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Security Specialist

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Goddard Space Flight Center

Summary

As a NASA Special Agent and Security Specialist for the Goddard Space Flight Center within the Protective Services Division, you will be responsible for providing criminal and administrative investigations, physical security assessments, design and oversight of physical security solutions.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
05/07/2026 to 05/13/2026
Salary
$106,437 - $158,322 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 13
Locations
2 vacancies in the following locations:
Goddard Space Flight Ctr
Greenbelt, MD
Wallops Flight Facility
Wallops Island, VA
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
13
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
GSFC-26-IMP-12947189-JM
Control number
867366700

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Current NASA federal employees serving on a career, career-conditional, VRA, Schedule A for individuals with disabilities, or NASA term appointment that provides eligibility to convert to a permanent appointment.

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Duties

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  • Perform work involving physical security measures to safeguard personnel, facilities, information, and critical assets at federal and leased facilities.
  • Perform criminal and administrative investigations, including interviewing subjects, witnesses, and victims in coordination with NASA Office of Inspector General and other authorities.
  • Conduct risk analyses of operations, facilities, and assets to ensure appropriate implementation and maintenance of security systems, including access control, alarms, and surveillance.
  • Conduct investigative activities including case reviews, surveillance operations, evidence collection, and providing testimony in administrative or judicial proceedings.
  • Prepare written investigative reports and provide findings to leadership and appropriate authorities to support investigative conclusions.

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.
  • 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.
  • Financial Disclosure, Drug Testing, and/or the Travel Requirements for this position may differ and be required based on the duty location/NASA Center requirements
  • If selected, you must be able to meet the standards and training qualifications in strict compliance with 14 CFR, Chapter V, Part 1203b.103 Security Programs Arrest Authority, and Use of Force by NASA Security Force personnel.

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-13, you must have one year of directly related specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 level:

  • Conducting physical security assessments of facilities, including evaluating access control systems, alarms, and surveillance systems to identify vulnerabilities.
  • Conducting complex criminal and administrative investigations.
  • Developing and implementing physical security measures or systems to protect personnel, facilities, and equipment, including overseeing installation or upgrades.

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 applying for a GS-12 or higher level and 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.

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 outlined in this vacancy announcement. Your resume and supporting documentation will be reviewed in conjunction with your responses to the assessment questionnaire. As part of the assessment, your responses to the Written Interview prompts will be scored and used to place you into one of three quality groups. These scores, along with your qualifications and supporting materials, will determine your referral status. Please ensure your application materials and responses accurately reflect your experience and competencies, as misrepresentation may result in removal from consideration.

These competencies will be assessed using technical assessments. They may also be evaluated during a structured interview:

  • Attention to Detail
  • Criminal Investigation
  • Decision Making
  • Oral Communication
  • Physical Security
  • Public Safety and Security
  • Security and Program Protection
  • Security
  • Surveillance
  • Teamwork
  • Writing

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.

Goddard Space Flight Center

Explore the Extraordinary
Calling all the innovators, pioneers, visionaries, and adventurers! We are a diverse group of professionals united by a common purpose: to discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity. We're building on our rich legacy by embarking on new and exciting missions, both on Earth and beyond and we're looking for fresh ideas to help us get there. Do you have a passion for exploration? Do you want your work to leave an enduring impact? Join us in a career that can take you farther than you can imagine. At NASA, our work is more than just a profession-it's a lifelong pursuit, a passion, and a chance to change the world. NASA is more than astronauts. We are scientists, engineers, IT specialists, human resources specialists, accountants, writers, technicians and many other kinds of people working together to break barriers to achieve the seemingly impossible.

Explore the extraordinary, every day; explore a career at NASA!

Agency contact information

NASA Shared Services Center
Phone
1-877-677-2123
Fax
1-866-779-6772
Email
nssc-staffing@mail.nasa.gov
Address
Goddard Space Flight Center
8800 Greenbelt Rd
Greenbelt, MD 20771
US

Visit our careers page

Learn more about what it's like to work at Goddard Space Flight Center, what the agency does, and about the types of careers this agency offers.

https://www.nasa.gov/careers

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