I feel like the idea of "this newer character gets the highly sensitive mission because they have a specific skill that is useful for this" could still go hand-in-hand with the mods posting a general call for people to do special things. They would just have to say "must be 2 stars and/or have [insert specific skill here] to be considered". Also, there can be a balance between "must have requirements met to be picked" and "anyone from the faction can apply OOCly, but we're going to RNG pick the person who is ICly chosen for this mission".

Ultimately, transparency for the process is a good thing. Plus this makes the whole process easier for the mods, since I certainly don't expect them to remember the specialties of 150+ characters.