Supervisory Personnel Security Specialist Job in Washington, DC

Vacancy No. 25R-SA-312559-MPA-OHR Department Smithsonian Institution
Salary $142,488.00 to $195,200.00 Grade 14 to 15
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 5/13/2025 Close Date 6/2/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Status Candidates
Locations:
Washington, DC


Summary

The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex, with 21 museums, 14 education and research centers, and the National Zoo.  This position is located in the Smithsonian Institution, Office of the Under Secretary for Finance and Administration, Office of Human Resources (OHR), Talent Management.  This position oversees the personnel security program Smithsonian-wide.  Join us in inspiring generations through knowledge and discovery!

Duties

More than one selection may be made from this announcement.

The Supervisory Personnel Security Specialist reports to the Deputy Director, Talent Management, OHR. You will serve as the Branch Manager of the Personnel Security Branch and is responsible for overseeing and managing all aspects of the personnel security program, ensuring compliance with federal and SI-specific security regulations, standards, and policies.

In this position, you will:

  • Exercise the full range of supervisory and personnel management authorities and responsibilities in directing work of subordinate staff, and in the development of long-range goals and objectives.
  • Plan and assign work, delegating authority as appropriate; set and adjust priorities as necessary; develop performance standards and appraise work, giving advice and/or instructions as required.
  • Manage personnel security operations and adjudication procedures, conduct reviews of security administration, and develop strategies to improve operational efficiency.
  • Plan, direct, and coordinate personnel security-related activities across various areas including strategic planning, organizational design, business process improvements, enterprise IT system requirements, contract management, training, budget and forecasting, and enterprise performance metrics.
  • Provide technical expertise in reviewing, modifying, and developing new policies, documenting adjudications, and internal and external messaging to applicants and incumbents.
  • Monitor the federal security environment to benchmark best practices, lead efforts to modernize personnel security administration, and identify necessary resources to improve operations.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • Pass Pre-employment Background Investigation
  • May need to complete a Probationary Period
  • Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer
  • Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service.
  • May be required to serve an 18-month probationary period for supervisors.

Conditions of Employment

Qualification requirements, including one year time-in-grade at the next lower grade level for promotion candidates, must be met within 30 days of the job announcement closing date. See the 'Required Documents' section for additional information.

For information on qualification requirements, see Qualification Standards Handbook for General Schedule Positions viewable on OPM Website.

Qualifications

Experience: You qualify for GS-14 if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-13 level in the Federal Service.  For this position, specialized experience is defined as 1) Managing personnel security operations that includes providing leadership and direction to security assistants/specialists; 2) Developing and implementing personnel security policies/procedures; 3) Administering and monitoring background investigation requests; 4) reviewing/adjudicating background investigation reports.

For GS-15-You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-14 level in the Federal Service.  For this position, specialized experience is defined as : 1) Managing personnel security operations that includes providing leadership and direction to security assistants/specialists; 2) Developing and implementing personnel security policies/procedures; 3) overseeing the allocation of personnel, financial, and technological resources; 4) creating metrics and reports that monitor work volume and productivity and 5) providing technical expertise in security administration, to include analytical, management, and oversight support for security and suitability process changes


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.

Part-time and/or unpaid experience related to this position will be considered to determine the total number of years and months of experience. Be sure to note the number of paid or unpaid hours worked each week.
 

Education

Education cannot be used as a substitute for experience at this grade level.

Additional information

  • This position is not included in the bargaining unit.

Recruitment Incentive: Recruitment incentive(s) may be authorized for this position.  However, approval for incentives are contingent upon various availability. If authorized, certain incentives will require the incumbent to sign a service agreement to remain in the Federal government for a certain time period.

Note: This statement does not imply nor guarantee an incentive will be offered and paid.

Selections may be made for vacancies across the Smithsonian Institution (SI). By applying to this position, you agree to allow your application and other personal information to be shared with one or more SI hiring officials for employment consideration for same/similar positions within the location(s) identified in this announcement.

Benefits

The Federal Government offers a comprehensive benefits package. 

Please see Benefits at https://www.si.edu/OHR/benefits for a complete description.

Flexible Spending Accounts - https://www.fsafeds.com/
Health Insurance - http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/index.asp
Leave - http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/index.asp
Life Insurance - http://www.opm.gov/insure/life/index.asp
Long Term Care Insurance - http://www.ltcfeds.com
Retirement Program - https://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Your application will be evaluated first for the basic qualifications described above.  The applications that meet the basic qualifications will be evaluated further against the following criteria:

  1. Leadership/Supervision-Ability to exercise supervisory and personnel management responsibility by providing leadership and direction to subordinate personnel

  2. Personnel Security and Safety-Ability to use software, programs, applications and/or systems to produce metrics, reports and presentations that identify/monitor work volume, trends, productivity,
    quality and timeliness.

