Security Specialist (Command Center) Job in Washington, DC

Vacancy No. OCSO-2025-060 Department Architect of the Capitol
Salary $99,200.00 to $153,354.00 Grade 12 to 13
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 11/8/2024 Close Date 11/26/2024
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Washington, DC


Summary

This position is located in the Architect of the Capitol (AOC), Office of the Chief Security Officer (OCSO), Assistant Director, Security Division, Suitability & Security Branch. The specialist handles the day-to-day facilitation of external coordination, collaboration, and oversight of key programs on behalf of the AOC. This includes establishing guidance, policy, plans, coordination and tracking of improvements and readiness status reporting from a law enforcement security operations center.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

See Requirements section of this announcement for information on who may apply.

Duties

The ideal candidate is self-motivated, has demonstrated knowledge and expertise involving organization and/or government security, and possesses sound security operation management fundamentals. 

Must have or be able to obtain and maintain a Top Secret Security Special Compartmentalized Information Clearance.

Duties quoted at the GS-13 level;  

  • Serves as a manager and COR for all AOC personnel and contractors assigned to the law enforcement security operations center and oversees all plans, operations and activities within the center by providing leadership and direction for a staff of skilled professionals.
  • Manages staff within the security operations center involved in security and shall demonstrate excellent oral and written skills, well-developed managerial abilities and the capacity to lead in a fast-paced, operational environment.
  • Works in coordination within the development and oversight of the budget and ensures that the annual budget is consistent with the requirements and priorities established by the Chief, Suitability and Security.
  • Leads proactive, collaborative and effective communications with OCSO leadership including the Asst. Director, Security Division, AOC offices and jurisdictions, the United States Capitol Police, Senate and House Officer organizations and other stakeholders to ensure awareness and coordinated actions regarding issue, initiatives and events.
  • Ensures implementation of approved policies, procedures, systems, and accountability for equipment and supplies. Develop and deliver senior level briefings to key stakeholders on status of threats and incidents affecting the AOC and/or Capitol complex.
  • Reviews, condenses and evaluates open-source intelligence to determine impacts to AOC and the Legislative Branch operations and recommend steps to take to mitigate the impacts.

The incumbent must follow all relevant safety rules, regulations and standard operating procedures. Must utilize knowledge of and must comply with all Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) safety rules and regulations to ensure that work progresses in a safe manner. Receives training, either on the job or through classroom training, to ensure that all safety practices and equipment are fully utilized. Must ensure the use of any required Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

Performs other related duties as assigned.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • You must be able to pass a drug test
  • Your resume and question responses must demonstrate the job-related KSAs
  • You must be able to obtain and maintain a Top Secret Security clearance
  • You must meet the definition of specialized experience.

To be employed by the Architect of the Capitol in a paid position, an individual must meet one of the categories below:

  • A citizen of the United States;
  • A person who is lawfully admitted for permanent residence and is seeking citizenship as outlined in 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)(B);
  • A person who is admitted as a refugee under 8 U.S.C. 1157 or is granted asylum under 8 U.S.C. 1158 and has filed a declaration of intention to become a lawful permanent resident and then a citizen when eligible;
  • A person who owes allegiance to the United States (nationals of American Samoa, Swains Island, and the Northern Mariana Islands, and nationals who meet other requirements described in 8 U.S.C. 1408); or
  • A person who is currently an officer or employee of the Government of the United States.

Qualifications

You must meet the United States Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) qualification requirements (including specialized experience and/or educational requirements) for the advertised position.  You must meet all eligibility and qualifications requirements by the closing date of the job announcement.  Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions.  It is available for your review on the OPM web site at OPM qualification standards

Specialized Experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position and is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, an applicant's one full year of specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level.

