DHS Headquarters
Mitigation and Response - Leadership
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Summary
This position is in the Leadership Track across a range of career levels. Employees in this career track generally: Have between 5-15 years of cybersecurity work experience. Have between 0-5 years of cybersecurity leadership experience. DHS Cybersecurity Service employees with a technical capability in Mitigation and Response will generally: Track and respond to prioritized urgent IT and cyber events and indicators of compromise (IOCs) to mitigate threats to networks, systems, and applications. Investigate and analyze response activities and employs various advanced response and recovery approaches as appropriate. Apply understanding of tactics, techniques, and procedures for investigative processes, including identifying adversaries' TTPs and applying corresponding defense or security controls. Conduct root cause analysis and response coordination, providing recommendations for mitigation. Execute recovery action plans and adapts plans to handle new developments. DHS Cybersecurity Service employees start at career levels and salaries matching their experience and expertise. To learn more about DHS Cybersecurity Service career tracks and levels, visit our application portal. This position is focused on Mitigation and Response. DHS Cybersecurity Service jobs are structured cybersecurity specializations - called technical capabilities. To learn more about technical capabilities, visit our application portal.
Major Duties
DHS Cybersecurity Service (DHS-CS) uses a multi-phase assessment process to qualify applicants seeking employment through the DHS-CS. Given the ever-advancing nature of cybersecurity and the ongoing need for cybersecurity talent, DHS-CS uses "Talent Pools" to pull qualified applicants (i.e., individuals who have successfully completed the multi-phase assessment process for their capability and career track/level) for consideration for these jobs. This announcement is being used to fill the Mitigation and Response Talent Pool. By applying to this job announcement, you are opting to be part of the DHS-CS Talent Pool for ongoing consideration for employment for relevant open jobs and will remain eligible for consideration for up to one year from the date of completion.There are a variety of Mitigation and Response opportunities across the Department, including supporting several specialized programs at the DHS Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans (PLCY), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), DHS Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the ICE | U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the U.S. Secret Service. Depending on your career level and role, DHS Cybersecurity Service employees in the Leadership Career Track, with a technical capability in Mitigation and Response, will generally apply their expertise to perform a range of tasks, including: Leading and/or overseeing a team or program in monitoring, analysis, incident response, and handling for DHS or its constituents. Proactively analyzing network traffic patterns to identify possible threats - includes analyzing log files from a variety of sources (e.g., individual host logs, network traffic logs, firewall logs, and intrusion detection system [IDS] logs) and using other analytic tools and data science methodologies. Leading others in monitoring DHS environments for potential threats or vulnerabilities, providing DHS or external agency/private industry leadership with situational visibility across the enterprise. Overseeing threat assessments for vulnerabilities on networks, systems software, and hardware and recommending appropriate mitigation. Ensuring incidents are managed in accordance with NIST stages of incident handling guidelines and assisting others who are less seasoned in properly applying these standards. Customizing communications for different levels of leadership and audiences to provide strategic direction and support to DHS, Component leadership and/or their SOCs, or external constituents to enable mission capabilities. Collaborating with internal and external DHS stakeholders in performing critical security operations and incident handling. Working with HQ and/or Component NOC/SOCs to block or deny access by hostile sites or restrict access by specific ports/protocols. Managing processes to implement, configure, monitor, and maintain Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) tools to monitor, detect and respond to threats on DHS or federal/national partner networks and enclaves. Managing techniques for gathering, recovering, analyzing, interpreting, preserving, and presenting information and digital evidence (from computers, mobile devices, websites, network packets, et al.) to support legal prosecution or other departmental requirements. Integrating stakeholder feedback when recommending recovery action plans for repairs, including mitigation strategies for interim system vulnerabilities/deficiencies. Customizing communications (e.g., incident updates and after-action reports) to emphasize the most critical information and address anticipated follow-up concerns of specific target audiences. Proposing, managing, and maintaining, a suite of cybersecurity tools, to include SIEM and Endpoint Security Tools. Overseeing designated managers, cyber incident responders, and cybersecurity service provider team members in handling suspected cyber incidents articulating the event's history, status, and potential impact for further action in accordance with the organization's cyber incident response plan. Collaborating with team members to collect intrusion artifacts (e.g., source code, malware, trojans) and using discovered data to enable mitigation of potential cyber defense incidents within the enterprise in accordance with recovery action plans.
Required Documents
Your resume. To help you prepare your resume before applying to the DHS Cybersecurity Service, visit our application portal and read the "Resume Tips" guide. If you are requesting a reasonable accommodation to the online assessments, submit documentation to support your request, including the Reasonable Accommodation Request Form found here. If you are a current or former political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee please submit a copy of your applicable SF-50, along with a statement that provides the following information regarding your most recent political appointment:- Position title- Type of appointment (Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES, or Presidential Appointee)- Agency- Beginning and ending dates of appointment.
How to Apply
To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online questionnaire, required assessments, and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 10/30/2026 to receive consideration. The application process will follow the bullets outlined below. To begin the application process, click the Apply Online button. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59PM (ET) on the announcement closing date. After submitting an online application, you will be notified whether or not you are required to take additional online assessments through the USA HIRE platform. This message will be delivered via email notification. If you are asked to take the online assessments, you will be presented with a unique URL to access the USA Hire system. Access to USA Hire is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Be sure to review all instructions prior to beginning online assessments. Note: set aside at least 3 hours to take these assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue at a later time, you can re-use the URL sent to you via email and also found on the Additional Application Information page that can be located in the application record in your USAJOBS account. Reasonable Accommodation Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended and Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 as amended, that would interfere with completing online assessments on the USA HIRE platform, you will be granted the opportunity to request a reasonable accommodation in your online application. Requests for Reasonable Accommodations for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for Reasonable Accommodation must be received prior to starting the online assessments. Decisions on requests for Reasonable Accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the online assessments. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the online assessments. To determine if you need a Reasonable Accommodation, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for online assessments here: http://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Reasonable_Accommodations_for_USA_Hire.