  3. Technical Competence-Ability to monitor and make technical judgments concerning interpretation and implementation of current, developing and new Federal and SI Personnel Security regulations, directives and policies.

  4. Program Management-Ability to participate in the administration and management of the security clearance process.

BASIS OF RATING:  Once the announcement closes, your application will be automatically evaluated and rated by the system and a Human Resources Specialist. To determine if you are qualified for this job, a review of your application and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the occupational questionnaire. The numeric rating you receive is based on your responses to the questionnaire. The score is a measure of the degree to which your background matches the knowledge, skills, and abilities required of this position. If, after the Human Resources Specialist reviews your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that the score you have received is not a true reflection of your qualifications and/or experience, your score can and will be adjusted to more accurately reflect the information you provided that support your abilities. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Your resume should provide detailed information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed.

Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA):  If you are applying for a VEOA appointment, you must be a veteran and must be honorably separated and either a preference eligible or have substantially completed 3 or more years of active service. ("Active Service" under this law means active duty in a uniformed service and includes full-time training duty, annual training duty, full-time National Guard duty, and attendance, while in the active service, at a school designated as a service school by law or by the Secretary concerned.) A veteran who is released under honorable conditions shortly before completing a 3-year tour is also eligible.

Noncompetitive Appointment Authorities:  The following links contain information on the eligibility requirements to be considered under a noncompetitive appointing authority:


You may preview questions for this vacancy.

Required Documents

Your application package should include the following documents:

  • Resume - Your resume can be uploaded and attached to your application or created using the USA Jobs on-line resume builder. Ensure your resume contains the job title (including the occupational series and grade if it is Federal), job-related qualifications, starting and ending dates (month and year), hours worked per week, and salary for each employment period. It is your responsibility to ensure all information is submitted. Failure to include this information may result in disqualification for the position.

    For assistance with creating a resume, please click here.

  • Current and former employees MUST submit a copy of their Standard Form (SF)-50, “Notice of Personnel Action,” that indicates proof of status and time-in-grade eligibility. The SF-50 must include your position title, series, grade, step, salary, type of service (competitive or excepted in block 34), and tenure (1 or 2 in block 24). Please provide a SF-50 that shows the length of time you have been in your current/highest grade level.  Examples of appropriate SF50s include: Appointments, Reassignments, Within-grade/range increases or Promotion actions.  NOTE: Pay adjustments and award SF-50s do not include the length of time in your current position, therefore, they are NOT acceptable SF-50’s on their own. You may need to provide more than one SF-50. 

    Time-in-Grade Requirements: Under competitive merit promotion procedures, any individual who is currently holding, or who has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under a non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet "time-in-grade" requirements (have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade of the grade for which you are applying).
  • Proof of Veteran's Preference - DD214 (Member 4 Copy) if you are requesting a special appointment authority, such as VRA or VEOA
  • Proof of severe disability if you are requesting special placement consideration.
  • Proof of eligibility for a military spouse appointment, such as a permanent change station military order.
  • Proof of eligibility for any other special appointing authority not specifically mentioned here.

Important Note:

Your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses to the occupational questionnaire or other assessment tool for consistency. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your resume, you will be assigned a rating commensurate to your described experience. Your resume should provide sufficient information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed.

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

Click on the "Apply Online" button on the upper right side of the page.
Please Note:

  • You must apply for this position online through the 'Apply Online' button and submit required supplemental documents (if they are relevant to you).
  • You may submit required documents by uploading them online during the application process;
  • The complete application package, including any required documents, is due in the Smithsonian Office of Human Resources on the closing date of the announcement by 11:59 PM Eastern Time.
  • If you are unable to apply online, paper applications may be accepted with prior approval of the Contact Person listed below.

Agency contact information

Ms.Assefaw
Phone
202-633-6299
TDD
202-633-6409
Email
Assefaws@si.edu
Address
SMITHSONIAN
Office of Human Resources
POB 23772, 600 Maryland Avenue, MRC 517
Capital Gallery
Washington, District of Columbia 20013-7012
United States

Next steps

At the end of the application process you will be able to create and save a PDF file that contains your responses to the assessment questions. You may save this file as initial receipt of your application. After the job announcement closes, you will receive an email from the Smithsonian with confirmation of receipt.
The Smithsonian receives many applications for each job. Each application is reviewed carefully which may take a few weeks. We will send you an e-mail to update you as we go through phases of the application review process. You may also check your application status by logging into www.usajobs.gov and selecting the tab "My USAJOBS;" e-mailing vacancy.info@si.edu; or by contacting the Office of Human Resources Representative listed.

Additional Information:

  • Tips on applying for Smithsonian jobs are available at www.sihr.si.edu/jobs.cfm.
  • The Smithsonian does not pay relocation expenses.
  • The Smithsonian Institution is an equal opportunity employer. Additional information can be found on our website at (www.si.edu/oeesd).


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


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