Harry Wingo from ONCD on lowering barriers in access to well-paid jobs in cyberspace

The increase in America’s National Cybersecurity Directors’ White House hiring isn’t just about filling hundreds of jobs across the federal government.

Of course, ONCD is committed to helping agencies meet the urgent need for talent in areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and technology modernization.

But Harry Wingo, deputy national director for cybersecurity, said Service for America’s efforts are also aimed at raising awareness that “jobs like this exist, particularly in the federal government.” And not all of them require higher education.

“We are focused on skills-based hiring,” Wingo said during the Federal News Network Cyber Leaders Exchange 2024. “So where there may be people who thought you could only get a job in cyberspace with a four-year degree, we really want to make it clear that for many positions, if you can do the job, we will make sure that we lower those barriers and expand pathways to opportunities by hiring you based on skills-based recruiting.”

ONCD aims to transition nearly 100,000 federal IT and cyber jobs to skills-based hiring by summer 2025. Skills-based hiring is a pillar of the White House’s national workforce and education strategy.

The idea is to focus more on assessing candidates’ skills, rather than relying solely on educational degrees and self-assessment. The White House expects that by moving to skills assessment and on-the-job training, public and private sector organizations will be able to fill nearly 500,000 job vacancies.

“The Biden-Harris administration is excited about the opportunity to create opportunities for Americans to have good-paying jobs that also matter, and to that end we are really focusing on skills-based hiring,” Wingo said.

Federal cyber efforts require ‘consistency’

ONCD also wants to bring coherence to federal cybersecurity efforts as part of an overarching national cybersecurity strategy, he said.

One of the pillars of the workforce strategy is strengthening the federal cyber workforce, including through improved interagency collaboration, improved recruitment and retention processes, improved career paths, and investments in human resources capabilities.

“A lot of times, because cyber is so important, a lot of people ask, ‘Well, how do we stick with people?’ What if they go to work in the private sector? Wingo explained. “One of the things we can make consistent is how do you really make sure that your culture is there to get the meaningful part, to give people the opportunity to contribute, to be flexible, to really bring out that innovation and resilience that people really want to have working in the cyber industry.

Harmonization of regulations on cyber requirements

In addition to cybersecurity staff, ONCD leads many federal cybersecurity initiatives. These include an attempt to better streamline the growing patchwork of cyber regulations as part of the Regulatory Harmonization Initiative.

“We’re looking at opportunities to look at where regulatory systems impact different sectors of cyberspace, sectors of the economy,” Wingo said. “And while there may be differences between, say, what’s happening with telecommunications networks, energy, water or the banking sector, there are similarities or things they have in common – in how people and technology need to be prepared to face growing and ever-increasing growing challenges in cyberspace.”

ONCD received 86 responses to its 2023 request for information on the harmonization of cybersecurity regulations. In line with the latest National Cyber Strategy Implementation Plan, ONCD is currently exploring options for establishing pilot programs for regulatory reciprocity.

“We want to make sure that regulations don’t work against each other across sectors, and then for consistency it’s important to ensure that there’s reciprocity after harmonization – that they work together,” Wingo said.

“If there are certain issues that require a technology refresh or technical debt resolution in one place that is regulated, we want to make sure you get recognition for that from another regulator,” he added. “We’re working really hard to make sure we identify those opportunities and make changes to create better alignment both across the federal government and with the private sector as partners.”

Discover more articles and videos now Federal News Network’s Cyber Leaders Exchange 2024 event page.