Clarification from the agency

Current federal civilian employees in the competitive service on permanent career or career-conditional appointments.

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The duties of the Supervisory Information Technology Specialist (Digital Forensics Lab Director) GS-2210-14:

• Provides strategic and technical leadership for the INV digital forensics laboratory, including supervising personnel, defining work requirements, assigning tasks, evaluating work products, and overseeing performance management, workforce development, and equal opportunity compliance.
• Directs, develops, and manages all digital forensic lab operations, programs, and long- and short-range projects; prioritize and track support tasks; maintain situational awareness of lab activities; and ensure investigative teams receive timely, high-quality forensic support.
• Oversees enterprise forensic network operations, including administration of user accounts, security controls, data integrity, redundancy, system maintenance, and all assets supporting digital forensic activities such as servers, switches, and storage systems.
• Develops, maintains, and enforces digital forensic laboratory policies, procedures, and documentation; ensure staff compliance with standards and best practices; manage equipment lifecycle (licensing, patching, authority-to-operate compliance); and supervise lab inventory.
• Serves as a working technical expert by conducting or overseeing complex forensic examinations and e-discovery activities-using advanced forensic tools to collect, preserve, recover, and analyze digital evidence, including mobile devices, computers, and network systems.
• Leads development of new forensic methodologies, approve changes to examination processes, review technical reports for accuracy and compliance, and ensure continuous improvement through analysis of metrics, lessons learned, and performance trends.
• Represents INV in interagency, operational, and technical engagements; maintain liaison with federal, state, local, and international partners; provide briefings and training on forensic capabilities; and coordinate with external stakeholders to advance mission requirements.

Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen. You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.
• You may be subject to pre-employment and random drug tests.
• All employees will be required to successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit www.dhs.gov/E-Verify/.
• May be required to successfully complete a probationary/trial period
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see https://www.sss.gov/Home/Registration)
• Must participate in the direct deposit pay program.
• You may be required to obtain and maintain an interim and/or final security clearance prior to entrance on duty. Failure to obtain and maintain the required level of clearance may result in the withdrawal of a job offer or removal.
• You will be required to complete a Declaration for Federal Employment to determine your suitability for Federal Employment, at the time requested by agency.
• The employee is required to submit a Financial Disclosure Statement, OGE-450 upon entering the position and annually.
• You may be required to travel domestically and internationally.
• You may be required to complete a one-year Supervisory probationary period.
• Must possess at least one of the following certifications or recognized equivalent: CFCE, EnCE, ACE, CCPA, GCFE, GCFA, GNFA.

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.

Time-In-Grade Requirements: Federal applicants must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade to satisfy time-in-grade restrictions, per 5CFR 300, Subpart F. NOTE: Applicants must meet time-in-grade and time after competitive appointment requirements, by the closing date of this announcement.

Time-in-grade documentation: If you are applying for a higher grade and your SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you meet the 1-year time-in-grade requirement so you will need to provide an SF-50 which clearly demonstrates you meet the time-in-grade requirements, such as your step increase SF-50. (examples of appropriate SF-50s include: Promotions, Within-grade Grade/Range Increases, and SF-50s with an effective date more than one year old).

This position has both a basic occupational requirement and a minimum qualification requirement. You must meet both requirements.

BASIC REQUIREMENT: You must have IT-related experience, at the GS-13 grade level in the federal government, demonstrating each of the four competencies listed:
I have IT-related experience, demonstrated by paid or unpaid experience obtained in either the private or public sector and/or completion of specific, intensive training that demonstrates that I possess each of the following four competencies:

• (1) Attention to Detail - Is thorough when performing work and conscientious about attending to detail.
• (2) Customer Service - Works with clients and customers (that is, any individuals who use or receive the services or products that your work unit produces, including the general public, individuals who work in the agency, other agencies, or organizations outside the Government) to assess their needs, provide information or assistance, resolve their problems, or satisfy their expectations; knows about available products and services; is committed to providing quality products and services.
• (3) Oral Communication - Expresses information (for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing oral presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately.
• (4) Problem Solving - Identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives, and to make recommendations.

• Leading and supervising digital forensics laboratory personnel, including assigning work, defining technical requirements and milestones, evaluating employee performance and work products, and implementing performance improvements or corrective actions.
• Developing, directing, and managing digital forensic lab operations, programs, and long- and short-range project plans; prioritizing and tracking technical support tasks; maintaining situational awareness of lab activities; and ensuring alignment with investigative mission requirements.
• Administering and overseeing enterprise forensic network systems, including user and permission management, security controls, data integrity, redundancy, virus protection, data backup, and performance monitoring for servers, switches, SAN devices, and related infrastructures.
• Creating, maintaining, and enforcing digital forensic laboratory policies and procedures; ensuring compliance with governing directives, accreditation standards, and best practices; and managing equipment lifecycle requirements, including licensing, patching, and authority-to-operate compliance.
• Conducting or supervising complex digital forensic examinations using advanced tools and methodologies to collect, preserve, process, and analyze electronic evidence, including mobile devices, computers, and network sources, preparing technical reports and ensuring adherence to forensically sound procedures.
• Developing new forensic methodologies, approving procedural changes, reviewing reports for accuracy and compliance, analyzing metrics, and identifying operational gaps to enhance laboratory effectiveness, efficiency, and readiness.
• Representing investigative technology and forensic lab capabilities to senior leadership, partner agencies, and external stakeholders; maintaining interagency liaison; and preparing and presenting briefings or training on digital forensic operations.

• International Association of Computer Investigative Specialist, Certified Computer Forensics Examiner (CFCE)
• OpenText, EnCase Certified Examiner (EnCE)
• Exterro, Exterro Certified Examiner (ACE)
• Cellebrite Certified Physical Analyst (CCPA)
• GIAC Certified Forensic Examiner (GCFE), Analyst (GCFA) or Network Forensic Analyst (GNFA)

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 based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position.

THIS POSITION REQUIRES A CERTIFICATION
You are strongly encouraged to include a copy of your certification in your application package

The USA Hire Assessments includes a cut score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment.

Structured Resume Review: Subject matter experts (SMEs) will review your resume to determine your technical qualifications for this position based on the required specialized experience. SMEs will review ONLY two (2) pages of your resume. SMEs will not review additional information beyond your resume (e.g., cover letter, links embedded in your resume). Applicants passing the structured resume review will move on to the next phase of the assessment process.

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

Competencies Bullets

• Accountability
• Customer Service
• Decisiveness
• Flexibility
• Interpersonal Skills
• Problem Solving
• Resilience
• Partnering
• Computer Forensics
• Forensics
• Oral Communication
• Written Communication