Chief Network Division at National… · Chantilly

WE ARE THE NRO For sixty years, the NRO has developed, acquired, launched and operated the satellites that are the foundation for America’s advantage and strength in space. Using a diversified architecture of spacecraft, NRO collects and delivers the best space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance content on the planet.

Learn more at NRO.gov.

Basic Eligibility for a Position with the NRO

• You must be a U.S. Citizen
• You must be able to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI security clearance
• You will be subject to pre-employment and periodic drug testing
• You will be subject to pre-employment and periodic polygraph examinations

Where You Will Work This leadership position oversees 100+ civilian and contractor personnel in the delivery of telecommunications, computer system, operations, and Information Technology (IT) maintenance. The position is responsible for ensuring alignment and integration of divisional priorities and initiatives with NRO HQ, the Communications System Directorate, and mission partners. The position serves as a member of the senior leadership team as the COMM Network Division Chief. This supervisory position will lead the workforce through significant cultural and environmental change, IT modernization, and continued mission growth.

The NRO Cadre is collecting resumes for consideration against current and future opportunities for senior level (GG-14 and GG-15), supervisory IT Specialists, occupational series 2210. For more information on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) occupational series, click here.

Your resume may be considered for other positions which your skills and experience may be a good match.

This is a full-time position that is open from August 25, 2026 to September 8, 2026. Resumes must be submitted by 11:59 PM EST on September 8, 2026.

Who May Apply

• This position is open to the public.
• Federal government employees MUST currently be at the grade level or higher as indicated in this announcement. This is NOT a promotion opportunity for current Federal government employees. If selected for the position, Federal government employees will transition laterally at their current grade level and step.
• Federal applicants who exceed the advertised grade may voluntarily request acceptance at the lower grade per IAW DoWI 1400.25 Volume 2006.
• The NRO is only accepting external applicants for this job announcement. Current NRO Cadre employees should apply internally.
• This position may not qualify for the appointment of a reemployed federal annuitant IAW DoWI 1400.25 Volume 300.

What You Will Be Doing

Overview of Position:

This position serves as a Chief in the Networks Division within the Communications Systems Directorate Network Services Group, reporting directly to the Director, Network Services Group (D/NSG). The Chief serves as the NSG Networks Program Manager and leads strategic planning, acquisition, design, development, operations, maintenance, and sustainment engineering of the NRO's globally deployed Layer 2 and Layer 3 network requirements and associated devices for deploying connectivity between space intelligence collection downlink locations and processing/dissemination locations. The Chief is accountable for execution of all delegated engineering and program management activities required to provide secure, reliable, and resilient commodity-based NRO enterprise network services for all classifications and security domains in accordance with approved cost, schedule, and performance baselines. Services support network requirements for the NRO and other IC and DoW mission partners.

Additional Information

The selected candidate will maintain a working knowledge of the current networks and IT technology trends and be able to determine how to best utilize these technologies within the NRO. The selected candidate will be required to effectively work with technical partners across the NRO and the IC, and must display a high level of initiative and corporate thinking. The selected candidate must be enthusiastic for affecting change and willing to explore new ideas for providing quality products and services. The selected candidate may be called upon to mentor developmental level officers in addition to leading focused contractor project teams. The selected candidate should be a motivated self-starter who is willing to take the lead on a variety of activities.

Duties include, but are not limited to the following:

