Senior Advisor

Federal Emergency Management Agency

$110K — $130K *
Education, Government & Non-Profit
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5-7 years of specialized experience in security program management at the federal level or equivalent.
  • Expertise in legislation and regulations applicable to security operations.
  • Strong analytical skills for assessing security programs and operations.
  • Proven ability to provide authoritative security advice to senior officials.
  • Experience coordinating complex projects across various security domains.

Responsibilities

  • Advise the CSO and DCSO on security program issues and prepare high visibility reports.
  • Support security services for all FEMA components and regional offices.
  • Develop and evaluate security programs consistent with agency goals.
  • Create responses to congressional inquiries and manage OMB recommendations.
  • Review and enhance security procedures for disaster management operations.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
  • Retirement plans and Thrift Savings Plan (similar to a 401k).
  • Flexible work schedules and personal leave days.
  • Tuition reimbursement and training opportunities.
  • Employee Assistance Program and wellness programs.
Full Job Description
Summary

This position is in the Office of the Chief Security Officer. The ideal candidate serves as the Senior Advisor to the Chief Security Officer (CSO) and Deputy Chief Security Officer (DCSO), providing trusted, high-level advice and recommendations on the formulation, execution, and evaluation of security programs, including broad cross-cutting initiatives and projects.

Duties

Help

What will I do in this position if hired?

In this position, you will work serving as the primary source of high-level security program and operations advice and expertise to the CSO, DCSO, and Directors on complex security matters relative to the Agency to include disaster security, physical security, information security, operational security, personnel security, counterintelligence and fraud prevention programs. Typical assignments include:

  • Providing high level advice to the CSO and DCSO on a broad range of cross-cutting security program and project issues and creating high visibility products to include responses to congressional inquiries, US Government Accountability office audit reports, prepare correspondence for congressional hearings, prepare Office of Management and Budget recommendations.
  • Providing direct security support and services for all FEMA components for Headquarters, 10 Regional offices, National Emergency Training Center, Center for Domestic Preparedness/Noble Training Center and other locations supporting the larger emergency management team.
  • Providing authoritative security program advice and recommendation to the CSO and DSCO related to the formulation, execution and evaluation of short (3-12 months) and long-range (5-10 months) technical, operational and management programs and projects; ensures plans are consistent with agency goals, schedules and policies.
  • Developing, reviewing, and evaluating present and proposed security programs, procedures and operations for various phases of program accomplishments.


What else do I need to know?

At FEMA, our mission is to help people before, during and after disasters, and every employee at FEMA has a role in emergency management. Every FEMA employee has regular and recurring emergency management responsibilities, though not every position requires routine deployment to disaster sites. All positions are subject to recall around the clock for emergency management operations, which may require irregular work hours, work at locations other than the official duty station, and may include duties other than those specified in the employee's official position description. Travel requirements in support of emergency operations may be extensive in nature (weeks to months), with little advance notice, and may require employees to relocate to emergency sites with physically austere and operationally challenging conditions.

Requirements

Help

Conditions of employment

To ensure the accomplishment of our mission, DHS requires every employee to be reliable and trustworthy. To meet those standards, all selected applicants must undergo, successfully pass, and maintain a background investigation for Top Secret as a condition of placement into this position. This may include a credit check after initial job qualifications are determined, a review of financial issues, such as delinquency in the payment of debts, child support and/or tax obligations, as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs (please visit: Mythbuster on Federal Hiring Policies for additional information). For more information on background investigations for Federal jobs please visit OPM Investigations.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office.

Please ensure you meet the qualification requirements described below.

Key Requirements:

  1. You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position.
  2. You must successfully pass a background investigation.
  3. Selective Service registration required.
  4. Current federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements.
  5. You must be able to obtain and maintain a Government credit card.
  6. You must be able to deploy with little or no advance notice to anywhere in the United States and its territories for an extended period of time.
  7. Please review the Additional Information section for additional key requirements.


