Lead Security Specialist

Summary This position serves as a Lead Security Specialist responsible for providing technical leadership, operational direction, and expert security administration support in the delivery of onboarding services for new hires whose gaining organizations are supported by WHS. Duties

Incumbent typical work assignments may include the following:

• Directs, mentors, and guides a team of Security Specialists; aligns daily work plans with broader agency strategic goals, balances and distributes caseloads based on individual expertise, conducts quality assurance audits on completed tasks, and manages short-term leave and performance recognition.
• Serves as the division's senior technical authority on personnel security vetting; interrogates DISS and USA Staffing to verify clearance milestones, submits facility badges via the PFPA Automated Management Portal, and serves as the Site Security Manager (SSM) and Verifying Official (VO) for RAPIDS Common Access Card (CAC) issuance.
• Establishes and governs the end-to-end customer onboarding framework; partners with PFPA, DMDC, DISA, and the DoW CIO to resolve cross-functional bottlenecks, analyze customer satisfaction trends, and modernize automated intake workflows using customer relationship management (CRM) systems.
• Measures onboarding program health and cycle times against KPIs; synthesizes data into interactive dashboards utilizing enterprise tools, drafts executive-level talking papers, and assists in the preparation and monitoring of the security program budget.
• Leads the planning, logistics, and execution of biweekly New Employee Orientation (NEO) sessions; compiles and delivers authoritative security training curricula on OPSEC, INFOSEC, Cyber Hygiene, and Insider Threat to incoming personnel, including senior executives and General Officers.

Qualifications

In order to qualify for this position, you must meet the requirements described below.

You may qualify at the GS-14 level, if you fulfill the following qualification requirement:

One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 grade level in the Federal service (experience may have been gained in the private sector) that demonstrates your ability to utilize personnel security databases of record and identity credentialing systems to verify security clearance eligibility for physical facility and logical network access requests; Formulating operational workflows to streamline security integration, maintain compliance, resolve complex service delivery conflicts, and implement improvements to intake workflows; Evaluating program performance by analyzing onboarding cycle times, customer satisfaction surveys, and operational KPIs in executive reports; AND Managing operational logistics, cross-functional teams, and schedules for recurring corporate New Hire Orientation sessions.

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.

All qualifications and education requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement and clearly documented in your resume. Your resume may not exceed two (2) pages. For qualifications determinations, it is recommended that applicants include their months and hours worked per week for each employment listed on their resume. If a determination is not able to be made about the duration of your creditable experience for qualification requirements, you will be removed from consideration.

Read more about what should I include in my federal resume at https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/what-to-include

ACTIVE DUTY SERVICE MEMBERS: Federal agencies treat active duty service member as veterans, disabled veterans, and preference eligible, when they submit, as part of their application package, a "certification" of active service in lieu of a DD-214, indicating the service member is otherwise eligible and will be discharged or released within 120 days from the date of submission.. A "certification" letter should be on letterhead of the appropriate military branch of the service and contain (1) the military service dates including the expected discharge or release date; and (2) the character of service. This "certification" must include your rank, dates of active duty service, type of discharge and character of service (i.e. honorable), and date any terminal leave will begin. It must be signed by, or by direction of, the adjutant, personnel officer, or commander of your unit or higher headquarters. Active duty members that fail to provide a valid "certification" of service with their initial application will be found "not eligible". Members may be appointed before the effective date of their military retirement/separation if they are on terminal leave.

Current or Former Political Appointees: Agencies must seek prior approval from OPM before they can appoint a current or recent political appointee to a competitive or non-political excepted service position at any level. If you are currently or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, or Non-career SES employee in the executive branch, you MUST disclose that to the Human Resources Office.

Time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement and clearly documented in your resume.Education Education cannot be substituted for experience. How you will be evaluated This position utilizes a single-hurdle assessment method consisting of a Subject Matter Expert (SME) panel review. Traditional automated occupational questionnaires and USA Hire assessments will not be administered. Qualified applicant resumes and supporting documentation will be independently evaluated by a panel of SMEs using a standardized, competency-based scoring rubric developed during the job analysis. The Human Resources Directorate (HRD) will consolidate the SME ratings to determine final quality categories and generate the referral certificate accordingly.

Please ensure your resume explicitly documents how your experience aligns with the specialized experience and competencies listed in this announcement.

DOD PPP candidates using Application-Based Procedures:

Military Spouse Preference (MSP) Eligible: Military Spouse Preference applicants, must be selected and placed at the highest grade level for which they have applied and been determined best qualified. You must include a completed copy of the Military Spouse PPP Self-Certification Checklist (DD-3145-4) dated within 30 days along with the documents identified on the checklist to verify your eligibility for Military Spouse Preference.

How to apply To apply for this position, you must complete the online application and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section above.

A complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration.

• To begin, click Apply to access the online application. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account to apply. If you do not have a USAJOBS account, you will need to create one before beginning the application.
• Follow the prompts to select your resume and/or other supporting documents to be included with your application package. Your resume cannot exceed two pages. See the Required Documents section above for more information.
• You will have the opportunity to upload additional documents to include in your application before it is submitted. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process, and it is your responsibility to ensure that they do so successfully.
• After acknowledging you have reviewed your application package, complete the Include Personal Information section as you deem appropriate and click to continue with the application process.
• You will be taken to the online application and questionnaire which you must complete in order to apply for the position. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation is included with your application package, and submit the application.
• Read the Eligibility questions carefully. Your responses will affect your consideration for the position. You may qualify for more than one eligibility, so please choose carefully. You will only be considered under the options you have selected. If you respond that you do not meet any of the eligibility questions, you will not be considered for this position.
• To view the questionnaire, click here: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13094709

Failure to submit a complete application package will result in an ineligible rating and loss of consideration.

Do not email or send hard copy resumes/applications to the Contact Information or Agency Information listed in this vacancy announcement. All resumes/applications received at the addresses listed in the Contact Information or Agency Information will be destroyed and will not be considered for this vacancy announcement.

It is the applicant's responsibility to verify that all information in their resume and documents are legible and accurate. HR will not modify answers/documents submitted by an applicant. Other information Probationary Periods: As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

Reemployed Annuitants: Applicants in receipt of an annuity based on civilian employment in the Federal Service are subject to the DoD Policy on The Employment of Annuitants (DODI 1400.25, volume 300). http://www.esd.whs.mil/DD/DoD-Issuances/140025/

Nepotism: Under the provisions of 5 USC 3110, an individual may not be appointed into a position if the position is under the supervisory chain of command of a relative.

Additional vacancies may be filled by this announcement.