Duties

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As a Lead Security Specialist some of your typical work assignments include:

• Demonstrating mastery in planning, integrating, and overseeing complex, multi-disciplinary security programs-including protecting NSI, COMSEC accountability, OPSEC governance, Insider Threat mitigation, and SCIF accreditation. Applying expert knowledge of Executive Orders, Intelligence Community directives, DOE/IN requirements, and national security regulations to develop, interpret, and implement agency-level security policies. Exercising full technical independence in directing security program objectives, resolving interagency jurisdictional gaps, and ensuring the reliability, compliance, and operational readiness of secure facilities, systems, and classified processes.

• Expertly interpret, reconcile, and apply a wide range of evolving, and often conflicting, national-level security directives to agency operations. Develop new policies, SOPs, and operational protocols where precedent is lacking, ensuring Commission programs comply with ODNI, DOE, DHS, NSA, DoD, and Intelligence Community standards. Provide authoritative guidance on regulatory requirements, derivative classification, SCIF lifecycle management, and COMSEC/SCI program compliance, influencing policy decisions across internal and external stakeholders.

• Conduct complex threat, vulnerability, and risk assessments across multiple security disciplines, identifying exposures impacting classified operations, personnel security, and sensitive information systems. Develop and implement innovative countermeasures, integrate behavioral and technical indicators for Insider Threat detection, and lead security inspections, investigations, and corrective actions. Oversee the evaluation of security incidents, insider-risk events, COMSEC anomalies, and OPSEC vulnerabilities, ensuring mitigation strategies strengthen agency-wide security posture and continuity of operations.

• Lead collaboration and negotiation with senior officials, interagency partners (e.g., DOE-IN, ODNI, DHS, CIA), contractors, and technical specialists to resolve complex security, compliance, and operational issues. Coordinate maintenance and service delivery for secure IT systems with multiple external providers, ensuring system uptime despite ambiguous or overlapping responsibilities. Influence decision-making in high-stakes environments by articulating security requirements, resolving disputes, guiding personnel on clearance matters, and representing the agency in interagency councils and working groups.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• You must provide your SF-50 (see Required Documents section).
• A one-year probationary period may be required.
• A background investigation is required.
• This is not a bargaining unit position.
• Generally, male applicants must be registered with the Selective Service.
• Relocation expenses will not be paid.
• If hired, you may be required to divest certain energy-related securities.
• Maximum of 2-page resume.
• You must be able to obtain and maintain a Top Secret/SCI Clearance

Qualifications

You must meet the qualification (experience and/or education) requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

To view the eligibility and qualification requirements of a Lead Security Specialist, GS-0080, please visit: Security Specialist, 0080 | Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

You must have one full year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-13 level. Specialized experience is defined as: Experience in managing Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) programs and Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) accreditation; serving as a Communications Security Custodian (COMSEC) in compliance with NSA/DoD requirements; leading Operational Security (OPSEC) and Insider Threat programs; coordinating with multi agency partners; and implementing Intelligence Community (IC) directives and federal security policies.

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 any volunteer experience.

Please do not cut and paste the "Duties" section, specialized experience statement, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume, as this will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.

Education

There is no education requirement for this position; therefore, transcripts are not required.

Additional information

The duty location of this position is Washington, D.C.

If selected for this position, you will be required to:

• Complete a Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306) to determine your suitability for Federal employment.
• Have your Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of your choice.
• Attend a mandatory ethics training. We are governed by the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) Standards of Conduct, the criminal conflict of interest statutes, and FERC's supplemental ethics regulation, which specifically prohibits FERC employees from holding certain energy-related securities. To comply with these regulations and statutes, divestiture of at least some energy securities is likely to be required after you begin employment. See 5 C.F.R. 2634-41; 18 U.S.C. 201-208; 5 C.F.R. 3401. If selected, you may also be required to file a financial disclosure statement within 30 days of appointment.
• Receive authorization from OPM on any job offer you receive, if you are or were (within the last 5 years) a political Schedule A, Schedule C, or Non-Career SES employee in the Executive Branch.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a one-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. 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.

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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.

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.