Lead COOP SME

Empower AI is AI for government. Empower AI gives federal agency leaders the tools to elevate the potential of their workforce with a direct path for meaningful transformation. Headquartered in Reston, Va., Empower AI leverages three decades of experience solving complex challenges in Health, Defense, and Civilian missions. Our proven Empower AI Platform® provides a practical, sustainable path for clients to achieve transformation that is true to who they are, what they do, how they work, with the resources they have. The result is a government workforce that is exponentially more creative and productive. For more information, visit www.Empower.ai.

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Empower AI: As the Lead COOP SME, you will be a key member of the Empower AI team providing support to the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Joint Service Provider (JSP) on the Platform Services contract. JSP operates and defends the Department of Defense’s (DOD) key cyber terrain and provides information technology (IT) services to Pentagon and National Capital Region (NCR) customers. For Platform Services, Empower AI will provide an integrated, structured approach to operating, managing, and maintaining the JSP-supported infrastructure across all managed platforms, as well as assist in defining requirements for future upgrades and enhancements based on operational and customer trends. We will provide a unified approach to managing server, storage, and application resources (to include virtualized applications) at an enterprise level. In order to drive standardization in the hosting environment, Empower AI will assist customers, both external and internal, by moving applications to the JSP IT environments. This will allow JSP to offer services and infrastructure to customers via a Platform as a Service model, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) model, Desktop as a Service (DaaS) model, or at minimum, limit application deployments only to standardized servers.

Highlights of Responsibilities:

• Provide Tier 3 IT contingency operations support at the continuity facilities designated by the JSP Continuity Coordinator in support of up to 4 exercises yearly.
• Maintain fully redundant operational systems at the continuity facilities designated by the JSP Continuity Coordinator so that all are continuously operationally ready. Maintain full readiness at the continuity facilities to maintain active processing for clustered systems and pooled load-balanced active systems. Take over the entire functional operational load during testing and for extended periods of time during national emergency, without requiring any special preparations or system building prior to the transfer of operations from the Pentagon to the continuity facilities using established contingency failover systems, processes, and procedures.
• Develop and maintain JSP COOP plans, JSP Continuity training program, and JSP Continuity ERS rosters.
• Coordinate and schedule JSP enterprise DRP exercises.
• Provide system administration staff to provide touch labor and act as first responders during contingency operations and other hazardous conditions that impact continuous operations.
• Transport Controlled Cryptographic items and COMSEC material between the Pentagon and the continuity facilities to include the transportation, protection, and operational support of Mobile/travel IT Operations such as the Executive Communications Kit (ECK), Secure Flyaway kits (SFKs) and deployable communications packages.
• Coordinate, perform, and document failover test of designated JSP–supported systems from continuity facilities on quarterly basis and during COOP exercises and events.
• Provide Tier 3 server and system contingency operations support from continuity facilities for all JSP mission essential enterprise servers and network infrastructure systems supporting all JSP customers and COG entities.
• Establish a process and maintain the PKI systems for the management of DoD PKI to include being designated as Trusted Agents for the management of DoD PKI tokens, CAC, and alternate tokens at all continuity facilities (up to 25 sites).
• Maintain visitation authorization requests (VAR) and access control for JSP staff requiring access or visitation to the controlled area within the continuity facilities.
• Monitor readiness of resources at the continuity facilities and provide readiness status to the JSP Continuity Coordinator, OSD Policy Defense Continuity and Mission Assurance (DC&MA) Program Office, Joint Staff J3 COOP Support Cell, and DoD Headquarters/JSP onboarded customers.
• Monitor and provide IT/communications status to the OSD Policy DC&MA Program Office, Joint Staff J3, and DoD Headquarters/JSP onboarded customers.
• Provide weekly COOP readiness reports to the OSD Policy DC&MA Program Office, Joint Staff J3, and DoD Headquarters/JSP onboarded customers via the DoD Continuity Operations Portal.
• Identify and facilitate implementation of IT/communications capabilities required to support OSD, Joint Staff, and other JSP customers.
• Identify site shortcomings and deficiencies including: physical security, Local Area Network, network backbone infrastructure, Wide Area Network, information system contingency plans (ISCP), workstations, peripherals, telephony (both secure and non-secure), bandwidth, quality of service, and IA. Provide the Government with recommendations to mitigate continuity facility shortcomings and deficiencies.
• Coordinate continuity facility IT contingency operations support requirements with the DC&MA Program Office.
• Coordinate with on-site facility management and IT/communications personnel to support the ERS deployment to off-site locations during COOP events and national emergencies.
• Provide ERS personnel continuity facility and COOP equipment orientations at continuity facilities without Tier 1 and Tier 2 support.
• Provide technical evaluations or assessments for ISCP, COOP Plan Annex K, and Continuity Architecture Interoperability in the implementation of COOP, COB, and COG objectives with respect to interfacing with JSP networks, DoDIN, and other external IT/communications providers.
• Provide impact assessment on COOP and COB operations and evaluate how they are impacted by national security policies.
• Develop and maintain COOP and COB content on the JSP DoD COOP Portal. Maintain the design, structure, and content on the DoD COOP Portal for use by the DoD HQ components.
• Manage and maintain oversight over continuity facility prepositioned hardware and operating systems, ensuring readiness of the systems and current level of patching/updates.
• Provide Mobile/Travel IT Operations support including the ECK, SFKs, and deployable communications packages (such as Voyager 8) for leaders on travel and at remote continuity facilities in support of DoD HQ level COOP, COB, and COG real life events and exercises
• Develop and moderate mid/senior level COOP and COG tabletop exercises
• Develop, coordinate, and maintain COOP, COB, COG supplemental plans for JSP, including designated successor and the Pandemic Influenza plan.
• Support National Special Security Events (NSSE) and emergency management events at continuity facilities focused on providing contingency Tier 3 support services and Tier 2 support to users during these events, which are up to four times a year and supported by the White House.
• Develop and promulgate procedures and planning templates for use across the enterprise to ensure an effective standardized ISCP is implemented enterprise wide in compliance with the applicable authorities and guidance with RMF.
• Assist the Government COOP Coordinator in preparing and maintaining information system contingency plans for all services provided under this order, participate in contingency planning and COOP exercise meetings, and support COOP exercises.
• Attend Pentagon facility and building management plan reviews for mission critical/emergency site projects and exercises to ensure minimal to no impact to the JSP’s critical organizational systems.
• Report exercise/project outcomes to JSP Government COOP coordinator and/or JSP management for any necessary corrective actions and address operational and/or COOP risks and shortfalls.
• Develop, coordinate, and maintain the JSP DRP for all JSP consolidated computer facilities and mission essential systems, in compliance with established DISA, DoD, and NIST guidelines. The DRP shall include all JSP, DoD HQ, and other JSP customers.
• Provide technical evaluations and assessments of ISCP, COOP Plan Annex Ks, and Continuity Architecture Interoperability in the implementation of COOP, COB, and COG objectives with respect to interfacing with other JSP Centers, Divisions, and Branches, JSP networks, DoDIN, other external IT/communications providers, and JSP on-boarded and supported customers.
• Report the Contingency Planning Controls under DoD Instruction 8510.01 Risk Management Framework (RMF) for DoD IT for all essential and critical IT systems maintained by JSP and represented in the JSP DRP.
• Maintain oversight of structure and content of the DoD COOP and COG Portal on the DISA Defense Enterprise Portal Service SharePoint system to include readiness status reporting of the readiness status of DoD HQ continuity facilities.
• Develop, coordinate, and maintain organization Business Impact Analysis (BIA) to include conducting, coordinating, and providing administrative support with JSP customers BIA risk assessment during onboarding and new system development.
• Provide Continuity Operations Manager presence on the JNOSC watch floor.
• Guide and implement a JSP DRP validation cycle and update program annually with the JSP Continuity Coordinator to ensure components maintain identification of essential systems in the DRP and in compliance with DoD DR and COOP guidance.
• Ensure development and implementation of annual JSP DRP Exercise and program activities and completion of supporting documentation.
• Coordinate and communicate JSP DRP exercises with JSP customers and mission partners.
• Assist in the planning and coordination of JSPs participation in National Level Exercise, DoD/OSD, CJCS, DISA COOP, and COG exercises.
• Facilitate and provide administrative support and meeting minutes for monthly COOP meetings and quarterly COOP forums.

