Associate Director, Trust Decision (Adjudications)

Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency; Fort Meade (MD); Remote; USD 186,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Telework eligible

Job summary

Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) seeks an Associate Director, Trust Decision (Adjudications) to lead the Trust Decision organization and provide senior-level guidance on timely, legally sound trust determinations and security reviews for the Department of War and other federal customers.

The role drives business transformation, aligns demand with capacity, and oversees a high-volume adjudicative operation while modernizing data systems and ensuring compliance with

Responsibilities

• Lead the Trust Decision organization and advise senior management on timely, legally sufficient trust determinations and security reviews.
• Translate agency priorities into measurable outcomes and align workforce, technology, and funding to mission demand.
• Direct a high-volume service-delivery operation for adjudicative determinations, issue resolution, and security reviews.
• Establish an enterprise quality-management system to ensure accuracy, consistency, and compliance with law and policy.
• Develop continuous-improvement strategies, improve performance analytics, and partner with investigative leaders to produce adjudicative ready products.

Job description

Associate Director, Trust Decision (Adjudications)

• Hiring Agency: Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency
• Department: Department of Defense
• Location: Multiple Locations
• Hiring Path: Fed Competitive
• Number of Openings: 1
• Security Clearance: Sensitive Compartmented Information

The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) is a separate Agency of the Department of War (DoW) under the direction, authority, and control of the Under Secretary of War for Intelligence and Security (USW (I&S)). This position is located in DCSA's Personnel Vetting, Trust Decision Office and reports to DCSA's Director. This is a Tier 1 position.

Key Responsibilities

The Associate Director, Trust Decision (Adjudications) will serve as the head of the Trust Decision organization and be the principal advisor to senior management on how best to assure delivery of timely, consistent, legally sufficient, risk-informed trust determinations and security review services for the Department of War and other federal customers.

In this regard, the incumbent will advise on and research ways and means of effecting business transformation consistent with the DCSA strategic and business plans. Responsibilities Include: Lead the Trust Decision organization in support of DCSA's personnel-vetting mission and the Director's strategic intent by translating agency priorities into measurable outcomes and aligning workforce, technology, and funding to mission demand.

Directs a high-volume, knowledge-based service-delivery operation responsible for adjudicative determinations, issue resolution, and security reviews by establishing a disciplined operating system that connects demand, inventory, and capacity to mission commitments. Lead outcome-based capacity planning and monitor performance standards specifically targeting defect rate, exit rate, capacity utilization, and backlog.

Uses operational indicators to mitigate emerging risks, direct recovery plans, and ensure the resilience of mission-essential services. Establishes an enterprise quality-management system measuring accuracy, consistency, and systemic risk while ensuring all adjudicative and security-review activities fully comply with applicable statutes, federal directives, and security policies.

Analyze requests for additional and supplemental information to develop continuous-improvement strategies, improve performance analytics, and partner with investigative leaders to produce adjudicative ready products that minimize avoidable rework and delay. Leads the transformation of Trust Decision processes, services, and operating models by partnering with technical, acquisition, and security leaders to define and prioritize operational requirements.

Establish business ownership for technology investments in workflow tools, automation, and artificial intelligence, utilizing pilots and phased implementations to ensure these capabilities address validated mission problems with measurable benefits.

Modernizes data systems to improve decision-making quality while ensuring that human judgment remains central to consequential trust decisions and that all automated processes are secure, explainable, and fully compliant with law and policy. Serves as DCSA's senior Trust Decision interface, representing the agency in senior-level governance forums, negotiations, and interagency initiatives with DoW components, federal customers, and intelligence partners.

Build strategic coalitions to resolve cross-organizational challenges affecting timeliness, quality, reciprocity, and technology while establishing clear service expectations and transparent reporting on performance and risk.

Promotes reciprocity and consistency across the personnel-vetting enterprise, communicating directly and credibly regarding performance trade-offs, resource constraints, and practical solutions Develops, justifies, and executes the Trust Decision budget by connecting resource requests to workload forecasts, productivity, and risk reduction to prioritize hiring, technology, and contract investments.

Oversee contractor performance to ensure support is integrated without displacing inherently governmental responsibilities, while maintaining sound internal controls and proactively identifying resource trade-offs for informed senior-leader decision-making. Preserves the integrity and independence of case-level determinations while improving the broader systems, standards, and training that safeguard national security and public trust.

Leads, develops, and holds accountable a diverse workforce of subordinate executives, managers, and technical experts by building a high-performance culture grounded in integrity, accountability, and inclusion.

Requirements & Education

This position does not have a positive education requirement.

Which agency is hiring for this position?

This position is with Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, Department of Defense.

What is the salary for this position?

The posted pay range is $186207 – $209600/yr.

Is this position remote or telework eligible?

This position is eligible for telework.

What security clearance is required?

This position requires a Sensitive Compartmented Information security clearance.

What is the application deadline?

Applications close on 2026-11-09.

Who is eligible to apply?

This position is open under the 'Fed Competitive' hiring path.