Australia's Spy Agency Leader Says This Job Search Method Makes Clearance Holders a Target

The leader for Australia’s spy agency begged his people in national security to not advertise their security clearance status – especially on social media sites like LinkedIn. He noted that they are “facing an unprecedented challenge from espionage and foreign interference”. Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) Mike Burgess also told Australians in a speech this week to take cybersecurity more seriously.

Burgess said, “For some time I’ve been warning that foreign spies are targeting Australians on social media. To find out if the message is getting through, I asked my team to quickly scan the best known professional networking sites. They identified nearly 16,000 Australians publicly declaring they have a security clearance, and one thousand more revealing they worked in the intelligence community.”

Burgess calls using LinkedIn to advertise your clearance to potential employers as reckless and puts a target on your profile. Burgess also covered everything from insider threat to better passwords – anything to keep foreign adversaries from gaining easy access. It’s a good reminder for American clearance holders. If others in our alliances are fighting these issues, you can be certain the U.S. is as well. Best bet is to keep your profile in a secure community when you’re looking for cleared work.

Contract Opportunities to Watch: Jacobs

NASA has selected Jacobs to manage launch infrastructure, and to operate and maintain ground systems required for flight spacecraft processing at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Consolidated Operations, Management, Engineering and Test (COMET) contract will provide vehicle assembly and integration, launch, and recovery operations for Artemis missions through 2033.

This is a cost-plus-incentive-fee/award fee contract, with an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) ordering mechanism for obtaining additional services via task orders. The contract period of performance consists of a three-year, five-month base period beginning May 1, followed by two two-year option periods, and one two-year and seven-month option period. The total potential value of the contract is approximately $3.2 billion, which includes the base plus option periods, as well as the maximum IDIQ ordering value of $500 million.

Work performed under the COMET contract will include engineering; ground system development; flight vehicle/spacecraft processing; and launch, landing, and recovery operations in support of the following exploration systems development programs: exploration ground systems, Space Launch System, and Orion spacecraft. The COMET contract also will support the International Space Station Program, Launch Services Program, and other NASA programs, commercial ventures, and partnerships at Kennedy.

Key Employer in the Cleared Industry: ClearanceJobs

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Cleared Opportunities

Dan Dumbacher, executive director at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) in Reston, VA says there’s a shortage of engineers and skilled technicians in the aerospace industry. Dumbacher said that the biggest issue is missing experience in the field – not necessarily a specific engineering type. He shares that, “What we are hearing more and more out of our corporate community is that mid-level experienced engineering positions are getting harder and harder to fill.”

Skills are important, but if you can translate your discipline into aerospace, there’s a place for you in this mission-critical work. The key is an ability to work on a team to get the job done is critical in this industry.

“You’re building a system, and it takes a willingness to work across all technical disciplines to put that system together. The propulsion engineer must be able to work with the structures engineer, and the structures engineer has to be able to work with the thermal and the materials engineer,” explained Dumbacher.

There are a lot of drivers to the engineering shortage in aerospace, but AIAA is working to address them. Dumbacher identifies the value of the work to society – not just the compensation levels engineers can garner in other industries. However, especially in national security, supporting the aerospace industry typically offers job stability and strong earning potential. And adding a security clearance is a key ingredient to a national security career. Dumbacher said, “The higher security clearance you have, the more valuable you are in the industry.”

In the aerospace industry, you can launch your career and find meaningful work – all around the world and even in space.