Summary

The Office of Information Technology is seeking applicants for their IT Specialist (INFOSEC) (Cybersecurity Automation Engineer) position. You will design, build, and sustain automation that strengthens SEC security operations, infrastructure-as-code, security-tool integrations, and SOAR playbooks across on-premises and cloud environments. As a senior technical authority and escalation point, you will lead automation projects, guide supporting contractors, and reduce operational toil.

Duties

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In this role as a Cybersecurity Automation Engineer, you will be responsible for:

• Designing, developing, and maintaining infrastructure and configuration automation, using configuration-management and orchestration tooling to deploy, harden, and sustain enterprise security platforms consistently and at scale.
• Building and maintaining integrations between security and IT tools via REST/Graph APIs and custom Python to automate data exchange, enrichment, and workflow handoffs across the environment.
• Developing, testing, and operating SOAR playbooks that automate triage, enrichment, containment, and response actions in coordination with the SOC.
• Applying software-engineering discipline to all automation artifacts source control, peer code review, automated testing, and CI/CD pipelines to ensure reliable, auditable, and repeatable delivery.
• Maintaining, monitoring, and troubleshooting production automation, managing version, dependency, and secret-handling lifecycle to keep workflows secure and current.
• Serving as the senior technical authority and escalation point for automation issues, leading automation projects end-to-end, and directing the technical work of supporting contractor staff.
• Collaborating with the SOC, logging and observability, network operations, cloud infrastructure and operations teams, and product vendors to scope, integrate, and improve automation capabilities.
• Engineering automation across hybrid (on-premises and cloud) environments, including serverless and AI-assisted cloud workflows where appropriate.
• Translating manual, repetitive operational and response tasks into resilient automated workflows that reduce toil and improve mean time to respond.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• CITZENSHIP: You must be a US Citizen.
• SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see https://www.sss.gov/).
• SECURITY CLEARANCE: Entrance on duty is contingent upon completion of a pre-employment security investigation. Favorable results on a Background Investigation may be a condition of employment or selection to another position.
• PERMANENT CHANGE OF STATION (PCS): Moving/Relocation expenses are not authorized.
• DIRECT DEPOSIT: All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.
• PROBATIONARY PERIOD: This appointment may require completion of a one-year probationary period.
• The selectee is required to report to the duty station(s) listed.
• The duties of this position may require the incumbent to carry a cell phone and be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week on a rotational basis, based on the needs of the organization.

Qualifications

Applicants are responsible for confirming all required materials are submitted by the closing date of the announcement. Please check the HowYou Will Be Evaluated and Required Documents sections carefully, as missing documents will render the application incomplete and ineligible for review.

Qualifying experience may be obtained in the private or public sector. 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). 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. All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

BASIC REQUIREMENT: For all positions individuals must have IT-related experience demonstrating each of the four competencies listed below:

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.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: In addition to meeting the basic requirement, applicants must also meet the minimum qualification requirement below.

SK-14: Applicant must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS/SK-13 level:

1. Automating security workflows to support integrations, orchestration playbooks, and testing;
2. Designing security automations that support secure deployment pipelines and infrastructure-as-code practices;
3. Preparing guidance related to adopting or retiring automation capabilities in light of cloud-automation; and
4. Applying AI/ML techniques to security automation initiatives with appropriate governance and risk-management controls.

ACCOMPLISHMENT RECORD COMPETENCIES: Your Accomplishment Record narratives should address the following competencies. See the How You Will Be Evaluated section below for more information:

• Software and Systems Integration and Testing - Uses principles, methods, and procedures for evaluating, installing, integrating, and optimizing information systems components as well as the principles, methods, and tools for analyzing and developing systems test and evaluation procedures and technical characteristics of IT systems, including identifying critical operational issues.
• Development, Security and Operations Management (DevSecOps) - Develops and implements continuous and automated accountability and security processes to support delivery and maintenance of enterprise IT solutions.
• Innovative Technology Strategies - Ability to develop and implement innovative technology strategies based on knowledge of IT principles, standards, risks, and industry best practices.
• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning - Uses principles, methods, and tools to design or implement systems that perform and apply human-like intelligence functions such as those that use neural networks, deep learning, natural language processing, and image recognition.

Additional information

Supplementary vacancies may be filled in addition to the number stated in this announcement and may be filled from any division or office within the agency.

SEC COMPENSATION PROGRAM: Total salary (base pay + locality) is dependent upon duty location. The overall salary range listed above is provided for informational purposes; a selectee's initial pay will be established below the maximum rate of the range. The pay for current SEC employees will be determined according to the procedures specified in the agency's policy. Please click here for a compensation overview.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR SURPLUS OR DISPLACED FEDERAL EMPLOYEES: If you have never worked for the federal government, you are not I/CTAP eligible. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: (1) meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria; the questionnaire asks you to identify your ICTAP/CTAP eligibility (2) be rated well-qualified; and, (3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility. View information about I/CTAP eligibility on OPM's Career Transition Resources website.

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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.

Benefits

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.