Description
The Training and Exercise Specialist develops and delivers training and exercises that ensure a DHS national cyber operations center workforce remains qualified and mission-ready for 24/7 operations, surge support, and crisis response.
Key Responsibilities
- Training Program Development: Conduct training needs assessments, develop qualification standards, curricula, training materials, job aids, and onboarding programs.
- Training Delivery: Deliver instructor-led, hands-on, virtual, and on-the-job training, provide instruction on procedures, playbooks, cybersecurity tools, analytics platforms, and AI-assisted workflows.
- Exercise Design and Execution: Design, conduct, and evaluate tabletop and functional exercises using HSEEP methodology.
- Readiness and Certification Management: Maintain training, qualification, and certification records, provide readiness data, and identify qualification gaps or certification expirations.
- Knowledge and Procedure Management: Support refinement of procedures, playbooks, and escalation processes through training and exercises.
- Quality, Compliance, and Accessibility: Apply quality-control standards to training and exercise products, verify technical accuracy, accessibility, review processes, and required approvals.
- Surge Training and Rapid Enablement: Deliver just-in-time training and updated job aids during incidents, emergencies, or major operational changes.
- Documentation and Knowledge Transfer: Develop final training and exercise deliverables, provide knowledge transfer and maintenance guidance to government personnel.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Education, Instructional Design, Emergency Management, Cybersecurity, or a related field.
- 8+ years of experience developing and delivering training programs.
- 3+ years of experience designing or conducting exercises.
- Experience with instructional design methodologies (such as ADDIE).
- Experience designing and conducting HSEEP-based exercises.
- Experience training technical or operational audiences.
- Experience with learning management systems and training record management.
- Active Top Secret (TS) clearance.
- Eligibility for TS/SCI access.
- Ability to work onsite at DHS Headquarters and other National Capital Region locations.
Preferred Qualifications
- FEMA Master Exercise Practitioner (MEPP) certification or HSEEP training.
- Experience supporting a security operations center, watch floor, or emergency operations center.
- Experience conducting cyber exercises involving critical infrastructure partners.
- CPTD, CTT+, or similar training certifications.
- Experience developing Section 508-compliant training materials.
- Experience supporting DHS, CISA, FEMA, or DoD programs.
- Experience evaluating training effectiveness using the Kirkpatrick model.
- Familiarity with CISA cybersecurity training resources and current HSEEP doctrine.
- Ability to support after-hours, weekend, holiday, on-call, and continuity operations.
- Current DHS Entry on Duty (EOD) suitability determination.
- Experience handling Traffic Light Protocol (TLP) and Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI).
The likely salary range for this position is $114,750 - $155,250.