I did an interview with these folks about a year and a half ago—if you can make the pay and location work it seems like a great way to do socially meaningful work.
I sadly had to pass—I couldn’t make the salary or move work with health issues in the family—but the interview process was very open and the interviewers I spoke with were fantastic.
As I gathered these folks are effectively a floating software team that partners with other governmental organizations to fix problems that benefit from their skill sets. The last project I’m aware of was them revamping systems to allow veterans to more easily receive health care.
Good luck to them and whoever applies, we need more places like the USDS.
The GS schedule capped out below what I was making at the time. Other commenters here have pointed out what the dollar value is, but I forget the designation for the salary band.
Although if that's still too low, check out DHS. They are finding ways of increasing salaries above that limit. (https://www.usajobs.gov/job/709656500)
Senior Cybersecurity Specialist: $115,400 - $123,700
Staff Cybersecurity Specialist: $140,400 - $150.200
Principal Cybersecurity Specialist: $167,400 - $177,800
Senior Principal Cybersecurity Specialist: $184,700 - $196,000
In some geographic areas, average starting salaries will be higher because of a local cybersecurity labor market supplement (e.g., metro Washington, D.C. +10%).
If I'm parsing that correctly, $196k+10%=$215k as the cap.
I sadly had to pass—I couldn’t make the salary or move work with health issues in the family—but the interview process was very open and the interviewers I spoke with were fantastic.
As I gathered these folks are effectively a floating software team that partners with other governmental organizations to fix problems that benefit from their skill sets. The last project I’m aware of was them revamping systems to allow veterans to more easily receive health care.
Good luck to them and whoever applies, we need more places like the USDS.