Requirements
Conditions of employment
- Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
- This position is designated Tier 5, Special Sensitive, High Risk and the incumbent is required to obtain and maintain a Top Secret Security Clearance Level with Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) access.
- May be required to successfully complete an initial and periodic Counter Intelligence-scope Polygraph (CI Poly) examination with No Deception Indicated (NDI).
- Incumbent may be assigned to work in a National Security Agency (NSA) facility and must be able to obtain and maintain access to NSA facilities and networks.
- Incumbent must successfully pass urinalysis screening for illegal drug use prior to appointment and periodically thereafter according to Army Regulation 600-85, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Program.
- Duties of this position may entail alternative work schedules (AWS) such as variable or MAXIFLEX, including extended shifts; 24/7 rotating shifts, nights, weekends, and/or holidays as required.
- Incumbent may be subject to recall for urgent situations and/or working extended overtime in response to surge situations.
- Temporary duty travel (TDY) may be required up to 30% annually and be within the Contiguous United States (CONUS) or Outside the Contiguous United States (OCONUS).
- Incumbent is subject to extended TDY during crisis situations to perform mission essential functions as determined by management, which may include deployment, immunizations, passport, and related requirements.
- Temporary duty travel may occur at austere or hazardous locations mission dependent.
- Incumbent may be required to carry a cellular telephone/Portable Electronic Device (PED) and maintain a working personal telephone at all times.
- Position is subject to situational or ad hoc telework. Telework agreement required.
- This position has been designated mission essential.
- Incumbent may be required to remain on duty or report for duty during severe weather or other installation closings.
- Incumbent may be required to work overtime and other than normal duty hours which may include evenings, weekends, and/or holidays. Call back and emergency duty are regular requirements of this position.
- Incumbent must obtain and maintain the Cyberspace Workforce Qualifications requirements in accordance with DoDM 8140.03 and supplemental Army guidance.
- Appointment to this position is subject to a three year probationary period unless the appointee has previously met the requirements as described in DoDI 1400.25 V3005, Cyber Excepted Service, Employment and Placement.
- This is a DoD Cyber Excepted Service (CES) personnel system position in the Excepted Service under 10 USC 1599f. Appointment to this position does not confer competitive status.
- See Additional Information Section for additional conditions of employment.
Qualifications
CYBER EXCEPTED SERVICE POSITIONS ARE NOT SUBJECT TO THE TWO-PAGE RESUME LIMIT. YOUR FULL RESUME WILL NEED TO BE UPLOADED TO YOUR USAJOBS PROFILE USING THE DOCUMENT TYPE "OTHER DOCUMENTS".
Who May Apply: Only applicants who meet one of the employment authority categories below are eligible to apply for this job. You will be asked to identify which category or categories you meet, and to provide documents which prove you meet the category or categories you selected. See Proof of Eligibility for an extensive list of document requirements for all employment authorities.
- Current Army Cyber Excepted Service (CES) Employee
- Current Army Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System (DCIPS) Employee
- Current Department of Army Civilian Employees Applying to Cyber Excepted Service (CES) Positions
- Current DoD Cyber Excepted Service (CES) Employee (non-Army)
- Current Permanent DoD Civilian Employee (non-Army) Applying to Cyber Excepted Service Positions
- Non-Department of Defense (DoD) Transfer Applying to Cyber Excepted Service Positions
Army CES positions apply Veteran's Preference to preference eligible candidates, as defined by Section 2108 of Title 5 U.S.C., in accordance with the procedures provided in DoD Instruction 1400.25, Volume 3005, "CES Employment and Placement". If you are a veteran claiming veterans' preference, as defined by Section 2108 of Title 5 U.S.C., you must submit documents verifying your eligibility with your application package.
GG-11 / GG-12: This position is in the Professional Work Category at the Full Performance Work Level within the CES Occupational Structure.
GG-07 / GG-09: This position is in the Professional Work Category at the Entry/Developmental Work Level within the CES Occupational Structure.
In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is
in this document.
To qualify based on your experience, your resume must describe one-year of specialized experience that demonstrates the possession of knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies necessary for immediate success in the position. Such experience is typically in or directly related to the work of the position to be filled. Specialized experience would be demonstrated by
GG-07: Participating in operating system security to establish security baselines; reviewing operating systems to identify trends, anomalies, or potential malicious cyberspace activities; and contributing to the incident response process, such as supporting threat mitigation or the development of countermeasures.
GG-09: Implementing approved security patches or system configuration updates to comply with cybersecurity policies and regulations; analyzing technical information collected from customers to diagnose the root cause of service disruptions; and restoring disrupted network or system services by executing established technical recovery procedures.
GG-11: Detecting anomalies or suspicious activities within host data to identify potential security compromises; monitoring enterprise security tools or alert dashboards to recognize indicators of potential system intrusions; and mitigating potential threats or system vulnerabilities by independently maintaining tools with the latest approved security releases.
GG-12: Managing hardware and software-based Operating System (OS) environments, such as Microsoft Windows or Linux, through installation, configuration, maintenance, or security testing to ensure system stability and compliance with cybersecurity standards; analyzing network and host data from various security devices to recognize anomalous behaviors or adversary artifacts; determining the stage of a cyber intrusion by using network and host artifacts to place a potential adversary within the cyber kill chain; and creating detailed threat reports or technical briefings for leadership based on the analysis of security data.