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor of Science degree in computer engineering, computer information systems, telecommunications, or management information systems, and 2 - 7 recent years of documented experience relevant to this key position.
• Information Assurance (IA) Certification: DoDI 8570 IAT II certification.
• Computing Environment (CE) Certification: Recent and relevant technical certification.
• Top Secret security clearance.
• Experience in continuity operations and planning in an IT environment similar and as complex in size to the ones addressed in this order.
• Experience is working with customers to understand MEF for their organization.
• Expert knowledge of DoD and Government COOP policy and plans.
• Expert knowledge in determining and identifying high level functional and technical requirements based on interactions with the user community and knowledge of IT environments similar in size and scope to this order.
• Experience in implementing software, hardware and communications solutions.
• Experience in the utilization and maintenance of high level system designs, including architectural design documents, diagrams, project plans and milestones.
• Strong working knowledge of current server technology to include cloud computing, Blade Server, unified communications and virtualization technology.
• Experience in Windows environment on Server 2008, Server 2012, and Windows 7 and/or Windows 10 operating systems environments similar in size and scope of this order.
• Evaluate new or alternate secure remote access capabilities to support JSP customers.

Preferred Qualifications:

• ITILv4 certification

Physical Requirements:

• Sitting for long periods
• Standing for long periods
• Ambulate throughout an office
• Ambulate between several buildings
• Stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl as required
• Travel by land or air transportation 25% or less

It is the policy of Empower AI to provide equal opportunity in recruiting, hiring, training, and promoting individuals in all job categories without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other protected class or category as may be defined by federal, state, or local laws or regulations. In addition, we affirm that all compensation, benefits, company-sponsored training, educational assistance, social, and recreational programs are administered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity. It is our firm intent to support equal employment opportunity and affirmative action in keeping with applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.  Empower AI is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor.