ENDICTUS is seeking an experienced Federal Privacy Assessor to lead an independent assessment of a federal agency privacy program. The selected professional will evaluate the effectiveness and maturity of privacy policies, procedures, controls, documentation, and operational practices, with particular emphasis on NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 privacy controls.
The Privacy Assessor will review Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs), Systems of Records Notices (SORNs), Privacy Act Statements, data inventories, policies, procedures, and supporting control evidence; assess implementation and effectiveness of applicable privacy controls; identify privacy risks and control deficiencies; develop actionable remediation recommendations; and prepare assessment documentation and executive-level findings.
This position requires substantive hands-on federal privacy assessment experience. General cybersecurity, RMF, or security-control experience alone is not sufficient unless it includes direct privacy-control assessment responsibilities.
Key Responsibilities
Privacy Program Assessment
- Plan and execute an independent assessment of a federal agency privacy program.
- Develop and maintain an assessment plan defining scope, methodology, schedule, assessment activities, evidence requirements, and stakeholder engagement.
- Evaluate the design, implementation, and effectiveness of applicable privacy controls.
- Review the agency's privacy governance structure, policies, procedures, standards, and supporting artifacts.
- Assess whether documented privacy practices align with applicable federal requirements and agency procedures.
- Identify gaps, weaknesses, inconsistencies, and areas of privacy risk.
- Maintain objective, evidence-based traceability between assessment criteria, supporting evidence, findings, risk ratings, and recommendations.
NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 Privacy Control Assessment
- Assess applicable NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 privacy controls.
- Review evidence demonstrating control implementation and effectiveness.
- Map agency privacy documentation and practices to applicable NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 privacy controls.
- Evaluate whether controls are adequately documented, implemented, and operating as intended.
- Identify missing, incomplete, ineffective, or inadequately supported privacy controls.
- Document control-level findings and supporting evidence.
- Develop assessment results that clearly map findings to applicable NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 privacy controls.
- Ensure assessment documentation supports defensible conclusions and Government review.
Privacy Documentation Review
Review and analyze privacy documentation including, as applicable:
- Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs)
- Systems of Records Notices (SORNs)
- Privacy Act Statements
- Data inventories
- Privacy policies and procedures
- Privacy control documentation
- Information collection and data-use documentation
- Data-flow documentation
- Records retention practices
- Data-sharing practices
- Data minimization practices
- Privacy risk documentation
- Plans of Action and Milestones (POA&Ms)
Risk Analysis and Remediation
- Identify and evaluate privacy-related risks and control deficiencies.
- Assign risk ratings using Low, Moderate, and High classifications, as applicable.
- Determine the operational and compliance significance of identified findings.
- Develop prioritized, practical, and actionable remediation recommendations.
- Support development or refinement of POA&Ms for missing, incomplete, or inadequate controls and documentation.
- Recommend resources, processes, documentation, or control improvements needed to address outstanding privacy issues.
- Ensure recommendations are traceable to assessment evidence and applicable NIST privacy controls.
- Develop final findings, risk ratings, and recommendations suitable for inclusion in a formal federal privacy assessment report.
Stakeholder Engagement
- Conduct interviews and working sessions with agency Privacy Office personnel, system owners, information system security personnel, program stakeholders, and other relevant subject matter experts.
- Request, review, and validate assessment evidence.
- Resolve evidence gaps and clarify control implementation through structured stakeholder engagement.
- Communicate preliminary observations and findings clearly and professionally.
- Support Government review and adjudication of draft findings.
- Incorporate Government feedback into finalized assessment conclusions and recommendations.
Reporting and Executive Communication
- Prepare draft and final privacy assessment documentation that clearly describes:
- Assessment scope and methodology
- Control assessment results
- Findings and supporting evidence
- Risk ratings
- Control deficiencies
- Recommended corrective actions
- Remediation priorities
- Produce a final privacy assessment report suitable for federal Government acceptance.
- Develop and deliver an executive-level briefing summarizing significant findings, risks, recommendations, and remediation priorities.
- Translate detailed privacy-control findings into concise, decision-ready information for senior leadership.
- Ensure all assessment documentation and presentation materials comply with applicable Section 508 accessibility requirements.
Required Qualifications
Candidates must meet all of the following requirements:
Certification
- Active Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States (CIPP/US) certification maintained through the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).
Federal Privacy Assessment Experience
- Minimum five years of experience conducting privacy assessments for federal agencies.
- Demonstrated experience evaluating federal privacy programs, privacy controls, and associated documentation.
- In-depth understanding of compliance issues associated with federal privacy legislation, directives, regulations, policies, and federal guidance.
- Demonstrated experience planning and executing privacy assessments from initial scoping through final findings and executive reporting.
NIST Privacy Assessment Experience
- Minimum five years of experience utilizing NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 privacy-assessor knowledge and application.
- Demonstrated experience reviewing documentation used by a federal Privacy Office to satisfy applicable NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 privacy controls.
- Experience assessing privacy controls within a mid-sized federal agency or comparable environment with a Moderate security categorization.
- Demonstrated ability to determine whether privacy controls are adequately documented, implemented, supported by objective evidence, and operating effectively.
- Experience developing control assessment results that map findings to specific NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 privacy controls.
Remediation and Reporting Experience
- Experience developing and/or supporting Plans of Action and Milestones (POA&Ms) addressing missing, incomplete, or inadequate controls and documentation.
- Experience developing actionable remediation recommendations for federal Privacy Offices.
- Experience preparing formal privacy assessment reports that document assessment methodology, findings, supporting evidence, risk ratings, and recommendations.
- Experience incorporating Government review comments into final assessment documentation.
- Experience developing and delivering executive-level briefings summarizing privacy risks, findings, and remediation priorities.
- Ability to communicate technical and regulatory privacy issues to both technical stakeholders and executive leadership.
Required Knowledge and Competencies
The successful candidate should demonstrate strong working knowledge of:
- NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 privacy controls
- Federal privacy program assessment methodologies
- Privacy Act requirements
- Privacy Impact Assessments
- Systems of Records Notices
- Privacy Act Statements
- Federal data inventories
- Privacy risk analysis
- Privacy control testing and evidence evaluation
- Data minimization
- Records retention
- Information sharing
- Data-flow analysis
- POA&M development and remediation tracking
- Federal privacy legislation, regulations, directives, policies, and guidance
- Risk-based assessment methodology
- Federal information-system environments
- Federal assessment reporting and executive communication
Security and Suitability Requirements
- Must be eligible to successfully complete a National Agency Check with Inquiries (NACI).
- Must comply with all Government requirements governing access to, handling of, transmission of, storage of, and disclosure of sensitive, proprietary, Privacy Act, and other Government information.
- Must maintain strict confidentiality of information obtained during assessment activities.
- An active DoD Secret clearance is preferred, but not required.
Desired Qualifications
- Experience serving as lead assessor for independent federal privacy program assessments.
- Experience supporting a federal agency Privacy Office or Senior Agency Official for Privacy.
- Experience assessing Moderate-impact federal systems or agency environments.
- Experience developing evidence matrices, control assessment workpapers, findings registers, risk registers, and remediation roadmaps.
- Experience presenting assessment results to senior federal executives.
- Additional privacy, cybersecurity, risk management, audit, or information security certifications.
- Experience integrating privacy assessment activities with broader RMF, FISMA, governance, risk, and compliance programs.
- Active DoD Secret clearance.