The specialized experience must include, or be supplemented by, information technology related experience (paid or unpaid experience and/or completion of specific, intensive training, as appropriate) which demonstrates each of the four competencies, as defined:
(1) Attention to Detail - Is thorough when performing work and conscientious about attending to detail. Examples of IT-related experience demonstrating this competency include: completing thorough and accurate work independently, even in the most difficult or stressful situations; occasionally reviewing work completed by others.
(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. Examples of IT-related experience demonstrating this competency include: resolving routine and non-routine problems, questions, or complaints; developing and maintaining strong, mutually supportive working relationships with customers; conducting evaluation of support to determine quality of services and customer satisfaction, and recommending procedural changes based on customer need or changes in policy and/or regulation.
(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. Examples of IT-related experience demonstrating this competency include: convincingly conveying complex information to customers; presenting thoughts that are well-organized and demonstrating confidence in the facts and ideas; adjusting style when working with individuals with different levels of understanding; using various methods to explain and convey information.
(4) Problem Solving - Identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives, and to make recommendations. Examples of IT-related experience demonstrating this competency include: solving complex or sensitive problems by developing and proposing strategic alternatives; identifying possible conflicts and shared benefits; helping team anticipate problems and identifying and evaluating potential sources of information; providing feedback and coaching to others to help solve problems; engaging appropriate stakeholders when developing solutions in order to understand and incorporate multiple perspectives and needs; evaluating the effectiveness of decisions and adjusting future decisions as appropriate.
Education
GG-07:
Substitution of Education for Experience: One full year of graduate level education from an accredited or pre-accredited institution in computer science, engineering, information science, information systems management, mathematics, operations research, statistics, or technology management; or, graduate level education from an accredited or pre-accredited institution that provided a minimum of 24 semester hours in one or more of the fields identified above and required the development or adaptation of applications, systems, or networks.
OR
Superior Academic Achievement: Successful completion of all the requirements for a bachelor's degree from an accredited or pre-accredited institution in computer science, engineering, information science, information systems management, mathematics, operations research, statistics, or technology management; or, bachelor's degree from an accredited or pre-accredited institution that provided a minimum of 24 semester hours in one or more of the fields identified above and required the development or adaptation of applications, systems, or networks. Superior Academic Achievement is based on: (1) Class Standing - You must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses; OR (2) Grade-Point Average (G.P.A.) - You must have a grade-point average of either (a) 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on your official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or (b) 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum.; OR (3) Honor Society Membership - You may be considered eligible based on membership in one of the approved national scholastic honor societies listed by the Association of College Honor Societies (https://www.achshonor.org/).
GG-09
Substitution of Education for Experience: Master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree from an accredited or pre-accredited institution in computer science, engineering, information science, information systems management, mathematics, operations research, statistics, or technology management; or, two full years of graduate education from an accredited or pre-accredited institution that provided a minimum of 24 semester hours in one or more of the fields identified above and required the development or adaptation of applications, systems, or networks.
GG-11
Substitution of Education for Experience: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree from an accredited or pre-accredited institution in computer science, engineering, information science, information systems management, mathematics, operations research, statistics, or technology management; or, three full years of graduate education from an accredited or pre-accredited institution that provided a minimum of 24 semester hours in one or more of the fields identified above and required the development or adaptation of applications, systems, or networks.
GG-12
You must meet the qualification requirement using experience alone--no substitution of education for experience is permitted.
FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications.
Additional information
- If you are a current federal career/career-conditional employee, you will be placed on an excepted appointment.
- Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration.
- You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.
- This position requires a 3 year probationary period during which the agency evaluates your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In making this determination, the agency may consider your performance and conduct; agency needs and interests; whether your continued employment supports organizational or Government goals; and whether it promotes the efficiency of the Federal service. Continued employment requires written certification that it advances the public interest.
- Direct Deposit of Pay is required.
- Must be able to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance with with Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI).
- Incumbent (or Selectee) is required to satisfactorily complete the appropriate training and obtain the required certification/recertification for this position as outlined in DoDM 8140.03 Cyberspace Workforce Qualification and Management Program dated 15 February 2023.
- Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from Department of Defense referral system for displaced employees.
- If you have retired from federal service and you are interested in employment as a reemployed annuitant, see the information in the Reemployed Annuitant information sheet.
- This is Digital Technology Career Field position.
- Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
- Salary includes applicable locality pay or Local Market Supplement.
- When you perform a Civilian Permanent Change of Station (PCS) with the government, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) considers the majority of your entitlements to be taxable. Visit https://www.dfas.mil/civilianemployees/civrelo/Civilian-Moving-Expenses-Tax-Deduction/ for more information.
- Permanent Change of Station (PCS) allowances may be authorized, subject to the provisions of the Joint Travel Regulations and an agency determination that a PCS move is in the Government Interest.
- Relocation incentive may be authorized.
- Recruitment incentive may be authorized.
- In accordance with DoDM 8140.03 and supplemental Army guidance, the employee must obtain and maintain the following requirements for each Cyber work role (except Data, AI, and/or Software Engineering) at the assigned proficiency level: 1) Foundational qualification requirements within 9 months, 2) Resident qualification requirements within 12 months, 3) 20 hours of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) per work role code (which can overlap).
- Employee is required to successfully complete all applicable preparation courses (i.e. Cyber Core Prep (CCP)), USCYBERCOM Cyber Mission Forces (CMF) Training Pipeline and comply with the CMF training certification policy to obtain and maintain Army Job Qualification Record (JQR) Validation and Certification.
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.