• The Chief serves as the NSG Networks Program Manager with oversight of acquisition programs and projects in accordance with documented cost, schedule, and performance baselines. The Chief oversees the performance of a government team of more than 10 which are a mix of CIA, USAF, USN and NRO CADRE along with the performance of a contractor team of more than 550 FTE that provide network engineering and service delivery for enterprise and mission network solutions, including data centers.
• The Chief is responsible for the Program Management and Engineering to provide network connectivity between space intelligence collection, and processing/dissemination locations, spanning multiple launch bases and ground stations for the NRO, DoW and IC. The Chief serves as the primary Approving Official for Level II Network Program Requests and Contract Actions.
• The Chief executes NSG-wide systems engineering activities on behalf of the Chief Engineer including Requirements Management (Requests for Change (RFC), Requested Item (RITM)), Schedule, Configuration, Readiness, and Risk Management processes. The Chief facilitates NSG Engineering Review Board (ERB) and Technical Review Board (NTRB) to review and approve network requirements and solutions.
• The Chief is responsible for effective communications with internal and external partners and stakeholders to include other directorates and offices across the NRO, IC mission partners, foreign mission partners, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, DoW and Congress.
• The Chief extensively coordinates with mission partners both internal and external to the NRO and represents NSG at high-level meetings with MOD, GEOINT, SIGINT, SAO and mission partners across the IC and DoW daily to complete service requests, solve incidents, issues and problems and coordinate network connectivity requirements.
• The Chief appoints a primary government Information System Owner (ISO) responsible for ensuring completion of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Risk Management Framework (RMF) steps 1-6 to implement cybersecurity controls and maintain compliance with cybersecurity requirements for all assigned Network Program information systems and assets from inception through disposal.
• The Chief acquires network Communication Security (COMSEC) devices used for bulk encryption for the NRO network infrastructure within NSG's Area of Responsibility. The types and quantity required are determined by the COMSEC requirements of the network infrastructure.
• The Chief ensures that Network Program asset lifecycles are carefully monitored, funded, acquired, planned, executed and retired in order to prevent critical assets from exceeding their End of Service Life (EoSL) to maintain service reliability and minimize the risk of security vulnerabilities or disruptions to mission operations.
• The Chief ensures that all project related changes or Maintenance Activities (MA) are thoroughly tested, coordinated, approved, closed and documented. All changes shall be assessed by operations personnel to identify and deconflict any potentially adverse impacts on mission operations or network services.
• The Chief supports resolution of service operation issues, to include Event, Incident and Problem management; monitors negative trends and supports complex troubleshooting and root cause analysis.
• The Chief monitors negative program performance trends and establishes Service Improvement Plans (SIPs) with specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure continual improvement against service performance and service targets across the organization.
• The Chief is responsible for the budget execution of the engineering and service delivery portfolio.
• The Chief leads, enables and develops assigned personnel consistent with NRO policies and their career service requirements.

What You Need

Required Qualifications

• PM/COTR Level II certification (or ability to obtain within 6 months of assignment)
• Demonstrated skill in applying program management and systems engineering principles and practices to successfully achieve program goals, including Requirements Management, Configuration Management, and Readiness Management processes
• Working knowledge of NIST Risk Management Framework (RMF) and ability to oversee completion of RMF steps 1-6 to implement cybersecurity controls and maintain compliance with cybersecurity requirements for information systems across their lifecycle
• Understanding of NSG governance forums and decision-making processes (Engineering Review Board, Technical Review Board, Network Management Panel)
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex technical and programmatic information effectively across organizational boundaries to diverse audiences, including senior leadership, mission partners, and Congress; ability to construct clear, concise recommendations for organizational change and articulate facts and rational arguments to persuade and enlist support of stakeholders
• Demonstrated ability to lead, enable, and develop assigned personnel consistent with NRO policies and career service requirements, including experience managing multi-sector workforces (government and contractor personnel), establishing individual development plans, and providing constructive feedback to maximize team effectiveness

Desired Qualifications

• Relevant experience in Business Management, Public Administration, Organizational Leadership, or a closely related discipline
• Experience with strategic planning, business case development, and return on investment analysis for technology programs
• Experience managing large, multi-sector workforces including government personnel and contractor teams (>100 FTE)
• Demonstrated ability to develop and implement Service Improvement Plans (SIPs) with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure continual improvement against service performance targets
• Experience with NSG or similar IC/DoW network operations and engineering, including Service Level Agreement (SLA) and Service Level Objective (SLO) development and monitoring
• Professional certifications in program/project management (PMP, PgMP) or service management (ITIL Expert, ITIL Managing Professional)

Qualifying experience may have been acquired in any public or private sector job, but will clearly demonstrate past experience in the application of the particular competencies/knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to successfully perform and is typically in or directly related to the duties of the position as described above. Experience must be reflected in your resume.

