Summary

This position is located in the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Office of Forensic Sciences, Digital Evidence Laboratory.

This primary purpose of this position is to perform as a senior digital forensic examiner, analyzing seized digital evidence, performing on-site acquisition/duplication of digital evidence for DEA, testifying in Federal and state courts as an expert witness, and providing subject matter expertise and advice to both DEA investigators and examiners in the laboratory.

This job is open to

The public

U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.

Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)

Federal employees whose job, agency or department was eliminated and are eligible for priority over other applicants.

Clarification from the agency

This position is being filled under a Direct Hire Authority. Open to U.S. Citizens, Nationals, or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.

Duties

As a IT Cybersecurity Specialist (Digital Evidence), your typical work assignments may include:

Serving as a subject matter expert (SME) within DEA's Digital Evidence Laboratory on the forensic analysis of state-of-the-art emerging digital technologies.
Providing technical expertise for forensic deployments, best practices for preservation of evidence, and forensic analysis support.
Performing live analysis utilizing virtual machines, bootable lab environments, or sandbox environments.
Providing training in a large number of areas such as: evidence identification and handling, evidence examination methods, review tools and methodologies, digital evidence interview needs, digital evidence cases studies, and specialized investigation needs such as drug or chemical diversion or advanced complex conspiracy investigations.
Advising more junior Digital Forensic Examiners and field Digital Evidence Technicians on computer evidence issues such as search strategies, witness interview topics, evidence duplication, computer usage, computer communication, recovered data reliability.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

U.S. Citizenship is required.
Employment is subject to the successful completion of a background investigation. Must be able to obtain and maintain a security clearance.
Incumbent is subject to random drug testing.
Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit: http://www.dhs.gov/E-Verify/.
Selective Service: Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see http://www.sss.gov/).
Selectee will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period (OR 1-year OR 2-year trial period, as appropriate) during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest.
Applicant must possess and maintain a valid motor vehicle operator's license while employed in the position and will be required to operate the motor vehicle in accordance with applicable OPM regulations and related requirements of DOJ/DEA.
Applicants must complete all required courses of DEA's Digital Evidence Laboratory's training program within the first year of employment.

Qualifications

For more information on eligibility requirements see: DEA Employment Eligibility

Applicants must meet all of the required qualification requirements described below by the closing of this announcement.

Basic Qualification Requirements:

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 recommendations.

Applicants applying for the GS-13 must meet one of the following requirements:

A. Have at least one full year of qualifying specialized experience that is at least equivalent in difficulty and complexity to work performed at the GS-12 grade level. Specialized 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.

Qualifying specialized experience must demonstrate the following: 1) preserving and analyzing electronic data using established methods, or 2) conducting digital forensic examinations, documenting actions, and providing written results, or 3) using subject matter expertise in an area of information technology to make correct inferences or draws accurate conclusions about the content or structure of data.

Additional information on the position qualification requirements are located in the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Qualifications Standards Handbook.

Education

Education requirements do not apply to this vacancy announcement.

Additional information

For reasonable accommodation at the Drug Enforcement Administration, please contact the Human Resources office listed in this announcement.

Current or Former Political Appointees: 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.

Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement. If eligible, applicants to this announcement may be referred to similar positions in any Division/Office listed in this announcement. Telework eligibility and security clearance requirements may vary for such similar positions.

Recruitment and/or Relocation Incentives may be considered and approved if the DEA has determined that the position is likely to be difficult to fill in the absence of an incentive and funding for such an incentive is available.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 1 or 2 year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

your performance and conduct;
the needs and interests of the agency;
whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period or trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How you will be evaluated

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

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

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

The USA Hire Assessments 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.

Under the provisions of the Direct-Hire Authority, veterans' preference and traditional rating and ranking of applications does not apply. For this announcement, all applicants will be assessed to determine if they meet the qualifications for this position, specifically the education, specialized experience, and knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) necessary to perform the work of the position. All applications that meet the required qualifications will be referred to the selecting official.

The assessment questionnaire includes four short, free-response essay questions which provides an opportunity for you to highlight your dedication to public service for the hiring manager and agency leadership (or designee(s)). While your responses are not required and will not be scored, we encourage you to thoughtfully address each question in 200-words or less. You will be asked to certify that you are using your own words and have not used a consultant or artificial intelligence (AI) such as a large language model (LLM) like ChatGPT or Copilot.

Agency and Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP and ICTAP) Eligibles: View information about CTAP and ICTAP eligibility on OPM's Career Transition Resources website. You must be rated in the Highly-Qualified category for this position and submit the supporting documents listed under the required documents section of this job announcement to receive consideration for selection priority.

Required Documents

All required documents listed below, that are applicable to you, must be submitted to our automated system by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement.

Resume: must be no more than two pages in length; resumes exceeding two pages will be removed from consideration. Resume should include applicants' name, email address, phone number, relevant work/volunteer experience, education and training. Include the start and end dates (from month/year to month/year), work schedule (e.g. part or full-time), the number of hours per week worked/volunteered, job title and description of duties performed. Education/Certification/Licensure when relevant or required for position. See Guidance For Applicants on 2-Page Resume and visit the USAJOBS Help Center for more information.
Transcripts, if applicable and you are qualifying based on education. See the Qualification and Education sections of this announcement for more information. If selected, an official/sealed college transcript(s) will be required to verify education prior to employment.
ICTAP/CTAP - Career Transition Assistance Program documentation, if applicable. This includes copies of your agency notice (e.g. Certification of Expected Separation, Reduction-In-Force Separation Notice, or Notice of Proposed Removal), most recent performance rating and more recent Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) noting current position, grade level and duty location.
Other Qualification documents (e.g. certificates, certifications, etc.), if applicable. See the Qualification section of this announcement for more information.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

How to Apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. The application process is as follows:

Click the Apply Online button.
Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation.
Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date.
If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice.
Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials.
Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended.
Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link.
Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused.

Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us.

You may update your application documents and some questions related to your personal information at any time during the announcement open period. However, you will not be able to make changes to questions related to assessing the minimum qualifications and competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics) mentioned in the "How You Will Be Evaluated" section above.

To make an allowed update to your application, return to your USAJOBS account (https://usajobs.gov). There you will find a record of your application, the application status, and an option to Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed.

To view the announcement status or your application status: Visit https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/howto/application/status/. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application.

Agency contact information

Jessica Wayland

Phone: 000-000-0000
Email: Jessica.E.Wayland@dea.gov

Address: Drug Enforcement Administration
Do Not Send Postal Mail
Springfield, VA 21310
US

Next steps

Once the online application package is received, you will be notified through USAJOBS of your qualification status and referral or non-referral to the hiring official for further consideration. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted.

We will notify you by email the outcome after each of these steps has been completed. Your application status will be updated up to four times during the following hiring phases:

After applications are received.
After applications are assessed to determine qualifications.
After candidates are referred to the hiring manager.
If selected, candidates may receive additional notifications regarding the next steps in the hiring process.

Your status will also be updated on your USAJOBS account throughout the process.

IT Cybersecurity Specialist (Digital Evidence) Job in Lorton, VA