Assessment Lead

Cherokee Federal•Washington, DC

About The Position

The Assessment Lead is a senior security-control assessor responsible for conducting independent assessments of federal information systems. This position leads technical and compliance assessments, tests the effectiveness of NIST security controls, evaluates technical evidence, documents findings, and communicates system risk to senior government stakeholders.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity, information technology, computer science, engineering, auditing, or a related field.
Minimum of 8 years of relevant cybersecurity assessment experience.
CISSP, CISA, or equivalent senior security-assessment certification.
CEH or an equivalent penetration-testing certification.
Active Top Secret (TS) security clearance is required. Candidates must possess the required clearance to be considered for this position.
U.S. citizenship required.
Must be available to support Department of State operational requirements.
Must pass pre-employment qualifications of Cherokee Federal.

Nice To Haves

Department of State or other federal civilian agency assessment experience preferred.
Experience with NIST SP 800-115 and federal penetration-testing methodologies preferred.
Experience assessing cloud, application, infrastructure, and DevSecOps environments preferred.
Familiarity with CISA directives, High Value Assets, CDM, zero trust, and federal audit requirements preferred.
Experience assessing large, complex, or globally distributed environments preferred.
Equivalent penetration-testing certifications may include OSCP, GPEN, PenTest+, GWAPT, GXPN, or other recognized hands-on penetration-testing credentials, subject to customer approval.

Responsibilities

Lead independent Security Control Assessments under RMF Step 4.
Develop Security Assessment Plans and Security Assessment Reports.
Assess NIST SP 800-53 security controls and control enhancements.
Review SSPs, implementation statements, policies, procedures, diagrams, inventories, and technical evidence.
Conduct interviews, examine artifacts, and test technical and administrative controls.
Identify control deficiencies and assign defensible risk ratings.
Validate vulnerability findings, remediation evidence, and POA&M closures.
Conduct vulnerability assessments, compliance testing, penetration testing, and other technical security testing.
Review Tenable, Nessus, Wiz, STIG, CVE, KEV, Red Team, Blue Team, and similar results.
Present assessment findings and risk recommendations to ISSMs, system owners, and Authorizing Officials.
Maintain appropriate independence between the assessment function and the ISSO or control-implementation function.
Perform other job-related duties as assigned.