Clarification from the agency

This public notice is issued under Direct Hire Authority (DHA) to recruit talent to occupations for which there is a severe shortage of candidates or a critical hiring need. This means that we can hire any qualified candidate from this notice or any other source. About this DHA notice: -Current civil service employees will receive new appointments if selected under this DHA. -For information on DHA, please visit https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/direct-hire-authority/

We are currently filling one vacancy, but additional vacancies may be filled as needed.

As a Cloud Security Engineer you will perform the following duties:

• Developing and maintaining the security engineering framework and related process and supporting guidelines, integrated into the GSAIT System Development Lifecycle (SDLC), ensuring security engineering and security consulting services are delivered as a formal program capability; utilizes a multidisciplinary approach to ensure that IT security is embedded throughout the IT architecture (e.g. system and cloud architecture, secure API integration, required key technical controls, code quality, cryptography, hash functions, key material handling etc.).
• Ensures multiple software, hardware, communications, process, and integration components across a project are designed and implemented to create a single functioning system that can securely deliver the business functionality proposed; piloting security solutions, procuring necessary hardware/software, and implementing and formally assessing these solutions to verify security features and determine their efficacy against GSA IT Security requirements.
• Reviews and approves all proposed Security Architectures prior to the commencement of the system build (architecture, infrastructure, and code); provides technical expertise and advice on the restructuring and/or re-architecting of GSA networks to ensure the best secure placement and configuration of network tools and appliances to provide the maximum protection of various types of sensitive Government data.
• Design, develop, and integrate interfaces that could be either software or processes to resolve highly complicated and evolving IT security issues faced by GSA; ensures new technologies are implemented following IT Security Engineering standards, integrated with the agency's strategic IT and IT security architecture; and are free of gaps in security.
• Provides security consulting and engineering support for GSAIT information systems and emerging IT and IT Security initiatives, including but not limited to: Cloud computing, bring-your-own-device (BYOD), Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, mobile devices, Remote Access Systems, Mobile Computing Platforms, Active Directory, System Virtualization, physical access control systems (building security), and identity and access management solutions.

Conditions of employment

• US Citizenship or National (Residents of American Samoa and Swains Island)
• Meet all eligibility requirements within 30 days of the closing date.
• Register with Selective Service if you are a male born after 12/31/1959
• Direct Deposit of salary check to financial organization required.

If selected, you must meet the following conditions:

Qualifications

To evaluate your qualifications, your resume must clearly demonstrate how you meet the specialized experience described below. Your resume must not exceed two pages. To ensure your qualifications can be fully evaluated, we recommend including the following information: 

• Name, address, telephone number, email address;

• Job Title (if Federal Service, provide series and grade; if not in GS plan, provide GS equivalent grade);

• Relevant work experience—should include employer name, job title, start and end dates (month/year), the number of hours worked per week and descriptions that explain how you meet the required qualifications in the job announcement.

• Education, certifications or licensures—If the job announcement requires any education, certifications or licensures, make sure to include the required information and any required documents like transcripts.

Your resume should contain enough information to make a valid determination that you fully meet experience requirements for each grade level you are applying to. If you do not provide enough information for us to determine your qualifications, you may be rated ineligible

If you have volunteered your service through a National Service program (e.g., Peace Corps, Americorps), we encourage you to apply and include this experience on your resume.

The GS-14salary range starts at $127,829  per year.

If you are a new federal employee, your starting salary will likely be set at the Step 1 of the grade for which you are selected.  

To qualify, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level or higher in the Federal service and must meet the following requirements: Have IT-related experience demonstrating EACH of the 9 competencies AND one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level in the Federal service as described below: 

IT SPECIALIST COMPETENCY REQUIREMENTS: 

•  Attention to Detail - Is thorough when performing work and conscientious about attending to detail.
• 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. 
• Decision Making - Makes sound, well-informed, and objective decisions; perceives the impact and implications of decisions; commits to action, even in uncertain situations, to accomplish organizational goals; causes change.
•  Information Management - Identifies a need for and knows where or how to gather information; organizes and maintains information or information management systems. 
• Interpersonal Skills - Shows understanding, friendliness, courtesy, tact, empathy, concern, and politeness to others; develops and maintains effective relationships with others; may include effectively dealing with individuals who are difficult, hostile, or distressed; relates well to people from varied backgrounds and different situations. 
• 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. 
• Problem Solving - Identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives, and to make recommendations. 
• Teamwork - Encourages and facilitates cooperation, pride, trust, and group identity; fosters commitment and team spirit; works with others to achieve goals. 
• Technical Competence – Uses knowledge that is acquired through formal training or on-the-job experience to perform one's job; works with, understands, and evaluates technical information related to the job; advises others on technical issues. 

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE:  

In addition to the Basic Requirements listed above, you must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 in the Federal service. 

Specialized experience is defined as experience in information technology security work and validating security control implementations in cloud-native environments. This experience must also include: 

• Analyzing output from automated scanning and assessment tools (e.g. running an automated vulnerability scanner and reviews findings);  
• Planning, developing, or maintaining an organization-wide information security program;
• Implementing and evaluating security controls across enterprise systems and cloud-based environments;
• Conducting security reviews such as system assessments, vulnerability identification, and corrective action tracking; and
• Providing technical guidance to leadership and collaborating across teams to resolve complex security issues (e.g. coordinating with cloud provider engineers to resolve technical gaps in security authorization packages). 

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 against the basic qualifications which includes any specialized experience and/or education requirements (if applicable). Qualified candidates will be considered in accordance with the Office of Personnel Management Direct Hire Guidelines. Applications will not be rated or ranked. Veterans’ Preference is not applicable to the direct hire recruitment procedures. Failure to submit a complete application or missing required supporting documentation may result in you not being considered for the position. Falsification of your background, education, and/or experience is grounds for non-selection or dismissal if hired.

SME Resume Review:

Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) will evaluate your resume to determine your qualifications for this position using a pass/fail process. 

ICTAP/CTAP Candidates: The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found “well-qualified" for this vacancy. In addition to meeting the basic qualifications stated in the qualification section of this announcement, well qualified is defined as: experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position, demonstrated by meeting at least 3 out of 5 KSA’s listed below:

1. Knowledge of IT principles, concepts, standards, practices, systems security engineering, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and emerging cloud technologies to be used to grow and assist an office in securing cloud deployments.

2. Skill in working with multiple operating systems, including Linux Operating Systems (Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, Ubuntu), and knowledge of continuous integration/automation tools (e.g. Ansible, Chef, Puppet, Jenkins, Git, Gerrit).

3. Knowledge of cloud security (AWS in particular), virtualization security, web application security, network architecture and active directory design/segmentation, and secure coding, and source code reviews (e.g. Java, C++, C#, ASP .NET, VB, APEX, Node, Go, Python, PERL, PHP, RoR, etc.) to ensure system security.

4. Knowledge of Information Technology Security programs, including applying experimental theories and new developments to problems not susceptible to treatment by accepted methods.

5. Ability to provide advice and guidance on high level IT security policy issues and initiatives applicable to IT environments; and serve as a senior expert and consultant to top agency management officials to advise on integrating IT programs with other programs of equivalent scope and complexity.

Demonstration of these KSA’s must be supported by your resume.