Intelligence Operations Specialist

Summary

This position is in the Defense Intelligence and Analysis Division (DIAD). DIAD helps align national security priorities with USDA's mission areas and focuses on protecting USDA and U.S. food and agriculture against foreign threats. As an Intelligence Operations Specialist, the incumbent coordinates with the Intelligence Community and establishes intelligence practices to specific problems which involve many variables relating to national security.

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Duties

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• Drafts, reviews, and edits, analytical products to forecast and assess future situations.
• Ensures secure data handling at point of capture and maintains chain of custody.
• Monitors and reviews new intelligence for agricultural equities.
• Reports across all classification levels using open-source materials, advanced databases, and intelligence systems.
• Applies project management best practices from planning to evaluation.
• Assists leadership in the development of risk assessments, strategies, and approaches for minimizing and reducing risk to USDA or U.S. agriculture.
• Participates in developing in-depth strategic, operational, and tactical intelligence research, analysis.
• Supports both short- and long-term complex research projects on short and fixed timelines.
• Maintains awareness and researches areas of emerging concern for U.S. agriculture.
• Serves as a liaison with internal and external stakeholders to create and maintain relationships.
• Facilitates the horizontal and vertical sharing of information and intelligence and integrates the same between multiple USDA agencies and offices as well as the broader U.S. interagency.
• Supports coordination with intelligence and counterintelligence partners on relevant analyses or issues of concern.
• Duties described above are at the full performance level GS-11, duties at the GS-09 level will be developmental.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a US Citizen or US National.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
• Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
• If selected, you may be required to serve a probationary or trial period as applicable to appointment type.
• Direct Deposit: Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit
• Selected applicant must undergo and successfully obtain and maintain a background investigation for a Top Secret SCI clearance. You must meet initial and periodic suitability determinations based on favorable background investigations and updates.
• This position is considered critical-essential, and as such may be required to return to his/her assigned duty station outside of normal duty hours to provide support to USDA policymakers, particularly during crisis periods.
• Selectee must submit to a urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment and random testing thereafter. Final appointment and continued employment is conditional on negative results for illegal drug use.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including time-in-grade restrictions, specialized experience and/or education, as defined below.

Time in grade:

Current federal employees applying for a promotion opportunity must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirement of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled.

Minimum Qualifications: Applicants must meet the Specialized Experience and/or Education requirements as shown below. If qualifying based on experience, your application or resume must clearly show that you possess the specialized experience requirements. Specialized experience is defined as experience that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled and has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position.

GS-09: Qualifying experience for GS-09 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-07 which included experience using open-source materials, databases, and intelligence systems for developing strategic, operational, and tactical intelligence research, analysis, and reporting.

OR

Master's degree or equivalent graduate degree, or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or equivalent graduate degree, or LL.B. or J.D. if related.

OR

A combination of education and experience as described above.

NOTE: Equivalent combinations of education and experience are qualifying for the GS-09 grade level.

GS-11: Qualifying experience for GS-11 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-09 which included experience using open-source materials, databases, and intelligence systems for developing strategic, operational, and tactical intelligence research, analysis, and reporting; and, performing risk analysis and risk assessments regarding national security topics.

OR

Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, or LL.M. if related.

OR

A combination of education and experience as described above.

NOTE: Equivalent combinations of education and experience are qualifying for the GS-11 grade level.

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 and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

In the event of an emergency, USDA's Office of Homeland Security (OHS) employees may be subject to 24 hour on-call availability. This service 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 that require functioning under intense physical and mental stress.

Education

Education in related fields may be substituted for specialized experience at the GS-09 and GS-11 levels as described above. Transcripts must be supplied with application materials.

Additional information

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority List (RPL), or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): Visit the OPM website for information on how to apply as a CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP eligible. To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section. When assessed through a score-based category rating method, CTAP/ICTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100.

Veterans who are preference eligible or who have been separated from the armed forces under honorable conditions after 3 years or more of continuous active service are eligible for consideration under the Veteran's Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA).

Farm Service Agency (FSA) County Employees: Permanent County employees without prior Federal tenure who are selected for a Civil Service position under Public Law 105-277 will be given a career-conditional appointment and must serve a 1-year probationary period.

For more information on applying under special hiring authorities such as the Veteran's Recruitment Act (VRA), 30 percent disabled veterans, certain military spouses, Schedule A Disabled, etc., explore the different Hiring Paths on the USAJOBS website.

Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) provides current or former temporary or term employees of federal land management agencies opportunity to compete for permanent competitive service positions. Individuals must have more than 24 months of service without a break between appointments of two or more years. Service must be in the competitive service and have been at a successful level of performance or better. Refer to PUBLIC LAW 114-47-AUG. 7, 2015 for more information.

If you are selected for a position with further promotion potential, you will be placed under a career development plan, and may be non-competitively promoted if you successfully complete the requirements and if recommended by management. However, promotion is neither implied nor guaranteed.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA 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 USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here.

Incentives may be authorized.

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.

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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.