Senior Personnel Security Specialist

Title: Senior Personnel Security Specialist

Location: Hybrid in the DMV Area

Role:

APV is seeking a Senior Personnel Security Specialist to provide advanced support to the DHS Office of the Chief Security Officer (OCSO) and component personnel security offices. The Senior Specialist independently adjudicates complex suitability, fitness, and national security cases; leads program areas or work streams; and mentors journeyman and assistant-level personnel.

This role requires deep working knowledge of federal adjudicative guidelines, DHS policy, and personnel security systems. The Senior Specialist is expected to manage assigned caseloads, lead process improvement efforts, draft policy and SOPs, and serve as a senior point of contact for component security offices, hiring officials, and applicants.

The Senior Personnel Security Specialist will:

• Adjudicate complex initial and periodic reinvestigation cases at Tier 1 through Tier 5, applying SEAD 4 adjudicative guidelines, 5 CFR 731 suitability factors, and DHS-specific policy.
• Draft Letters of Intent, Statements of Reasons, suitability determinations, and clearance eligibility decisions for review and concurrence.
• Resolve continuous vetting alerts, incident reports, self‑reported information, and reportable activities under SEAD 3.
• Manage a caseload that includes high‑priority hiring actions, sensitive component cases, and reinvestigations requiring senior judgment.
• Coordinate with DCSA, OPM, FBI, and other federal investigative service providers to resolve case‑related questions and reciprocity issues.
• Serve as the senior lead for assigned personnel security program areas, such as continuous vetting, position designation, HSPD‑12 credentialing, reciprocity, or insider threat coordination.
• Manage workstream plans, milestones, deliverables, and stakeholder communications across DHS headquarters and component organizations.
• Lead working groups, facilitate inter‑component coordination calls, and drive issue resolution on operational and policy matters.
• Track program metrics including case timeliness, backlog, denial rates, and reciprocity acceptance, and prepare leadership reports.
• Support governance activities, audits, and oversight responses with accurate, defensible documentation.

• Draft and maintain personnel security policies, implementation guidance, SOPs, desk guides, job aids, templates, and training materials.
• Translate Executive Orders, SEADs, OPM/ODNI/DCSA guidance, and DHS management directives into clear, actionable working procedures.
• Conduct policy and program analysis to identify gaps, risks, and opportunities for standardization across DHS components.
• Coordinate policy clearance, comment adjudication, and version control with stakeholders and senior leadership.
• Build and maintain SharePoint‑based knowledge repositories, intake forms, automated workflows, and case tracking dashboards.

• Serve as a senior consultative resource to component security officers, hiring officials, HR leadership, and applicants on adjudicative status, requirements, and risk factors.
• Mentor journeyman specialists and HR assistants; review their work products for quality, consistency, and policy compliance.
• Prepare briefings, decision papers, executive summaries, talking points, and recurring leadership updates on assigned program areas.
• Respond to time‑sensitive data calls, congressional inquiries, IG requests, and oversight reviews.
• Represent DHS personnel security in internal working groups and selected interagency engagements.

• Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice, Public Administration, Human Resources, Security Management, or a related field. Equivalent federal personnel security experience may substitute based on contract terms.

• Active DHS Secret clearance; ability to obtain Top Secret as required by task assignment.
• Minimum 8-10 years of progressive federal personnel security experience, including significant adjudicative responsibility.
• Demonstrated experience adjudicating Tier 1 through Tier 5 cases…