Research Operations Specialist, Senior

Byte Systems, a subsidiary of VTG, is seeking a full‑time Research Operations Specialist (Senior) to join a search team in Herndon, VA. The role involves conducting comprehensive searches within client repositories and archived records to support FOIA, Privacy Act requests, Congressional inquiries, and Office of General Counsel investigations, primarily for the Intelligence Community.

Responsibilities

• Run queries and perform in‑depth searches to retrieve documents for Information Review and Release Analysts.
• Review, organize, and analyze documents for production in response to requests from government agencies, commercial entities, and private citizens.
• Ensure searches cover the entire scope of each request and reduce or eliminate duplicate records.
• Document query details, record results, and submit scanning requests for needed documents.
• Assist with training newly hired search team members as requested.
• Collaborate with supervisory client points of contact to recommend and implement process, workflow, and SOP improvements.
• Provide occasional surge support outside normal office hours for emergent requests.

Qualifications

• Active Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) clearance with polygraph.
• Six or more years of experience searching/querying databases and quickly adapting to new systems.
• Bachelor’s degree in any liberal arts, scientific, or technical discipline (equivalent to three years of relevant experience) or a Master’s degree (adds one additional year of experience).
• Significant work experience in the Intelligence Community.
• Proven ability to collaborate with client QA/QC staff and recommend/adapt to new processes.
• Experience training newly assigned search team members.
• Strong time‑management skills with the ability to prioritize competing tasks and meet tight deadlines.
• Critical‑thinking and problem‑solving abilities, offering out‑of‑the‑box solutions.
• Experience with data calls and rapid‑reaction tasks.
• Effective communication skills across peer and management levels, delivering proactive, high‑quality service.
• Team‑player mindset focused on building robust relationships with clients, colleagues, and technical teams.

Schedule

• Eight‑hour shift between 6:00 AM – 6:00 PM, Monday‑Friday.
• Infrequent surge support outside normal office hours for short‑fused emergent requests.