Grand Junction Looks to Hire a Digital Forensic Analyst – What’s That?

If you take a tour of the City of Grand Junction's official webpage, you'll notice the city is looking to hire a Digital Forensic Analyst. What in the world is that?

To my ear this has prime-time TV cop show written all over it. Here's a quick rundown of what the city is looking for.

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Grand Junction is looking to fill this job position.

The City of Grand Junction's Facebook page reads, "Our Grand Junction Police Department is hiring for a  Digital Forensic Analyst." I seemed to have missed that booth on career day. What exactly do they do?

Digital Forensic Analyst job description.

The City of Grand Junction webpage states this is a full-time, continuous position. The job description reads:

The Grand Junction Police Department is seeking a Digital Forensic Analyst to join the Digital Crime Lab. The purpose of this position is to conduct highly technical analyses and procedures in the collection, processing, preservation, and presentation of digital evidence to assist law enforcement in a variety of criminal investigations. This position will serve as a technical expert regarding mobile, computer, and multimedia digital evidence; assist in legal proceedings as an expert witness; and deploy into the field to locate digital evidence at crime scenes, assist with search warrants, and to conduct crime-scene reconstructions.

See, I told you. This is something right off of one of the prime-time cop shows.

A little more info.

The job description above is good, but I need a little more info. The webpage eccouncil lists these as five common tasks a Digital Forensic Analyst might be expected to perform.

• Advising on the availability and reliability of digital evidence
• Working with investigators to acquire digital evidence through onsite and virtual searches
• Conducting examinations of digital evidence and preparing evidence for trial
• Conducting interviews and taking statements concerning computer evidence
• Supervisors will also train other investigators and stay up to date on current events in the industry

 What's in it for you?

How about that salary? The City of Grand Junction's webpage puts the pay rate at $33.81 to $37.32 an hour.

The job comes with excellent benefits including:

• retirement
• paid leave
• City employee health clinic
• wellness program

 What do you have to bring to the table?

Okay, this gets a bit tricky. The website criminaljusticedegreeschools.com lists the following as skill requirements.

• Attend a degree program and/or gain experience in a related field
• Become certified as a GIAC Certified Forensic Analyst (GCFA)

The City of Grand Junction's webpage states the following requirements:

• No experience required; one year of progressively responsible forensic digital analysis experience preferred.
• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with an emphasis in computer science, information technology, or related field.
• Possession of, or the ability to obtain, a valid Colorado driver's license.
• Possession of, or the ability to obtain, certification in a digital forensics disciple [sic] through an international association (LEVA, IAI, IACIS) within two years of hire.

Go for it.

When I graduated high school back in the mid-1980s, none of us had ever heard of a Digital Forensic Analyst. New careers are popping up all the time. Perhaps this is the opportunity you've been hoping for.