A great job in government -- so long as you're not in government

Hey, agency cybersecurity experts -- do you have a proven track record for "directing IT modernization efforts, formulating short and long-range strategic direction, and developing technology policies?" Would you like to be the Internal Revenue Service's next director of cybersecurity operations, earn as much as the vice president, and deliver world-class security for critical IRS systems?

Too bad. Federal employees are not eligible to apply.

The IRS has designated this a "streamlined critical pay position" -- a special category that the agency may apply to up to 40 positions at any one time, in order to fill posts that "require expertise of an extremely high level" and "are critical to the Internal Revenue Service’s successful accomplishment of an important mission."

Special recruiting efforts and higher salaries can be used in such cases, where the agency has determined that no qualified federal employees are available -- and where a standard General Schedule or Senior Executive Service job is unlikely to attract top talent from outside government. As a result, however, feds -- and many former IRS employees -- are eliminated from the start.

There are similar exceptions allowed governmentwide; the Office of Personnel Management can designate up to 800 jobs for "critical position pay." The IRS, however, has its own statutory authority.

And for any private-sector cyber executives who might be interested: it may already be too late. While the IRS advertised the position in the Wall Street Journal as recently as July 8, a recruiter told FCW the agency is no longer actively seeking more applicants.