Applicants submitting a resume that exceeds the two-page limit per OPM Memorandum, “Merit Hiring Plan,” dated May 29, 2025, https://www.opm.gov/chcoc/latest-memos/merit-hiring-plan.pdf will not be eligible for consideration. For more information regarding resume writing, see “Guidance for Applicants on 2-Page Resume” and visit the Resume Help Center.

Other Information

• Overtime Statement: MAY be required to work other than normal duty hours, which may include evenings, weekends, and/or holidays.
• Travel Statement: MAY be required to travel in military or commercial aircraft to perform temporary duty assignments.
• Financial Disclosure: MAY be required to file an OGE Form 450, Confidential Financial Disclosure Report, upon appointment and will be required to file annually.
• Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) coded positions: If selected for a DAWIA coded position, the incumbent must meet appropriate certification requirements IAW the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) no later than 24 months after accepting this position. Individual shall maintain, at a minimum 80 continuous Learning Points every 24 months via the services acquisition management system. DAWIA requirements may be located at the Defense Acquisition University website.
• Geographic Mobility Agreement: MAY be subject to directed reassignment as required to address mission effectiveness, and/or career development.
• Information Assurance (IA): Must achieve the appropriate IA certification within six months of assignment.
• Emergency Essential: Certain positions MAY be deemed emergency essential and incumbents must be willing to meet all position requirements.

Location Chantilly, VA 20152

Telework is not available and you must be able to work at the specified location(s).

Salary

This position meets the qualifications for Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System (DCIPS) Targeted Local Market Supplement (TLMS) STEM pay for NRO Cadre employees and candidates as authorized by the office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security’s (OUSD(I&S)). Cadre employees and candidates are eligible to receive STEM pay if they are currently serving in a STEM designated position. Should a Cadre employee or candidate earning STEM pay change positions within the organization, they must be assigned to another STEM qualifying position in order to continue to remain eligible for STEM pay. Otherwise, Cadre employees and Candidates Generally would be transitioned to the DCIPS GG Pay Scale. For more information on STEM pay, visit https://dcips.defense.gov/Human-Resources/Compensation/

2026 STEM salary ranges: GG-14 $148,275 – 192,764 GG-15 $167,446 – 197,200

**This position is a senior level DCIPS position. The NRO is accepting applications from U.S. Citizens and current federal government employees for this position. To qualify for the position, federal government employees MUST currently be at the GG – 14 grade level and may ONLY apply for a lateral reassignment at their current grade level and step. Federal applicants who exceed the advertised grade may voluntarily request acceptance at the lower grade per IAW DoWI 1400.25 Volume 2006.

Hiring Incentives The NRO may offer hiring incentives and other entitlements at management’s discretion.

Trial Period All new DCIPS employees will be required to serve a 2-year trial period.

Veterans’ Preference DoW Components with DCIPS positions apply Veterans’ Preference to preference eligible candidates as defined by Section 2108 of Title 5 USC, in accordance with the procedures provided in DoW Instruction 1400.25, Vol 2005, DCIPS Employment and Placement. If you are a veteran claiming veterans’ preference, as defined by section 2108 of Title 5 USC, you must submit documents verifying your eligibility upon request.

Equal Employment Opportunity Policy The United States government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service or other non-merit factor.

• Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) for federal employees & job applicants

Reasonable Accommodation Policy Federal agencies must provide reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process should follow the instructions in the job opportunity announcement. For any part of the remaining hiring process, applicants should contact the hiring agency directly. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.

A reasonable accommodation is any change to a job, the work environment, or the way things are usually done that enables an individual with a disability to apply for a job, perform job duties or receive equal access to job benefits.

Under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, federal agencies must provide reasonable accommodations when:

• An applicant with a disability needs an accommodation to have an equal opportunity to apply for a job.
• An employee with a disability needs an accommodation to perform the essential job duties or to gain access to the workplace.
• An employee with a disability needs an accommodation to receive equal access to benefits, such as details, training, and office-sponsored events.

You can request a reasonable accommodation at any time during the application or hiring process or while on the job. Requests are considered on a case-by-case basis. Please send your request to [email protected].

Privacy Act Notice Privacy Act Notice (PL 93-579): We use this information to determine qualifications for employment. This is authorized under Title 5 U.S.C. 3302 and 3361. Read more about the Privacy Act of 1974