Senate Operations Center Watch Officer #1212 en United States Senate

Senate Operations Center Watch Officer #1212

Target Hiring Range: $126,372 - $133,000 

Department: Office of Security, Emergency Preparedness, and Continuity
Posting Date Range: 11/3/2025-11/17/2025
Pay Grade Range: $126372-$175868
Work Hours: Rotating Shifts
FLSA Status: Exempt
Remote Work Status: Onsite 

The Senate Sergeant at Arms does not pay for relocation expenses. 

 This vacancy announcement closes at 7pm EST. Late applications will not be accepted.

JOB OVERVIEW

Job Description

The Target Hiring Range for this position is: $126,372 - $133,000

The Senate Sergeant at Arms is seeking a skilled professional to serve as a Senate Operations Center Watch Officer. The preferred candidate has a demonstrated history of skilled information analysis, the ability to process and fuse information from diverse sources, and highly developed writing skills that meet the needs of the Senate community. Key responsibilities include monitoring events that affect the Senate, Senators, Senate staff, and Capitol Grounds, maintaining comprehensive situational awareness, preparing and delivering high quality verbal briefings and written reports using plain language, and facilitating decision support during critical incidents. Candidates must have strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work with stakeholders and partners at all levels. The candidate should have 3-5 years of relevant experience in an operations center or related field, with a focus on critical incident management and information sharing. The applicant must be able to obtain and maintain a Top-Secret U.S. security clearance.

Key Accountabilities/Essential Job Duties
Obtains, analyzes, and processes information to determine what is pertinent to the event/incident and the stakeholders receiving the information; identifies information shortfalls, critical issues, and sources for obtaining the required information. Maintains situational awareness of planned or unplanned events and incidents that may affect the personnel, facilities, or business of the United States Senate. Acts in the SAA’s best interest during any shift, takes responsibility over the watch during all hours, serves as the point of contact for After Action Reports, passes relevant and important information up the chain of command, ensures equipment and systems are in working order, and ensures adequate coverage of shift operations with qualified/trained personnel. Coordinates with other Command, Operations, and Fusion centers and designated stakeholders for clarifying information on potential impacts to Senate Members, staff, facilities, and operations. Develops and delivers, as directed, briefings to Senior Staff on the current Senate operational environment. Collects and analyzes information from a variety of sources, information feeds and contacts thereby developing Senate - specific situational awareness used in standard and specialized reports, summaries and briefings for the SOC, senior Senate Officers, and staff as directed. Other duties as assigned.

JOB SPECIFICATIONS

Required Education
Work requires a bachelor’s degree in criminal justices, homeland security, or emergency management.

Other Duties/ Responsibilities

• Provides emergency/crisis support and is subject to recall to the Senate Operations Center primary location, an alternate Continuity of Government facility, or telework site during emergency operational support conditions, training, or exercises. Such incidents may require the employee to work extended hours and days outside the normal work schedule.

Required Work Experience

• 3-5 years of experience in emergency management or homeland security.

Required Special Skills/ Knowledge

• Ability to remain calm and provide accurate details during stressful situations.
• Skill and ability to effectively communicate verbally and in writing with a wide variety of personnel through various methods for the purposes of receiving, reporting, and coordinating information and communication plus providing input or revising guidance and procedures.
• Skill to recognize critical, time sensitive information from the flow of routine information and to take immediate action to alert appropriate personnel.
• Knowledge of the relationships between Federal, State, local, territorial, and tribal law enforcement, intelligence, and emergency services operations.
• Knowledge of a wide range of crisis, incident management, and security concepts, principles, and practices to independently review and analyze.
• Related requests for information, incidents, and notifications.
• Knowledge of principles and current planning methods for continuity and business recovery operations, and emergency management.
• Knowledge of analytical skills in the area of open-source searches.
• Knowledge of using a Common Operating Picture in an incident-based operations center environment.
• Ability to develop effective working relationships with Senate staff, local, state, and federal law enforcement and security agencies.
• Ability to exercise tact and discretion with others regarding sensitive and confidential issues.
• Ability to analyze difficult and complex issues and make recommendations for action.
• Ability to conduct research and prepare analyses and reports.
• Ability to obtain Incident Command Systems (ICS)-100, 200, 700, and 800.
• As part of our hiring process, we may conduct a skills assessment to better understand an applicant’s proficiency in key areas relevant to the role. 

