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Intelligence Research Specialist

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Headquarters, NASA

Summary

You will serve as a Cyber Counterintelligence Special Agent/Analyst assigned to NASA's Counterintelligence & Counterterrorism (CI/CT) Division. You will identify, analyze, and disrupt foreign intelligence threats targeting network infrastructure, programs, systems, personnel, and operations. You will also provide Cyber CI support to research and technology at NASA, provide CI education and awareness, and conduct CI inquiries and investigations with U.S. Government agency partners.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
12/17/2025 to 12/23/2025
Salary
$129,690 to - $168,597 per year

The salary shown reflects the 2025 rates of pay for GS employees.

Pay scale & grade
GS 14
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Redstone Arsenal, AL
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
14
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Sensitive Compartmented Information
Drug test
Yes
Position sensitivity and risk
Special-Sensitive (SS)/High Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
Yes
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
HQ-26-ST-12847463-BL
Control number
852489000

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Veterans who are eligible for Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA), who are 30% or more disabled, or disabled veterans who have completed a VA training program This position is also open to: · Current permanent federal employees of an excepted service agency with an OPM interchange agreement · NASA term employees with conversion eligibility under the NASA Flexibility Act of 2004

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Duties

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  • Serve as a CI Cyber Special Agent/Analyst monitoring networks, endpoints, and cloud environments for indicators of intelligence-driven cyber targeting and analyzing anomalies, persistent threats, insider threats, and foreign intelligence activities.
  • Conduct and support cyber and CI investigations through analysis and correlation of technical data, logs, digital forensics, and threat assessments. Develop actionable intelligence products that inform stakeholders of foreign cyber threats.
  • Brief executives, mission owners, and other leadership on CI-relevant cyber events. Advise leadership on security posture, gaps, and recommended countermeasures. Produce high-visibility threat and vulnerability assessments and intelligence reports.
  • Conduct all-source intelligence research and analysis on technical CI topics of interest and synthesize all-source data to identify patterns, commonalities, and linkages for attribution.
  • Establish and maintain liaison with counterpart US agencies such as the FBI and other intelligence, CI, and security organizations; participates in the local and national FBI Cyber Task Force.
  • Lead or support cyber-CI related incident response actions, support mitigation of cyber intrusions tied to foreign actors, and preserve the integrity of digital evidence for counterintelligence and/or law enforcement follow-on actions.
  • Support recommendations of defensive controls, segmentation, monitoring enhancements, and policy updates.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • This position is open to U.S. citizens, nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.
  • This position may require a one-year probationary/trial period. If selected, the requirement to serve such period will be determined by Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 11. **See Additional Information section**
  • Current Federal employees must meet qualifications, time in grade, and 90 days after competitive appointment requirements by the closing date of the announcement.
  • Position subject to pre-employment background investigation.
  • If selected, you will be required to complete a financial disclosure statement.

Qualifications

Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular ability, skill, and knowledge to successfully perform the duties of this position and is typically in or related to this line of work.

To qualify for GS-14, you must have one year of directly related specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level:

  • Conducting cyber operations or cyber analysis in two or more of the following areas: cyber defense, cyber and hybrid cyber threat intelligence analysis, digital forensics, and/or counterintelligence operations.
  • Conducting network analysis, endpoint telemetry, packet capture, and using SIEM/SOAR and logging tools, forensic platforms, and/or scripting. Identifying adversary tactics, techniques, and procedures, including foreign profiles and malware groups.
  • Analyzing and fusing cyber and human-based intelligence reporting to create concise assessments and responding to targeted cyber events or supporting cyber investigations.
Your resume must include a clear and detailed narrative description, in your own words, of how you meet the required specialized experience. Experience statements copied from a position description, vacancy announcement or other reference material constitutes plagiarism and may result in disqualification and losing consideration for the job.

NASA prohibits the use of artificial intelligence (AI) or AI-assisted tool in drafting application and assessment responses. Please visit https://www.nasa.gov/careers/how-to-apply/#Artificial-Intelligence to review NASA's guidance on the use of AI tools during the application process.

Education

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

Additional selections may be made for similar positions across NASA within the local commuting area(s) of the location(s) identified in this announcement. By applying, you agree to have your application shared with interested selecting official(s) within NASA. CTAP/ICTAP will be cleared for any additional selection from this announcement.

If you are a current federal employee, you must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements to be considered eligible for this position. To be eligible, you must have completed a minimum of 52 weeks in a position no more than 1 grade lower than the advertised position. (Please submit your SF-50 that shows Time-in-Grade eligibility and reflects your title, series, and grade. If your eligibility for both merit promotion and/or time-in-grade cannot be determined, your application will be rated ineligible.)
Note: Time-in-grade requirements also apply to applicants who have held a non-temporary, competitive service GS position in the past year.

If you have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP), you must:
- Indicate your eligibility when applying for a position. The questionnaire asks you to identify your ICTAP/CTAP eligibility.
- Be well qualified for this position to receive consideration. Candidates rated in the 'Best Qualified' category are considered well-qualified. Please see 'How You Will Be Evaluated' for more information.
- Submit proof that you meet the requirements for CTAP/ICTAP as indicated in 'Required Documents'

For additional information about CTAP/ICTAP eligibility, click here - https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/#ictap.

Qualified NASA term employees who have term conversion eligibility (Term Appointments | NASA) under the NASA Flexibility Act of 2004 will be referred and considered equally with other NASA permanent employees under internal competitive placement procedures.

Per Executive Order 14343, this position is not part of a bargaining unit.

Probationary/Trial Period

You may 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. If selected, the requirement to serve such period will be determined by Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 11.

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.

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.

How you will be evaluated

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

You will be evaluated for this position based on how well you meet the qualifications and eligibility requirements listed in this vacancy announcement. To determine your qualifications and referral status, we may review your resume and supporting documentation and compare it against your responses to the assessment questionnaire. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or assessment questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration.

You will be assessed on the following competencies:

  • Counterintelligence/Counterterrorism Analysis, Investigation and Liaison
  • Information Systems Security
  • Computer Network Defense
  • Information Systems/Network Security

NASA considers 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.

Under NASA's quality grouping process, applicants will be assessed on the position competencies and placed in one of three groups identified and defined below:
  • Best Qualified Group - Applicants who demonstrate a superior level of all evaluation criteria.
  • Highly Qualified Group - Applicants who demonstrate a satisfactory level of the evaluation criteria.
  • Qualified Group - Applicants who demonstrate the basic qualifications, with general knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Candidates eligible for ICTAP/CTAP, reemployment priority or priority consideration will be referred before other candidates, as necessary. If no such candidates apply or are eligible to be referred, the following candidates will be sent to the hiring official for employment consideration:
  • Best Qualified merit promotion candidates. Highly Qualified merit promotion candidates may also be referred, if additional candidates are needed.
  • Qualified candidates eligible for consideration under Schedule A or VRA in accordance with veterans' preference rules, as applicable.
  • Qualified candidates that are eligible for special hiring authorities or non-competitive hiring authorities.
NASA will not ask you to disclose criminal history record information during the application process or before we make a conditional/tentative offer of employment. If you apply for this position and are selected, NASA will conduct a suitability/security background investigation after you accept a tentative job offer. If you feel you are asked to disclose your criminal history before you accept a tentative offer and wish to file a complaint within 30 days, please contact: Agency-FCCJ@NASA.gov.

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