Providing Practical Solutions Winning the Talent Wars for Recruiting and Retaining 21 st Century Cyber Engineers Jeff Kubik, PMP, CISSP Sr PM, Praxis Engineering 1

Agenda  Background  Distinguishing Cyber engineering talent from other technical fields  Recruiting challenges for national defense customers  PM’s role in recruiting and developing a successful recruiting strategy  Lessons learned from previous programs 2

Background  2013 DoD Cyber Security budget: $3.4B  DHS $769M – Cyber security budget for 2013  Gov’t IT projects all competing for the same cyber talent  Increase use of mobile & cloud computing environments bolstering demand for security  Shortage of Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) graduates to fill market demand  Growing number of STEM degrees in US being awarded to foreign citizens 3

Cyber Talent Distinction Cyber Engineer Talent  Requires broad understanding of networking, operating systems & application development  Understanding of cyber attack scenarios & mitigation strategies  Encompasses Computer Network Defense, Computer network attack, Computer network exploitation skills  Requires continuously updating of skills & maintenance of DoD certifications Technical Talent  Focus on excellence within a specific domain: Programming, networking, system administration, Database administration  More concerned about functionality vs security of solution  Maintains proficiency in the technology 4

Recruiting Challenges  Intense competition (Private Industry, Government) for new college (STEM) talent  Limited supply of talent with active security clearances  Processing new candidates for high level security clearances can take more than a year with no guarantee for adjudication  Compensation expectations of new / recent graduates misaligned with reshaping of Federal marketplace  Millennials seek challenging work environments that provides them with unrestricted access to mobile computing and social media  Traditional IT workforce requires training investment to become Cyber ready 5

PM’s Role in Recruiting and Developing a Recruiting Strategy  PMs need to outline recruiting strategy in advance of winning a cyber program  Active involvement with recruiters & participation in candidate interviews  Identification of sources of cyber engineer candidates  Determine talent acquisition investment required in obtaining necessary personnel 6

Recruiting Strategy  Identify sources for program staffing  Identify recruiting sources & establish pipelines  Other Contractor personnel  Former Government/Military personnel  External Recruitment firms  Interns / Co-Ops  Incentives: employee referrals, sign on bonuses  Social Media & Marketing efforts  Conduct targeted sourcing across electronic job boards, alumni associations, professional trade groups, LinkedIn  Active participation in Cyber Competitions: Cyber Patriot, Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC) 7

Involvement with Recruiting Team  Provide recruiters with summary table of skills mapped to available contract labor categories  Collaborate with recruiting on compensation strategy  Maintain staffing spreadsheet to highlight vacancies  Participate in candidate interviews  Provide detailed feedback to recruiters to improve their sourcing criteria for candidates  Join recruiters at campus visits (build future pipeline)  Encourage employees to become extensions of the formal corporate recruiting team 8

Sources of Cyber Engineers  Defense Contractors  Government (Civilian/Military)  Academia (IA Centers of Excellence)  Security / IT engineers supporting other critical infrastructure sectors (finance, healthcare, energy)  Pathways to Cybersecurity Careers Consortium  College campuses  Cross train current talent (long term investment)  1099s (Independent consultants) 9

Talent Acquisition Investment  Determine employment offer: Contingent or Firm  Establish budget for employee referrals  Determine relocation budget for candidates possessing critical skills  Budget training $ to ensure staff obtain/retain their DoD certifications (e.g. Security+, CISSP, GIAC) 10

Lessons Learned  Allow candidates to share in the vision of their future professional growth on your cyber program  Invest in the training of cyber personnel & create assignments that expands their technical skills  Establish frequent and open communications with recruiting team, management and project staff  Create a partnership with the Customer to enable staff growth which increases the program’s intrinsic value in retention of top talent  Develop a flexible staffing strategy that accommodates change and staff transitions 11

Conclusion  Active PM involvement is critical to winning the cyber talent war  Coaching the next generation of cyber engineers contributes to increasing the talent supply for our Nation  Maintaining technical competencies aides in cyber talent acquisition and development  Invest time and energy in developing better awareness of your personnel’s needs to improve retention 12