Senior Watch Officer (SWO)

Peraton is currently seeking to hire a Senior Watch Officer (SWO) for its' Federal Strategic Cyber group in Arlington, VA.  

Location: On-site in Arlington, VA. 

As the world’s leading mission capability integrator and transformative enterprise IT provider, we deliver trusted and highly differentiated national security solutions and technologies that keep people safe and secure. Peraton serves as a valued partner to essential government agencies across the intelligence, space, cyber, defense, civilian, health, and state and local markets.

This position is part of the DHS Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) 24x7 SCIF/Operations Center, which is the hub for staying on top of threats and emerging risks to our nation’s critical infrastructure. Through this operation center, the federal government coordinates situational awareness and response to protect national cyber and infrastructure security.

Position Description:

• The SWO candidate coordinates cyber and physical incidents affecting critical infrastructure and produces various levels of incident reporting. SWOs gather information from multiple sources and varying levels of classification to provide accurate, timely, and actionable information to our government leadership, law enforcement, federal stakeholders and partners.
• The SWO candidate should be an experienced Operations/Intelligence/Cyber practitioner with the ability to work in a time-sensitive operational environment.
• The SWO candidate will possess the ability to effectively assess and manage incidents impacting critical infrastructure in collaboration with federal staff. The SWO candidate will identify the severity of impact to critical infrastructure and help federal staff determine the level of reporting or briefing required.

• The SWO candidate will coordinate incident operational data collection and analysis and monitor the event through competition.

• In addition, the SWO is responsible for leading a team of several analysts throughout the shift and coordinating all tasks through completion.
• SWOs will act as liaisons with internal divisions, federal stakeholders, law enforcement, intelligence agencies, regional personnel, industry partners, and internal partners to ensure coordinated reporting for events that have cascading cross-sector impacts on critical infrastructure.

• SWOs must be prepared to communicate on multiple platforms and brief management and senior leadership on developing situations during daily briefings or on an ad hoc basis.

• The candidate monitors classified databases, the ticket management system, subscription-based alerting services, cable and local news, social media, and other open source for threats to the nation’s critical infrastructure and global operations impacting national security.
• SWOs must be able to multitask, make quick decisions, and utilize critical thinking skills in a fast paced and time sensitive environment under the direction of a federal CISA Duty Officer.
• The candidate must understand the operation of all communications and information technology hardware, software, and firmware utilized to perform daily functions. The candidate should have the ability to troubleshoot all equipment issues as needed and coordinate a resolution with the help desk.
• Other services and support as needed or directed by the government client.
• The SWO candidate will work at a 24x7x365 Classified Operations and Watch Center.

• Shifts are assigned based on the needs of the team and may include rotating assignments.
• Shift 1: M-F 0600 - 1400
• Shift 2: M-F 1400 - 2200
• Shift 3: M-F 2200 - 0600
• Shift 4: Sat/Sun 0600 – 1800 and two 8-hour weekday shifts
• Shift 5: Sat/Sun 1800 – 0600 and two 8-hour weekday shifts

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 5 years related technical experience, or a master’s degree with 3 years of related experience. An additional 4 years of experience may be substituted in lieu of a degree.
• Experience with crisis management at the national and local level.
• Experience with utilizing work instructions and templates.
• Experience with time sensitive report writing.
• Demonstrated ability to manage the production and publishing of event driven reporting, cyclic reporting, and briefing products.
• Demonstrated ability to manage cyber related incidents while multitasking and performing steady states shift functions.
• Demonstrated ability to manage and triage group email accounts.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate professionally via email in a timely manner.
• Demonstrated ability to conduct oral senior leader briefings.
• Must be flexible and able to work within a 24x7x365 operations support environment. 
• Experience with open-source analysis and alerting systems.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office automation solutions.
• Experience with Remedy Service, Knowledge Management System, and ServiceNow.
• An Active Top Secret Security Clearance required.
• In addition, selected candidates must be able to obtain and maintain a favorably adjudicated DHS background investigation for continued employment.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience as an Operations Officer/Action Officer/Incident Manager.
• Experience in drafting and publishing national level reporting.
• Experience with email triage and requests for information (RFIs).
• Experience as an All-Source Intelligence Analyst in Joint Operations Center and/or Fusion Center.
• Experience with cyber incident management and analysis.
• Obtained Cyber certifications (i.e., CompTIA Security+).

Peraton is a next-generation national security company that drives missions of consequence spanning the globe and extending to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. As the world’s leading mission capability integrator and transformative enterprise IT provider, we deliver trusted, highly differentiated solutions and technologies to protect our nation and allies. Peraton operates at the critical nexus between traditional and nontraditional threats across all domains: land, sea, space, air, and cyberspace. The company serves as a valued partner to essential government agencies and supports every branch of the U.S. armed forces. Each day, our employees do the can’t be done by solving the most daunting challenges facing our customers. Visit peraton.com to learn how we’re keeping people around the world safe and secure.