As a member of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s Integrated Operations Division (IOD), the participant will support CISA’s efforts to improve the security, resilience, preparedness, and operational readiness of critical infrastructure partners.Working with regional staff and under the guidance of experienced training and exercise personnel, the participant will gain practical experience supporting the planning, coordination, conduct, evaluation, and documentation of regional training and exercise activities. The curriculum emphasizes stakeholder engagement, training-needs identification, exercise design, Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP)-aligned processes, after-action reporting, and coordination with federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, private-sector, academic, and other partners.This SkillBridge opportunity is intended for transitioning service members with relevant experience in emergency management, training development, exercise planning, continuity, critical infrastructure protection, operational planning, interagency coordination, or related SkillBridge is a training and internship pathway. It is not a hiring authority and does not guarantee an interview, selection, certification, conversion, or federal employment.
The participant will be assigned to an IOD regional or headquarters-aligned team and will work alongside training, exercise, and operational-planning professionals. The participant will support regional training and exercise planning, stakeholder coordination, logistics, document development, exercise execution, and after-action activities.Assignments will be tailored to the participant’s availability window, prior experience, host-office workload, and authorized access. The participant will not exercise inherently governmental authority, make official agency decisions, or independently represent CISA.Orientation and Mission Familiarization• Complete required onboarding, orientation, and host-office introductions.• Receive an overview of CISA, IOD, Regional Operations, and the host office’s training and exercise mission.• Review applicable program guidance, standard operating procedures, training resources, prior exercise materials, and approved HSEEP reference materials.• Observe planning meetings, working groups, and stakeholder engagements, as appropriate.• Develop an individual learning plan with the host supervisor that identifies assignments, developmental objectives, and expected products.Training Planning and Stakeholder Coordination• Assist with identifying regional training needs and documenting stakeholder requirements.• Support preparation of training-requirements summaries, schedules, milestones, resource needs, and coordination plans.• Help identify potential federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, private-sector, academic, and critical-infrastructure partners for applicable CISA or DHS training offerings.• Assist with training logistics, including participant coordination, invitations, agendas, read-ahead materials, attendance tracking, and approved training-resource dissemination.• Support updates to training-related concept-of-operations documents, standard operating procedures, trackers, or reference materials.• Draft status updates, briefing materials, and meeting notes for review by the host office.Exercise Planning and Design• Assist with exercise planning meetings and coordination with internal and external stakeholders.• Support development of exercise objectives, scope, assumptions, participant lists, schedules, and logistical requirements.• Help research relevant risks, capability gaps, prior exercise findings, and stakeholder concerns to inform scenario development.• Assist in preparing exercise design materials, such as planning-meeting agendas, participant guides, slide decks, discussion questions, notional scenarios, injects, and evaluation tools.• Support alignment of exercise products with HSEEP principles and applicable CISA, DHS, FEMA, and host-office guidance.• Contribute to coordination with FEMA regional offices, CISA program offices, and national exercise-program personnel, as directed.Exercise Conduct and Evaluation• Support exercise logistics, participant communications, materials management, and documentation.• Assist exercise controllers, facilitators, evaluators, or the exercise leader, as assigned and consistent with authorized responsibilities.• Record key exercise observations, decisions, discussion themes, capability gaps, and proposed corrective actions.• Support development of daily summaries, situation updates, leadership briefings, and participant communications.• Assist with maintaining an action-item tracker and monitoring suspense dates following the exercise.After-Action Reporting and Improvement Planning• Assist with organizing evaluator notes, participant feedback, and exercise observations.• Support development of after-action review materials, after-action reports, and improvement-plan documentation.• Help identify themes, strengths, gaps, corrective actions, responsible offices, milestones, and potential resource considerations.• Draft briefing materials summarizing exercise outcomes, recommendations, and proposed next steps.• Participate in an end-of-program review and document completed learning objectives and work products.
Secret Clearance; Demonstrated background in training development, exercise planning, emergency management, continuity planning, critical infrastructure protection, operational planning, military operations, or a related field. Strong written and verbal communication skills. Ability to organize projects, coordinate across multiple stakeholders, and manage deadlines.
US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, US Space Force
TO APPLY: Tailor a resume outlining the requirements and role description. Title the email "Region 9 Training and Exercise Coordinator Skillbridge Opportunity." Address the email to military@cisa.dhs.gov. Include your projected Skillbridge start/end dates in the body of the email.
Send a professional application in seconds, created by prior SkillBridge POCs.
