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.

Click the following link to view the occupational questionnaire: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12917898

How you will be evaluated

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

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement, and based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses to the application questionnaire, and the results of the online assessments required for this position. A Subject Matter Expert will assist in the resume review process to help determine whether you meet the minimum job qualifications. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating.

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

• Accountability
• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Decision Making
• Flexibility
• Influencing/Negotiating
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Reading
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork

You must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment that measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.

The assessment includes a cut score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

RPL Applicants
RPL applicants who are registered for the same series, grade, and location as this vacancy announcement will be placed in one of the following categories based on category rating procedures:

• Best Qualified - significantly exceeds the evaluation criteria
• Well Qualified - excelsin the evaluation criteria
• Qualified - meets the minimum qualification requirements

If you are found to be among the top-qualified candidates, you will be referred to the selecting official for employment consideration.

This is a competitive vacancy announcement advertised under Delegated Examining Authority. Selections made under this vacancy announcement will be processed as new appointments to the civil service. Current civil service employees would therefore be given new appointments to the civil service; however, benefits, time served, and all other Federal entitlements would remain the same.

The category rating process does not add veterans' preference points but protects the rights of veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each category. Veterans' preference eligibles who meet the minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent will be listed in the highest quality category (except in professional or scientific positions at the GS-09 level or higher).

The following documents are REQUIRED:

1. Resume showing relevant experience; cover letter optional. NOTE: As of September 27, 2025, federal agencies will only accept resumes that are two pages or less in length. Your resume must indicate your citizenship and whether you are registered with the Selective Service if you are a male born after 12/31/59. Your resume must also list your work experience and education (if applicable), including the start and end dates (mm/yyyy) of each employment, along with the number of hours worked per week. For work in the Federal service, you must include the series and grade level for the position(s). Your resume will be used to validate your responses to the assessment tool(s). For resume and application tips, visit: https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/what-to-include

2. CMS Required Documents (e.g., SF-50, DD-214, SF-15, etc.). Required documents may be necessary to be considered for this vacancy announcement. Click here for a detailed description of the required documents. Failure to provide the required documentation WILL result in an ineligible rating OR non-consideration.

3. RPL Eligibility Required Documents: The following documents are required to verify your RPL eligibility: 1) Your most recent SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action), or equivalent, as stated in the job announcement that shows position occupied (block #34 of your SF-50), tenure, grade and step, salary, and full performance level; 2) Your SF-50 showing Separation - RIF. If that is not available yet, then official documentation of your Reduction in Force (RIF) separation notice or a proposed removal/separation notice; AND 3) Your latest performance rating and rating of record (if separate documents) showing your rating score as at least fully successful or equivalent.

4. Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency-Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to commencing the USA Hire Competency-Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency-Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency-Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need an RA, please click here to review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

PLEASE NOTE: A complete application package includes the online application, resume, and CMS required documents. Please carefully review the full job announcement, which includes the "Required Documents" and "How to Apply" sections. Failure to submit the online application, resume, and CMS required documents will result in your not being considered for employment.

Next steps