Cyber Defense Threat Hunter
What you'd do
This announcement is issued under the Direct Hire Authority (DHA) to recruit for positions for which there is a critical hiring need. Selectee(s) will receive a career or career-conditional appointment in the competitive service and may be required to serve a one year probationary period. The official title of this position is Information Technology Cybersecurity Specialist (INFOSEC) GS-2210-11/12/13.
Major duties
Typical work assignments at the full performance level include, but are not limited to: Threat Hunting Support: Assisting in the execution of threat hunting activities across IT and Operational Technology (OT) environments. Helping identify and investigate basic anomalous activity and indicators of compromise (IOCs) using established procedures and tools. Behavior-Based and Heuristic Analysis: Applying behavioral analytics to detect deviations from normal activity, using predefined methods and guidance from senior staff. Supporting the use of heuristic techniques to identify potential threats through pattern recognition and anomaly detection. Incident Response Assistance: Providing basic support during security incidents, helping to document findings and assist with containment and remediation efforts. Collaboration: Working as part of a team with SOC, OT engineering, and IT staff to share information and support threat intelligence activities. Participating in meetings and projects related to cybersecurity. Reporting and Communication: Preparing draft reports summarizing threat hunting findings and recommendations. Communicating results to team members and contribute to briefings for technical and non-technical audiences. Network Signature Implementation: Deploying and testing network signatures as directed to detect common threats and attack techniques. Assisting in tuning signatures to improve detection accuracy under supervision. Continuous Learning: Staying informed about common threats and vulnerabilities relevant to critical infrastructure. Participating in training and research to improve threat hunting skills and knowledge.
What you need to qualify
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. Your resume must describe your work and experience, in your own words. To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you have the required education and/or experience for the respective grade level in which you are applying. Applicants must demonstrate that they meet the Basic Requirements AND Minimum Qualification requirements as listed below. BASIC REQUIREMENT: REQUIRED COMPETENCIES: Experience must be Information Technology (IT)-related; the experience may be demonstrated by paid or unpaid experience and/or completion of specific, intensive training (for example, IT certification), as appropriate. You must have IT-related experience demonstrating each of the competencies listed below: You qualify at the GS-11 grade level, if you have: 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. 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. 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. You qualify at the GS-12 and GS-13 grade level, if you have: Attention to Detail - See above for definition. Customer Service - See above for definition. 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 - See above for definition. 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 - See above for definition. Teamwork - See above for definition. Technical Competence - See above for definition. AND MINIMUM QUALIFICTIONS: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: In addition to meeting the qualification requirement listed above, you must have at least one year of specialized experience at the next lower GS-grade level (or equivalent). Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular competencies/knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position and is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Such experience is typically gained in the IT field or through the performance of work where the primary concern is IT. GS-11 You qualify at the GS-11 grade level if you have at least one (1) year of specialized experience at the GS-09 grade level (or equivalent) performing the following duties: Assisting in the execution of threat hunting activities across IT and Operational Technology (OT) environments; Assisting, identifying, and investigating basic anomalous activity and indicators of compromise (IOCs) using established procedures and tools; AND Performing basic support during security incidents, helping to document findings and assisting with containment and remediation efforts. GS-12 You qualify at the GS-12 grade level if you have at least one (1) year of specialized experience at the GS-11 grade level (or equivalent) performing the following duties: Performing execution of threat hunting activities across IT and Operational Technology (OT) environments; Performing cyber defense incident triage, to include determining scope, urgency, and potential impact, identifying the specific vulnerability, and making recommendations that enable expeditious remediation; AND Coordinating and providing expert technical support to enterprise-wide cyber defense technicians to resolve cyber defense incidents. GS-13 You qualify at the GS-13 grade level if you have at least one (1) year of specialized experience at the GS-12 grade level (or equivalent) performing the following duties: Overseeing in the execution of threat hunting activities across IT and Operational Technology (OT) environments; Collecting, analyzing, and correlating events and alerts from multiple enterprise systems (e.g., Intrusion Detection System (IDS), security event logs, endpoint artifacts, service logs and operating system event logs, etc.) to investigate and/or research cyber security incidents; AND Developing requirements and defining interfaces with internal and external stakeholders to ensure timely mission execution. 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.
Before you apply
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