What evidence do auditors commonly ask for on PS-9 Position Descriptions (PS-9)?

SSP PS-9 statement confirming security and privacy responsibilities are written into position descriptions; Sample position descriptions showing security and privacy duties; Background screening completion records by role tier; Termination and transfer access removal evidence within SLA; Sanctions policy with documented application history; Third party personnel screening attestations.

What is the most common gap auditors find on PS-9?

Contractor screening relies on vendor attestation without sampling

FedRAMP High (NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 baseline) · PS - Personnel Security

`PS-9` Position Descriptions (PS-9)

Position Descriptions. Incorporate security and privacy roles and responsibilities into organizational position descriptions

Source: FedRAMP High (NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 baseline), PS-9. The statement above is our statement of the clause, read from the published text and cited so you can check it against the official text, not the instrument verbatim. Open FedRAMP High (NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 baseline) in the compliance library.

A FedRAMP baseline is a subset of NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5, enhancements included.

artefacts

held by a system

at each review

hard

to go live

HR system / LMS

where the evidence lives

teal = a system already holds it · olive = produced at each review. To go live: easy when half or more of the artefacts are already held by a system, moderate from a quarter to a half, hard below a quarter.

These are the artefacts auditors commonly ask for on this requirement, our guidance rather than text from the standard. Your assessor decides what is sufficient in your context, and asks for samples across the period when a report covers one.

system holds itEvidence a system already holds

Background screening completion records by role tier · HR system / LMS

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

Termination and transfer access removal evidence within SLA · HR system / LMS
Third party personnel screening attestations · HR system / LMS
Acknowledgement of access agreements signed at hire · HR system / LMS

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

SSP PS-9 statement confirming security and privacy responsibilities are written into position descriptions · Policy repository / GRC workspace
Sample position descriptions showing security and privacy duties · Policy repository / GRC workspace
Sanctions policy with documented application history · Policy repository / GRC workspace

First move

Mostly documents and reviews. Pull the 1 system-held artefact from your HR system / LMS on a schedule; put the documents under version control with an owner and review date, and log each review as a dated record with a named reviewer.

Common gaps auditors find

Contractor screening relies on vendor attestation without sampling
Position risk designations not reviewed when responsibilities change
Background checks not re run when employees move to higher risk roles
Termination access removal exceeds documented SLA

Do this for your whole sheet

Paste the rows you run your controls from and get this mapping for every control at once, with the periodic-review ones flagged and a first move per row. No account for the first run.

Build my evidence sheet

PS-8 Personnel Sanctions · RA-1 Policy and Procedures