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience monitoring and synthesizing data from classified and open-source intelligence, situational awareness platforms, and emergency alert systems. 
• Strong skills in drafting and delivering timely situation reports (SITREPs), briefings, and notifications to internal and external stakeholders. 
• Ability to work effectively in high-pressure, time-sensitive situations and adapt to rapidly changing operational environments. 
• Demonstrated experience working in 24/7/365 operations, including shift work, holidays, and weekends.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; ability to clearly convey complex information to leadership and peers.
• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and proficiency in relevant tools and systems (HSIN, Microsoft Office Suite, mass notification platforms). 
• Familiarity with the operations, geography, and security of U.S. Capitol Grounds or prior experience supporting Congressional or federal agency missions.

Working Conditions

• Since this position requires onsite presence in support of the U.S. Senate when in session, this position requires the employee to be available and prepared to work during government shutdowns, in inclement weather, on holidays, and during late night, overnight, and weekend sessions. In the context of government furloughs, this position is considered excepted.
• This position directly supports essential services of the U.S. Senate. As such, this position requires the employee be available and prepared to work during government shutdowns, in inclement weather, on holidays, weekends, and during late nights to ensure essential services to the Senate continue without interruption. In the context of government furloughs, this position is considered excepted.
• No exceptional physical demands.

Security Clearance

• This position requires that the applicant obtain and maintain a top secret U.S. Government security clearance.
• Applicants must be U.S. citizens in order for the SAA to submit your application for a security clearance.

 CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

To be employed by a Senate employing office in a paid position in the continental United States an individual must:
1. Be a U.S. citizen;
2. Be lawfully admitted for permanent residence and seeking citizenship as outlined in 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3)(B);
3. Be (i) admitted as a refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157 or granted asylum under 8 U.S.C. § 1158 and (ii) have filed a declaration of intention to become a lawful permanent resident and then a citizen when eligible; or
4. Owe allegiance to the U.S. (i.e., qualify as a non-citizen U.S. national under federal law).

Employment is contingent on background / security investigation results.  

BENEFITS AT-A-GLANCE

The SAA provides a highly competitive benefits package for all SAA staff. Our benefits extend beyond health care coverage to help provide employees with student loan reimbursement, professional development, transportation subsidy, TSP/retirement savings, access to our Employee Assistance Program, and more! For more information regarding SAA’s benefits, please visit https://sen.gov/OPPW.

ACCOMMODATIONS

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, the SAA is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. If you are interested in applying for employment with SAA and need special assistance or an accommodation to complete the application process, please submit your request to [email protected] with “Accommodation” in the subject line.

VOLUNTARY SELF-IDENTIFICATION FOR VETERANS' PREFERENCE

If you are identifying as veterans' preference eligible under the VEOA, please use this link to complete your application for Veterans' Preference AFTER you apply for this position. The link will also be available on the "Thank You" page after you have submitted your job application.

Candidates only need to apply one time for veterans’ preference to be considered for all future veterans’ preference positions within the Senate Sergeant at Arms. 

• All supporting documents must ONLY be provided within the Veterans’ Preference Application and within the stated deadline of the job announcement.
• Late applications for veterans’ preference will not be considered.
• Documentation to obtain veterans’ preference will not be considered if attached to the job application.
• If you need to revise or resubmit your Application for Veterans' Preference/documents, please withdraw your previous Application for Veterans' Preference and resubmit. If you require assistance, please email [email protected].
• To view additional information regarding the VEOA, please click here.

An applicant who declines to self-identify as a disabled veteran and/or to provide information and documentation regarding his/her disabled veteran’s status will not be subjected to an adverse employment action, but the individual may be ruled ineligible for veterans’ preference.