To qualify at the GS-13 level, your resume must clearly demonstrate that you have one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience comparable in difficulty and responsibility to at least the GS-12 level in the federal service. Examples of qualifying experience include the following types of tasks performed on a regular and recurring basis: 

  • Mastery of a wide range of security and resilience policies, procedures, concepts, principles and practices to review,  analyze and resolve difficult and complex security problems; 
  • Conducting classes and briefings for individuals and groups on operational security topics;
  • Developing and implementing a program to perform inspections, develop inspection reports and following-up on status of corrective actions; and
  • Serve as a COR and manager for project security coordination contracts.

To qualify at the GS-12 level, your resume must clearly demonstrate that you have one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience comparable in difficulty and responsibility to at least the GS-11 level in the federal service. Examples of qualifying experience include the following types of tasks performed on a regular and recurring basis: 

  • Applying a wide range of security and resilience policies, procedures, concepts, principles and practices to review,  analyze and resolve difficult and complex security problems; 
  • Conducting classes and briefings for individuals and groups on operational security topics;
  • Performing inspections, developing inspection reports and following-up on status of corrective actions; and
  • Serving as the COR for project coordination contracts.

Additional information

Welcome Veterans. The Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) gives veterans' preference rights in the legislative branch to certain veterans as applied by the Congressional Accountability Act. Veterans' preference is applied on this vacancy announcement. If you are a veteran and have been separated under honorable conditions, you must submit a copy of your DD-214 or other proof of eligibility; SF-15, if applicable; and Department of Veterans Affairs documentation of disability, if applicable. For more information, please visit OPM vet guide

If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System. If you are exempt from registration under Selective Service Law, you must provide appropriate proof of exemption. Please visit the Selective Service System website for more information.

DRUG TESTING: The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) is a Drug Free Workplace. As part of the AOC’s suitability assessment, a candidate tentatively selected for a position who is not currently an AOC employee is required to submit to screening for illegal drug use. Satisfactory completion of a drug test is a condition of employment with the Agency. A candidate must test negative prior to being eligible for appointment into a position. We will schedule, provide and cover the cost for the drug test.
 
The selectee(s) under the vacancy announcement for this position is subject to a criminal record check by the U.S. Capitol Police and satisfactory adjudication to be eligible for employment at the Architect of the Capitol.
 
The Architect of the Capitol is an E-VERIFY Participant. E-VERIFY is an Internet-based system that compares information from an employee's Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to data from U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration records to confirm employment authorization in the United States. If you are selected for this position, the documentation that you present for purposes of completing the DHS Form I-9 will be verified through the DHS "E-VERIFY" electronic system. For more information on E-Verify, please visit http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/gc_1185221678150.shtm

The Architect of the Capitol is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information and/or disability.

This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency. The decision on granting reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.
 
Moving expenses are not authorized.
 
Relocation expenses are not authorized.
 
Probationary Period - A newly appointed selectee is subject to the completion of a one-year trial/probationary period, regardless of whether or not a trial/probationary period has been completed previously with the Architect of the Capitol or another Federal agency.

This vacancy announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies in any of the jurisdictions of the Architect of the Capitol.

All application materials become the property of the Architect of the Capitol.

Benefits

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.

A variety of health insurance plans; retirement system with investment options; paid holidays; paid sick and annual (vacation) leave; life insurance; incentive systems; subsidized transportation; training and development opportunities, etc.

The Architect of the Capitol offers eligible employees opportunity to participate in the Student Loan Repayment Program.

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.

Review your resume and responses carefully. Your eligibility for consideration and qualifications for the position will be determined based upon a review of your detailed resume and your responses to job specific self-assessment questions. 

Your resume will be evaluated based on evidence of your ability to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) for this position, possession of any specialized experience, and how well your background and experience relates to the self-assessment questions in the job announcement. The self-assessment questions relate to the following knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies:

  • Knowledge of security concepts, principles and practices to plan and implement security procedures for security programs within the organization.
  • Ability to effectively write and orally communicate security information to various audiences, to include line staff and management.
  • Ability to establish effective professional working relationships with coworkers, contributing to a cooperative working environment and successful accomplishment of the mission.
  • Ability to interact with personnel at all levels of the Agency in all kinds of situations, to include processing very sensitive information about personnel.

