Clarification from the agency

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

• Utilizes their extensive expertise and knowledge to enhance existing Department of State (DOS) Zero Trust (ZT) platforms while serving as Chairperson for various Working Groups.
• Provides technical advice to management regarding systems security contingency plans and disaster recovery procedures for the SE-ICAM, ESS, and PKI/Biometric programs.
• Ensures reasonable equity among subordinates concerning performance standards, rating techniques, and assessment and adequacy of contractors.
• Promotes awareness of security issues among management and overseas by conducting security briefings and training to foster institutionalized awareness of the Department's security program. and adherence to security practices.

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.
• Statement of Employment & Financial Interest required prior to appointment.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all the required qualification requirements, including education and any selective placement factors described below by the closing date of this announcement.

If you are qualifying based on education OR if there are mandatory education requirements listed below, you MUST submit a copy of your college transcript with your application.

Applicants applying for the GS-15 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 - Leading others by setting the standards for the quality of work, even in the most difficult and/or high pressure circumstances; reviewing and editing work completed by others to ensure that the quality of work meets acceptable work standards.
2. Customer Service - Using expertise and experience to address complex problems, questions, or complaints; anticipating customer needs and modify a team's work activities, processes, and practices to meet these needs; collaborating outside of own team to organize planning sessions that elicit ideas for improving customer service and support.
3. Oral Communication - Clearly explaining and defending complex ideas, appropriately adapting to each audience's level of knowledge; using well-constructed, fact-based arguments to persuade stakeholders/officials to take action on suggestions for improvement.
4. Problem Solving - Providing precedent setting solutions to unique problems not previously encountered; helping team make decisions which are complicated by the number and nature of existing policy, guidelines, and organizational goals; identifying the root causes of problems; developing systemic solutions to address them and prevent them from reoccurring. 

AND

Have at least 1 full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-14 level in the Federal service which provided you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the duties of the position.

• Experience coordinating operational activities, implementing PKI infrastructure modernization or system upgrades, and developing standard operating procedures for credentialing operations.
• Experience managing Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) programs or enterprise credentialing systems, including oversight of certificate lifecycle management, Certificate Authority operations, and Hardware Security Module (HSM) administration.
• Experience providing IT security analysis, planning, and consultation for identity, credentialing, and authentication systems, with demonstrated application of federal standards such as FIPS 201 and NIST PKI guidelines.
• Experience in vulnerability assessment, complex authentication troubleshooting, and federal compliance, while managing assets and facilities for sensitive IT credentialing operations.

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-15 position.

In addition, applicant's experience must also demonstrate that the candidate possesses the following qualities:

• Ability to assign, review, and supervise the work of others;
• Objectivity and fairness in judging people on their ability, and situations on the facts and circumstances;
• Ability to adjust to change, work pressures, or difficult situations without undue stress;
• Willingness to consider new ideas or divergent points of view; and
• Capacity to "see the job through."

How you will be evaluated

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

Once the application process is complete, a review of your resume limited to two pages will be conducted and evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications for this position. The evaluation process consists of an online assessment and a subject matter expert review of your resume. Resumes longer than two pages will be deemed ineligible and will not be considered further.

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies:

• Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing.
• Knowledge of program management techniques.
• Knowledge of security practices, procedures, and systems.
• Ability to perform qualitative and quantitative analysis and evaluation.
• Ability to develop, interpret, and apply policies governing information technology.

In describing your experience, please be clear and specific. We do not make assumptions regarding your experience. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials may result in your removal from consideration.

Resume review: Subject matter experts (SMEs) will review your resume to determine your qualifications for this position based on the required specialized experience. Your resume should demonstrate how you meet all aspects of the specialized experience statement. SMEs will not review additional information beyond your resume (e.g., links embedded in your resume will not be opened.). If meeting basic qualifications through education only or a combination of education and experience, applicants will not be referred to the SME panel but will be reviewed by the HR Specialist for referral. 

Agency Career and Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP and ICTAP) candidates must be considered well-qualified for the position and submit the supporting documents listed under the required documents section of this job announcement to receive consideration for selection priority. To be considered well-qualified, in addition to meeting minimum qualifications, candidates must demonstrate proficiency in some, but not all of the major aspects of the position.

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), if you are a current eligible DOS employee (per 3 FAM 2313.4(a)(5)), including current employees applying under a non-competitive hiring authority. 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 eligible DOS 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.

4. Non-competitive hiring authority eligibility documentation, if applicable. If you are a current eligible DOS employee applying under a non-competitive hiring authority (e.g, FS tenured employees, USUN reinstatement eligibles, Schedule A), you must submit proof of non-competitive eligibility with your application.  For information related to Schedule A hiring authority for individuals with disabilities visit OPM’s hiring information site.  

5. CTAP documentation, if applicable (e.g., reduction-in-force (RIF) separation notice, certification of expected separation, etc.).  In addition submit a copy of your current (or last) performance rating of record which must be at least fully successful or equivalent and submit all required documents listed above that apply to you (e.g., resume, transcripts, SF-50, etc.).

Next steps