CISA Hiring Hits High Score, and We're Not Done!!

When I took over as Director of CISA in July of 2021, hiring talent was among my highest priorities. Since our establishment in November of 2018, we had grown in authorities and budget, but had many vacancies to fill to enable us to effectively serve the role that Congress intended for us as America’s civilian cyber defense agency.

Much needed to be done, including building an effective human capital machine to hire top-tier talent from across the nation, and just as importantly, building a culture that would attract and retain that elite talent. While multiple hiring authorities and hiring flexibilities—including recruitment, relocation, and retention incentives (3Rs) and the new Cyber Talent Management System (CTMS)—allow us to pay a bit more than other places in government, we recognize that no one joins the federal government to get rich. Rather, they join for mission—an opportunity to serve the nation, ideally doing so with great teammates, inspiring leaders, and an ability to make an impact every day.

That’s the organizational culture we’ve been co-creating over the past two years, grounded in core values and principles that define what we expect from each other and what we aspire to be. And I’m proud to say it’s working! Since July 2021, we’ve hired more than 1,300 new teammates... bringing our total employees to more than 3,161!

In fact, just this week, we welcomed Teammate #1337😉, Leila King, to CISA Region 5, based in Chicago, part of our growing field forces across the nation. Leila joins us from the Department of Defense where she served as an analyst at both the Defense Intelligence Agency and United States Transportation Command.

A graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, Leila was captain of the women’s intercollegiate volleyball team and led the team to the 2016 NCAA Division III National Championship match. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Cybersecurity Analytics and Operations from The Pennsylvania State University and joins Team CISA as a cyber analyst, where she will coordinate cybersecurity assessments, information sharing, outreach, training, and exercises, and vulnerability alerts, including as part of our Pre-Ransomware Notification Initiative. 

And while we’ve hired many amazing people over the past two years, we’re on the hunt for even more—we’re looking for folks with a full range of experience, from entry-level to senior technical experts. A college degree is not required for all positions, and we have opportunities available across the country, including some for permanent remote work. For all our positions, however, we’re looking for a combination of those with both hard skills as well as human skills because, while we’re solving some of the most complex technical problems for our nation, we must do it collaboratively with our teammates and myriad partners. 

So, if you’re interested in learning more about opportunities at Team CISA, please check out cisa.gov/careers for our latest postings. In addition, I encourage you to set up a ‘saved search’ on USAJobs.gov to receive notifications when new opportunities open and stay tuned for upcoming announcements on our next hiring fair.