Your responses to the self-assessment questions serve as the basis for your initial rating. You will receive a numerical score based on your responses to these questions.  Next, your responses will be evaluated by a Human Resources Specialist and/or a subject matter expert against the information provided in your resume and optional cover letter. Your resume must support your answers to the self-assessment questions. Falsifying your background, education and/or experience is cause for non-selection or disqualification from further consideration.

Please note that a complete application is required for consideration. (Please review the “Required Documents” section of this job announcement to see what must be included in a complete application).


You may preview questions for this vacancy.

Required Documents

The Architect of the Capitol's job application process is designed to ensure that we only ask you for the information that is absolutely needed to evaluate your qualifications and eligibility for the position.

To apply for this position, you only need to submit online the following: a) your resume and 2) answer the online vacancy assessment questionnaire. The online questionnaire contains eligibility and screening questions and other relevant supplemental information. No additional documentation or attachment is required at the time of application.

We ask that you prepare and submit a resume that best describes fully your background experience, skills, abilities, education, training and other relevant credentials. The resume should include dates of employment.

Nothing further is required until it is requested by the staff of the Human Capital Management Division. If additional documentation is required for a position, you will be asked to provide it during the selection process or upon selection. At that point, we may ask you to submit documentation to support statements made in your resume.

For example, we may ask you to provide documents such as college transcripts, copy of diploma or proof of Federal employment status. If the position requires a license or certification, we will ask candidate(s) to provide proof at the time of selection.

If you are claiming veterans' preference, we may ask you to submit proof of Veterans preference (DD-214, and, if claiming 10-point preference, the SF-15 plus proof required by that form).

If you fail to provide the required documents, we will withdraw a tentative job offer made and/or remove you from further consideration.

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

You MUST apply online. FORMS RECEIVED BY FAX, EMAIL OR U.S. POSTAL SERVICE DELIVERY WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

If you are a new user to the USAJOBS Site and have never registered for an account; you will first need to create an account profile with your basic contact information and a resume to begin applying. You must be a registered USAJOBS user AND you must be signed-in to your account in order to apply for this position. For help with setting up an account or for general assistance in using USAJOBS, go to USAJOBS Help Page.

NEED HELP?
If you experience any difficulties with the application site, help is available! If you have problems completing your on-line application, contact the Monster Hiring Management Help Desk at 1-866-656-6831 or by e-mail at MGSHELP@monster.com. The help desk is available Monday - Friday 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. You may call and leave a voice mail message at all other times.

All required supporting documents will be collected electronically via the USAJOBS “Saved Documents” feature.

If you are unable to apply on-line, you may visit our Employment Center for technical assistance in entering your application. The Employment Center is located at 441 Second & D Streets S.W., Washington, D.C., Room H2-178, and is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. You may call (202) 226-7000 for directions.

Agency contact information

Clarissa Anderson
Phone
202-215-4316
Fax
202-226-9755
Email
clarissa.anderson@aoc.gov
Address
Architect of the Capitol
2nd and D Street, S.W.
Washington, District of Columbia 20515
United States
Learn more about this agency

Next steps

You will receive a notice generated by the USAJOBS System when you have successfully submitted your application. We will review your application and transcript(s) (if you are qualifying based on education) to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements.

You can check the status of your application by logging into http://www.usajobs.gov. You may also sign up to receive automatic emails anytime the status of your application has changed by logging into your USAJOBS Account, editing your profile and changing the ‘Notification Settings’ to indicate that you want to be notified by email when the status changes. Information regarding the status of your application should be updated in the system within two (2) weeks after the closing date of this job announcement.


Note: We cannot accept applications on behalf of Federal Agencies. Application instructions are listed within the Job Description.


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