FOIA Analyst

FOIA Analyst – National Park Service Support

Washington, DC

Job Title: FOIA Analyst – National Park Service Support
Employment Type: Full-Time, Exempt - Contract Support Position
Salary Range: $85,000 – $115,000 annually, commensurate with experience. Higher end for candidates with complex, litigation-sensitive FOIA or federal program experience.
Clearance / Investigation: U.S. citizenship required; must be able to obtain and maintain a favorable Public Trust background investigation.

About the Opportunity

Join our team supporting the National Park Service (NPS) Washington Area Support Office (WASO) Information Resources Directorate in fulfilling the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

This role helps ensure public access to records while protecting sensitive information across more than 420 park units nationwide. The work supports transparency, accountability, and responsible stewardship of America's public lands and heritage.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage FOIA request intake, logging, tracking, and workflow in agency systems such as FOIAXpress or equivalent.

• Draft and send acknowledgment letters.

• Coordinate and conduct searches for responsive records with NPS program offices, regional offices, park units, and custodians.

• Provide guidance on search procedures and identify eDiscovery options where applicable.

• Review records for responsiveness.

• Analyze and apply appropriate FOIA and Privacy Act exemptions.

• Perform redactions and document exemption justifications.

• Flag sensitive equities, including legal, deliberative, White House, or other sensitive records, for higher-level or legal review.

• Prepare response packages, partial releases, denial letters, and supporting documentation.

• Support FOIA litigation efforts, including preparation of Vaughn Indices and coordination with agency counsel or the Department of Justice as needed.

• Provide analytical and administrative support, including status tracking, reporting, metrics, backlog management, and process improvement recommendations.

• Ensure compliance with statutory deadlines, DOI/NPS policies, records management requirements, and proper handling of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and Personally Identifiable Information (PII).

• Collaborate closely with NPS FOIA Officers, Points of Contact, subject matter experts, and other stakeholders.

• Maintain accurate case files and support quality control processes.

Minimum Qualifications

• Minimum of three years of full-time professional experience performing FOIA support services or substantially similar FOIA-related functions, including intake, search coordination, review/redaction, response preparation, and tracking.

• Demonstrated experience supporting FOIA processing, tracking, coordination, review, administration, and management in a federal agency or comparable complex environment.

• Strong knowledge of the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552, exemptions, procedural requirements, and related authorities such as the Privacy Act.

• Excellent analytical, writing, research, and attention-to-detail skills.

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe Acrobat, and FOIA/case management or records systems.

• Ability to handle high-volume workloads, competing priorities, and strict statutory deadlines while maintaining accuracy and compliance.

• U.S. citizenship and ability to pass a background investigation.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting NPS, DOI, or other large federal land-management or natural resources agencies.

• Experience with complex, high-profile, litigation-sensitive, or expedited FOIA requests.

• Experience preparing Vaughn Indices.

• Supervisory, quality control, or team coordination/leadership experience.

• Bachelor's degree or higher in a relevant field, such as public administration, law, information management, political science, history, or library/information science.

• Specialized FOIA training, certifications, or demonstrated success in high-tempo federal FOIA programs.

• Familiarity with federal records management, CUI handling, privacy requirements, and related compliance.