Assessment & Authorization Assessor, Business Analyst

Job Title: Assessment & Authorization Assessor, Business Analyst
Clearance Required: Public Trust
Work Location: Remote

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), Cybersecurity and Privacy Operations Center (CPOC) serves and supports USDA Agencies and Offices by helping to protect mission-critical assets and information, thereby securing the Country’s diverse food, agriculture, rural and natural resources programs. The CPOC monitors and protects USDA’s systems by keeping abreast of new threats to both existing and new technologies and continually monitoring the USDA information technology enterprise to ensure USDA Agencies and Offices computing environments remain secure. The OCIO provides leadership in the development, implementation, and management of security solutions into the everyday business of the Department to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) data and information systems.

The USDA needs support in improving Assessment & Authorization (A&A) compliance across the department.  This effort will primarily focus on improving the customer’s compliance, but will also support other areas of non-compliance as it relates to A&A. 

The support requires the support team to engage with mission partners on areas of non-compliance and supporting efforts to achieve full compliance. 

Deliverables:

- Development and management of A&A artifacts (e.g., POA&Ms, RBD)

- Checklist and artifacts for proper review on controls

- Report and evaluation of the NIST controls

Key Responsibilities:

• Review the existing the customer’s get-well plan and road map and identify gaps and provide recommendations to bring the customer in compliance in accordance with CPOC standards
• Perform assessment activities for the develop accreditation packages.  This includes:
• Creating POA&Ms
• Researching and closing POA&Ms
• Creating Risk Based Decision (RBD) documents when necessary
• The customer’s cloud assessment/guidance (New Cloud at the customer’s level or Ongoing assessment of the cloud)
• Standardize Assessor Guidance
• Review and assess controls related to existing and new programs (e.g. Supply Chain and Artificial Intelligence)
• Development of checklist that provides guidance and expected outcomes for reviewing new sets of controls

 

Required Qualifications:

• Education:
• BS in business administration, IT or any related field or equivalent experience
• Experience/Skills:
• Cybersecurity background. 
• Background in NIST, OMB, DoD, DHS, FISMA, and other government work.
• Experience motivating teams in a virtual environment.
• Assessment & Authorization (A&A) Experience
• Business Analyst experience a plus

Preferred Certifications:

• Cyber certification such as CISSP

Benefit Information:

Joining the Alpha Omega team entitles you to participate in all retirement benefits, plans of deferred compensation, health and insurance benefits, and other such benefits as set forth in the company’s policy and benefits manuals. See below, to name a few:

• PTO including paid parental, military, and bereavement leave
• Eleven (11) paid Federal holidays, five of which are floating holidays (as designated by the company’s holiday schedule each year)
• Health and Dental Insurance (including 100% employer paid premiums for employee coverage under the HDHP health plan)
• Life Insurance, STD/LTD term disability coverage, with employer paid premiums
• 401 (k) plan with a match that is 100% vested after you complete two years of service
• FSA/DFSA/HSA flexible benefit plans
• Annual Tuition & Professional Development Reimbursement benefit

We regularly review our Total Rewards package to ensure our offerings are competitive and reflect what our employees have told us they value most.

Culture and Values:

Alpha Omega's Core Values are (H) harmony, (E) engagement, (A) accountability, (R) resourcefulness, and (T) tenacity - collectively they are an acrostic reminder of the values that guide the work we do. We have H.E.A.R.T.!

We foster a culture that recognizes and rewards hard work. Our H.E.A.R.T. program invites colleagues and managers from across the organization to recognize each other for living out our core values. Spotlighted employees enjoy a detailed nomination about their core-values-a