Job description
Make an impact while you learn. The Semester of Service Program offers students a volunteer project-based opportunity to support Federal missions, gaining hands-on experience & valuable career-ready skills. Students must be enrolled at least half-time in an accredited trade school, technical or vocational institute, junior college, college, university, or other accredited educational institution, & participation must be with the permission of the institution at which the student is enrolled.
This vacancy announcement will be open from 07/30/2026 to 08/05/2026 or when 25 applications have been received. The vacancy will close on whichever day the first of these conditions are met. If the application limit is reached on the same day the announcement opened, the open and close date will be the same. Candidates are encouraged to read the entire announcement before submitting their application packages. This project supports the Office of Technology Innovation and Engineering by assisting with the development of a structured, repeatable threat modeling and threat indexing capability for integration into cybersecurity assessments. The student volunteer will help refine the Threat Disruption Index (TDI), map threats to safeguards, and support the modernization of the current Cybersecurity Assessment framework through structured data analysis, research, and the application of cybersecurity concepts. • Assist in developing, validating, and refining the Threat Disruption Index (TDI) model, including likelihood, exposure, exploit pressure, and impact scoring into the Cybersecurity Assessment application. • Conduct research on MITRE ATT&CK techniques, known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs), and cyber threat actors to support threat categorization. • Support mapping of threats to safeguards using structured taxonomies (e.g., Cybersecurity Risk Foundation (CRF) Threat Taxonomy and CRF Safeguards). • Analyze cybersecurity assessment data to identify gaps, trends, and prioritize findings for remediation. • Assist in building documentation, job aids, or visualizations that integrate the threat index into assessment workflows. • Support the building of a scalable network asset inventory project in Databricks by ingesting, reconciling, and analyzing data against a Configuration Management Database (CMDB) like ServiceNow, automate asset discovery, identify "shadow IT," and resolve discrepancies between actual enterprise network usage and the CMDB. • Assist in OT Asset Discovery and Inventory, customize searches or scripts for the OT environment, and build or update an accurate asset map of all OT devices (PLCs, RTUs, and HMIs), crucial for managing network visibility and detecting blind spots. • OT Cybersecurity Auditing: Assisting senior engineers with vulnerability scanning, evaluating system configurations, and participating in IT-OT network segmentation assessments to protect critical infrastructure.
Conditions of employment To participate in this Program, you must: Must be a U.S. Citizen or U.S National studying in the U.S. or abroad. International students on valid visas may participate if they meet applicable immigration, visa, and agency authorities. Be enrolled not less than half-time in an accredited trade school, technical or vocational institute, junior college, college, university, or other accredited educational institution for the Spring 2027 semester. Be in good academic standing as defined by your institution. Commit to volunteering 8 – 20 hours per week for a minimum of 90 days. Complete all required onboarding documentation assigned by the Federal agency and your academic institution. Agree to volunteer. This position is unpaid. No compensation, stipends, or hiring preference will be granted from this work. You may use this volunteer experience to qualify for future jobs you choose to apply for. Agree to understanding volunteers are not Federal employees. Must have a minimum GPA of 2.0 out of 4.0 scale.
Applicants will be considered based on their knowledge, skills or abilities related to project needs. Specifically, applicants should: • Pursuing or completed degree in Computer Science, Data Science, or related field • Understanding of AI/machine learning concepts • Ability to design experiments and analyze results • Programming language like Python preferred.
Source and application: Official federal vacancy data provided by USAJOBS. Apply on the original USAJOBS listing.
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