Technical Writer (CBP)
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Summary
You write and maintain up-to-date technical documentation for U.S. Customs and Border Protection systems, collaborating with engineers to turn their knowledge into reliable procedures that teams can trust during incidents.
About Agile Defense
At Agile Defense we know that action defines the outcome and new challenges require new solutions. That’s why we always look to the future and embrace change with an unmovable spirit and the courage to build for what comes next.
Our vision is to bring adaptive innovation to support our nation's most important missions through the seamless integration of advanced technologies, elite minds, and unparalleled agility—leveraging a foundation of speed, flexibility, and ingenuity to strengthen and protect our nation’s vital interests.
Title: Technical Writer (CBP)
Clearance: Active CBP Background Investigation (CBP BI) and EOD strongly preferred. We can begin processing for candidates who do not hold one.
Citizenship: U.S. Citizenship required
Location: Ashburn, VA
Salary Range: [Pending]
Signing Bonus: $10,000 for candidates with an active CBP BI. Payable after 90 days; standard terms apply.
Travel: Rare, as needed
The Role
U.S. Customs and Border Protection runs continuous operations across more than 300 land, air, and sea ports of entry, plus Border Patrol stations and the Air and Marine Operations Center. Documentation in an environment like that is not a filing exercise. When something fails at three in the morning at a site nobody can reach quickly, the person working the problem needs a procedure that is correct, current, and findable. A document that is out of date does more damage than no document at all, because somebody will trust it.
You are the person who makes that reliable. You will work with network, cloud, security, and field deployment engineers to turn what they know into documentation people use, and carry the program's required deliverables through federal review.
Two things are worth knowing before you apply. The systems will change while you are writing about them, so anything you build has to assume revision rather than completion. And the engineers who hold the knowledge are busy and under change control, which means getting what you need from them is a skill this job depends on more than it depends on prose.
What Success Looks Like
Objective 1: In the first 90 days, find out which documents people actually use and which they have quietly stopped trusting
- You can name the documents an engineer opens during an incident, and the ones they skip and why.
- You have mapped what exists against what the program is required to produce.
- You have stopped maintaining at least one thing nobody reads.
Objective 2: By month six, cut the time engineers spend answering the same question twice
- Questions that used to route to one specific person get answered by something findable.
- New team members reach useful work without booking time with whoever holds the knowledge.
- A search for a current procedure returns the current version rather than three candidates.
- Engineers send people to the documentation instead of explaining it again themselves.
Objective 3: Get deliverables through review without a rework cycle
- Documents required by the contract arrive complete and on schedule.
- Reviewers ask about substance rather than returning things over format and completeness.
- Handling and marking requirements are correct before a document leaves the team.
Objective 4: Leave a documentation practice that keeps up with a system that changes
- Updating the document is part of making the change rather than something that happens afterward, if anyone remembers.
- Content that has gone stale is visible as stale rather than quietly wrong.
- Templates and standards exist that other people follow, so quality does not depend on who happened to write it.
What You Bring
Preferred Experience
- You have documented technical systems you were not an expert in, and can describe how you got up to speed.
- You have worked on a federal program and know in practice what handling controlled information requires.
- You have built documentation standards that outlasted your own involvement.
- You have gotten busy engineers to contribute to documentation without having any authority over them.
- You hold an active CBP BI, a fitness determination at another DHS component, or an active DoD clearance. Any of these shortens your start date.
- You work fluently in Markdown, Confluence, SharePoint, and a standard document toolchain.
- A portfolio of documents people actually used tells us more than a certification does.
A note on timing
We are staffing this program now. If you already hold an active CBP BI and EOD, your start date is short and a $10,000 signing bonus comes with the role, payable after 90 days under standard terms. We would like to talk this week.
If you do not, we can begin processing a CBP BI for you. That takes months rather than weeks, so applying now means joining a pipeline rather than starting immediately. We would rather tell you that up front than have you find out after you apply.
Employee Benefits
Agile's benefits offerings include, dependent upon position, Health Insurance, Life Insurance, Paid Time Off, Holiday Pay, short-term and long-term Disability, Retirement and Learning and Development opportunities as well as other optional benefit elections.
Our Core Values
Employees of Agile Defense are our number one priority, and the importance we place on our culture here is fundamental. Our culture is alive and evolving, but it always stays true to its roots. Here, you are valued as a family member, and we believe that we can accomplish great things together. Agile Defense has been highly successful in the past few years due to our employees and the culture we create together.
What makes us Agile? We call it the 6Hs, the values that define our culture and guide everything we do. Together, these values infuse vibrancy, integrity, and a tireless work ethic into advancing the most important national security and critical civilian missions. It's how we show up every day. It's who we are.
- Happy - Be Infectious. Happiness multiplies and creates a positive and connected environment where motivation and satisfaction have an outsized effect on everything we do.
- Helpful - Be Supportive. Being helpful is the foundation of teamwork, resulting in a supportive atmosphere where collaboration flourishes, and collective success is celebrated.
- Honest - Be Trustworthy. Honesty serves as our compass, ensuring transparent communication and ethical conduct, essential to who we are and the complex domains we support.
- Humble - Be Grounded. Success is not achieved alone, humility ensures a culture of mutual respect, encouraging open communication, and a willingness to learn from one another and take on any task.
- Hungry - Be Eager. Our hunger for excellence drives an insatiable appetite for innovation and continuous improvement, propelling us forward in the face of new and unprecedented challenges.
- Hustle - Be Driven. Hustle is reflected in our relentless work ethic, where we are each committed to going above and beyond to advance the mission and achieve success.
Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
Skills
As published by lever · 24 questions · 4 written answers
Basics
Resume/CV, Full name, Email, Phone, Current location, Current company
Short answers (2)
- What is your full street address? (Street, City, State, Zip)
- What is your desired salary?
Pick from a list (17)
- Are you authorized to work in the US?
- Are you open to relocating for this position, or another position with Agile Defense?
- Are you a current employee of Agile Defense or any of its subsidiaries, affiliates, or acquired companies?
- Have you ever been employed by Agile Defense or any of its subsidiaries, affiliates, or acquired companies?
- How did you hear about us?
- Do you have a higher education degree?
- What is your highest level of education?
- Do you have any active industry related certifications?
- Are you a current or former U.S. Government employee or U.S. armed forces?
- Are you currently subject to any post-employment obligations from a current or former employer that could restrict your ability to perform this role if hired?
- I certify that the information provided is accurate to the best of my knowledge and understand that additional details may be requested later in the hiring process.
- Have you ever been employed, directly or indirectly, by U.S. Customs and Border Protection? optional
- Have you ever held an active CBP Background Investigation? optional
- Have you ever worked, directly or indirectly, for any other component of DHS other than CBP (i.e. ICE, TSA, USCIS, USCG, USSS, CISA, FEMA, FLETC). Check all that apply: optional
- Have you ever successfully completed a DHS Suitability Investigation for any non-CBP component of DHS? optional
- Do you have a Department of Defense (DOD) Recognized Security Clearance?
- What level of DOD clearance do you have?
Written answers (4)
- What active industry related certifications do you have?
- If yes, please briefly describe the type of obligation and its duration (you may exclude employer names and confidential terms). If no, please respond with "N/A".
- If hired, would you have any ongoing outside employment, consulting, or business activities that could conflict with this role or the company’s interests?
- If yes, please briefly describe. If no, please respond with "N/A".
Attachments (1)
- Please upload a copy of your certification(s) if applicable optional