Qualifications

Current Federal employees must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent grade band in the Federal service. The qualification requirements listed below must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

To qualify for this position at the GS-15 level, you must possess one full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-14 level in the Federal government, which has equipped you with the skills needed to successfully perform the duties of the position. Experience may be obtained in the federal government, a state or local government, or private sector, and must demonstrate the following:

  1. Analyzing, planning, scheduling, and coordination on a broad function the development of legislation, regulation or security policy issuances that direct the course of security programs; and
  2. Demonstrating comprehensive knowledge and understanding of complex security operations, administrative functions, and systems to identify and develop relevant program evaluation studies and activities; and
  3. Applying analytical and evaluative methods to systematically assess issues and conduct in-depth analyses of project data; and
  4. Provides authoritative security program advice and recommendations to the COS and DCSO on a broad range of cross-cutting security programs and projects.


Please read the following important information to ensure we have everything we need to consider your application:

  • Do not copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.
  • Please limit your resume to two pages. The USAJOBS database will not allow an applicant to submit an application that includes a resume over two pages.
  • Your resume serves as the basis for experience related qualification determinations, and you must highlight your most relevant and significant work experience and education (if applicable), as it relates to this job opportunity. Please use your own words, be clear, and specific when describing your work history. We cannot make assumptions regarding your experience.


Are you qualifying based on your work experience?

  • Qualifications are based on your ability to demonstrate in your resume that you possess one year of the specialized experience for this announcement at a comparable scope and responsibility. To ensure all of the essential information is in your resume, we encourage you to use the USAJOBS online Resume Builder. If you choose to use your own resume, it must contain the following information organized by experience/position: (1) job title, (2) name of employer, (3) start and end dates of each period of employment (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY), (4) detailed description of duties performed, accomplishments, and related skills, and (5) hours worked per week (part-time employment will be prorated in crediting experience). Federal experience/positions must also include the grade level, occupational series and dates in which you held each grade level.
  • Are you a current or former FEMA Reservist/Disaster Assistance Employee (DAE)? To accurately credit your experience from intermittent positions and Reservist Deployments, you must list the dates (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY) of deployments that are relevant to your qualifying experience, along with the job title and specific duties you were responsible for during each deployment.
  • Determining length of General or Specialized Experience is dependent on the above information. Failure to provide the above information in your resume may result in your application being found "not qualified."
  • 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 provides valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.


For additional information on crediting experience and/or education, please reference the OPM General Schedule Qualification Standards.

Education

No Educational Substitution: There is no educational substitution for this position, and you must meet the qualifications listed in the "requirements" section of this announcement.

Additional information

  • If you receive a conditional offer of employment for this position, you will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application, prior to entry on duty. False statements on any part of the application may result in withdrawal of offer of employment, dismissal after beginning work, fine, or imprisonment.
  • The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act prohibits the Department of Homeland Security and its Components from requesting an applicant's criminal history record before that individual receives a conditional offer of employment. In accordance with 5 U.S. Code a7 9202(c) and 5 C.F.R a7 920.201 certain positions are exempt from the provisions of the Fair Chance to Compete Act. Applicants who believe they have been subjected to a violation of the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act, may submit a written complaint to [redacted].


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

Help

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.

DHS offers competitive salaries and an attractive benefits package, including health, dental, vision, life, and long-term care insurance; retirement plan; Thrift Savings Plan [similar to a 401(k)]; Flexible Spending Account; Employee Assistance Program; personal leave days; and paid federal holidays.

Other benefits may include flexible work schedules; tuition reimbursement; transportation subsidies; uniform allowance; health and wellness programs; and fitness centers. DHS is committed to employee development and offers a variety of employee training and developmental opportunities. For more information, go to the DHS Careers website and select "Benefits." Disabled veteran leave will be available to any federal employee hired on or after November 5, 2016, who is a veteran with a service- connected disability rating of 30 percent or more.

Review our 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.

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at Federal Emergency Management Agency

More Education, Government & Non-Profit Jobs

Find similar Senior Advisor jobs: