DHS to Launch New Approach to Hiring Cyber Talent

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity Service has launched a new approach to hiring and retaining top cyber talent, the department said Friday.

In order to recruit the best cybersecurity employees to work across cybersecurity specializations and DHS Component Agencies, including the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), to protect the country’s information technology infrastructure, the agency has created the new DHS Cybersecurity Talent Management System (CTMS). It features a variety of innovations intended to modernize the federal employment experience, the agency said.

“DHS is launching the Cybersecurity Talent Management System (CTMS) to establish an innovative way to hire and retain the very best cyber talent,” Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, said. “We are doing so through a new regulation, as we re-envision how the federal government recruits, develops, and retains a top-tier cybersecurity workforce. The regulation also creates the DHS Cybersecurity Service, which will increase access to public service careers in cybersecurity.”

The Cybersecurity Talent Management System (CTMS) will be effective on November 15, 2021, at which time DHS will begin accepting applications for the Cybersecurity Service.

The CTMS will be a mission-driven, person-focused and market-sensitive approach to talent management, representing a shift from traditional federal civil service practices. In the hiring process, applicants progress through customized application paths based on skills and interests as well as participate in assessments to demonstrate their skills.

Compensation structures will be changed to reflect market-sensitive competitive salaries based on skills and expertise. And Cybersecurity Service employees will be encouraged to keep their skills sharp, and participate in a wide range of classroom and on-the-job learning activities based on their skills, interests, responsibilities and career goals