Clarification from the agency

U.S. Department of State career or career conditional status employees in the competitive service; U.S. Department of State excpeted service employees; employees who are on temporary or other non-status appointments who have reinstatement or non-competitive eligibility for a competitive service appointment (e.g., tenured Foreign Service employees, employees on an excepted service appointment at the USUN who have previous career status, etc.)

• Direct the collection and analysis of data from a variety of cyber defense tools (e.g., IDS/IPS, firewalls, and network traffic logs) to identify and mitigate sophisticated threats targeting the Department’s global Top Secret network.
• Orchestrate the investigation, analysis, and response to complex cyber incidents within the Department’s national security enclave, ensuring rapid recovery and minimal impact on diplomatic missions.
• Lead the design and integration efforts for secure IT frameworks, specifically spearheading the implementation of Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) and modern security protocols across the Top Secret Network.

Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship is required.
• Incumbent will be subject to random drug testing.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance.
• Obtain/maintain eligibility to access Sensitive Compartmented Information

Qualifications

Applicants applying for the GS-14 grade level must meet the following requirements: Have IT-related experience demonstrating EACH of the four competencies AND specialized experience listed below:

1. Attention to Detail -  Incumbent demonstrates a high level of attention to detail by applying personal knowledge and ability to provide expert technical analysis and consultation focused on current global cyber threat environment and associated risks in order to mitigate cybersecurity vulnerabilities and risks.
2. Customer Service - Incumbent demonstrates a high level of ability to serve customers by establishing and maintaining industry partnerships and providing expert guidance on complex and controversial cybersecurity issues which have long term impact on IT infrastructure security.
3. Oral Communication - Incumbent demonstrates a high level of skill in communicating in order to provide expert advice and guidance on the impact of threats, risks and cybersecurity solutions, exchange information, brief senior officials, guide cross-functional teams, and engage with diverse stakeholders.
4. Problem Solving - Incumbent clearly demonstrates the ability to evaluate, identify and prioritize problems by determining the most appropriate principles to apply to resolve a wide range of technical issues related to cybersecurity with limited supervisory involvement. 

AND Have at least 1 full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level in the Federal service which provided you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the duties of the position.

 Qualifying specialized experience must demonstrate the following:  

• Experience serving as a senior technical lead in the deployment of advanced cybersecurity solutions across a global infrastructure; this includes providing technical direction, managing project teams, and ensuring that complex IT methods and standards are consistently applied throughout the project lifecycle.
• Experience serving in a Cyber Network Defense (CND)-aligned role, providing strategic oversight of the organizational defensive posture; this includes staying abreast of and enforcing security standards, overseeing the security and SOC architecture, managing the deployment and integration of enterprise-wide defensive tools (e.g., SIEM, EDR, and Vulnerability Scanners), and maturing the interdependencies between continuous monitoring, threat detection capabilities, and infrastructure hardening to reduce the organizational attack surface. 
• Experience acting as a primary liaison between technical staff and senior management; this includes synthesizing complex technical data into executive briefings and providing expert recommendations to influence the resolution of controversial security and risk-based decisions.

      NOTE: In order to qualify for this position, your experience MUST be IT related; the experience may be demonstrated by paid or unpaid experience and/or completion of specific, intensive training (for example, IT certification), as appropriate. There is no substitute of education for specialized experience for the GS-14 position.

How you will be evaluated

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

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 and determined to be best-qualified will be referred to the hiring official for further consideration and possible interview.

Your resume limited to two pages serves as the basis for qualification determinations and must highlight your most relevant and significant work experience and education (if applicable) as it relates to this job opportunity. Resumes longer than two pages will be deemed ineligible and will not be considered further.

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following KSAs and other characteristics that are relevant to the duties of this position and must be fully supported by information in your resume:

• Knowledge of IT technology application, design, and configuration
• Knowledge of information data security and management
• Skill in providing expert advice and guidance to managers regarding technological developments
• Ability to present briefings to senior managers
• Knowledge of advanced IT principles, standards, and practices sufficient to develop and interpret policies
• Skill in reviewing Departmental information systems to ensure their compliance with information security and privacy policies and regulations

Veterans:  Although consideration of Veterans’ Preference is not required under 50 U.S.C. § 30240(v) to the extent it would be under the competitive service; the Department of State considers veterans' preference as a positive factor in the hiring process.

• Include a performance appraisal as proof of federal employment.
• Your resume should include relevant work experience, applicable education and your contact information. For current or previous federal employees, include the pay plan, series and grade.
• Your SF-50 shows a federal position you've held, grade level and duty location. Your SF-50 can support position changes, conversions or separation for employment eligibility.

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.

1.Resume limited to two pages showing relevant work/volunteer experience, education and training. Include the start and end dates (from month/year to month/year) and the number of hours per week worked/volunteered. Your resume serves as the basis for qualification determinations and must support your answers to the completed online assessment questions. Resumes longer than two pages will be deemed ineligible and will not be considered further.

2. Most recent SF-50s (Notification of Personnel Actions). The SF-50s must show: effective date, position title, series, grade, salary, tenure, position occupied, full promotion potential, and name of agency. Multiple SF-50s may be needed to show all required information (e.g., promotion, within-grade increase, and separation SF-50s). Award SF-50s often do not show the required information.

3. Performance appraisal, strongly encouraged for current or former Federal employees. Submit a copy of your most recent (i.e., usually within the last 18 months) final (i.e., not a mid-year review) official (i.e., signed by the rating official and in original format) annual performance appraisal for the hiring manager’s consideration. If a performance appraisal is not available, you may provide a statement and/or a statement from your supervisor explaining the reason one is not available and your servicing HR Office contact information (name, email address, phone number).

Note: You may be requested to provide an appraisal to the hiring official if one was not provided with your application. To receive a promotion, the employee’s most recent performance rating must be “fully successful” or an equivalent level or higher. Employees who are tentatively selected to receive a promotion will be required to provide performance documentation within two business days of request. Servicing HR Offices may be contacted to verify performance ratings.

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