IT SPECIALIST (APPLICATIONS SOFTWARE) Job in Hanover, MD

Vacancy No. SDST255422856133 Department U.S. Special Operations Command (Army)
Salary $104,604.00 to $142,961.00 Grade 14 to 14
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 2/14/2025 Close Date 2/24/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Hanover, MD


Summary

About the Position: This position is in the Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System (DCIPS). Employees occupying DCIPS positions are in the Excepted Service and must adhere to U.S. Code, Title 10, as well as Department of Defense Instruction 1400.25. This position is located at Strategic Systems Support Element (SSSE), Fort Meade, Maryland.

Duties

  • Serve as a Vulnerability Researcher and Software/Hardware Developer leader in a US Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) Unit providing VR and development expertise to a wide range of customers.
  • Serve as a senior specialist, analyzes, designs, develops, enhances, maintains, modifies, and implements complex systems and specialized applications software for a variety of organizations.
  • Prepare application software requirements and designs specification for implementation of recommendations.
  • Design and develop system specific test scenarios to test complex software from a variety of different technical perspectives.
  • As a technical advisor, responds to difficult-to-resolve trouble reports from experienced applications software specialists and organizational users.
  • Assist in assessing progress against requirements, identify issues and propose solutions to meet customer end states and goals.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
  • Two year trial/probationary period may be required.
  • In accordance with Change 3 to AR 600-85, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Program, individual must successfully pass a urinalysis screening for illegal drug use prior to appointment and periodically thereafter.
  • Must be able to obtain and maintain a Top-Secret (TS) security clearance based on a T5 investigation/Single Scope Background Investigation (SSBI) with eligibility for sensitive compartmented information (SCI).
  • May require consent to take a counterintelligence scope polygraph examination, if given access to a special access program.
  • Must pass the organization’s Personnel Reliability Program which includes credit check, drug screening, polygraph and psychological evaluation.
  • Travel may be required up to 15% of the time.
  • Required to submit a Financial Disclosure Statement, OGE-450, (5 CFR Part 2634, Subpart I USEOGE, 06/08). **For more information, please see the 'Additional Information' section of this Job Opportunity Announcement.
  • This position has been identified as being a Key Position under the provisions of AR 690-11. **For more information, please see the 'Additional Information' section of this Job Opportunity Announcement.

Qualifications

******This is a Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel (DCIPS) STEM-aligned position which may be eligible for a Targeted Local Market Supplement (TLMS) based on selectee qualifications.******

Who May Apply:
Only applicants who meet one of the employment authority categories below are eligible to apply for this job. You will be asked to identify which category or categories you meet, and to provide documents which prove you meet the category or categories you selected. See Proof of Eligibility for an extensive list of document requirements for all employment authorities.

  • 10-Point Other Veterans’ Rating
  • 30 Percent or More Disabled Veterans
  • 5-Point Veterans' Preference
  • Current Army Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System (DCIPS) Employee
  • Current Department of Army Civilian Employees
  • Current Department of Defense (DOD) Civilian Employee (non-Army)
  • Current DoD Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System (DCIPS) Employee (non-Army)
  • Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System (DCIPS) Interchange Agreement
  • Disabled Veteran w/ a Service-Connected Disability, More than 10%, Less than 30%
  • Non-Department of Defense (DoD) Transfer
  • Prior Federal Service Employee
  • Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Reserve (MR) and National Guard (NG) Technician Eligible
  • Priority Placement Program, DoD MR and NG Preference Eligible Tech Receiving Disability Retirement
  • Priority Placement Program, DoD Retained Grade Preference Eligible
  • United States Citizen Applying to a DCIPS Position


Army DCIPS positions apply Veteran's Preference to preference eligible candidates as defined by Section 2108 of Title 5 U.S.C., in accordance with the procedures provided in DoD Instruction 1400.25, Volume 2005, DCIPS Employment and Placement.

In order to qualify, you must meet the experience requirements described below. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience.

To qualify based on your experience, your resume must describe at least one year of experience which prepared you to do the work in this job. Specialized experience is defined as:

1. Full range of system administration, network statistical and trend analysis, local area network management, and/or web site development and maintenance, database management, software/hardware installation, software maintenance, and quality assurance.
2. Managing projects, developing new or modifying existing program layouts, interrelationships, sequences, and internal logic; represents Department of Army (DA) to external Intelligence Community (IC) agencies and government partners.

This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the Federal service (GG/GS-13).

(1) Attention to Detail - Is thorough when performing work and conscientious about attending to detail.

(2) Customer Service - Works with clients and customers (that is, any individuals who use or receive the services or products that your work unit produces, including the general public, individuals who work in the agency, other agencies, or organizations outside the Government) to assess their needs, provide information or assistance, resolve their problems, or satisfy their expectations; knows about available products and services; is committed to providing quality products and services.

(3) Oral Communication - Expresses information (for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing oral presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately.

(4) Problem Solving - Identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives, and to make recommendations.

You will be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency in the following areas:
  • Data Systems and Management
  • Problem Solving
  • Software Testing and Evaluation
  • Systems Operation and Management

Education

Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify. For this job, you must meet the qualification requirement using experience alone--no substitution of education for experience is permitted.

Additional information

  • Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration.
  • You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.
  • Direct Deposit of Pay is required.
  • Must be able to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI security clearance.
  • Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from Department of Defense referral system for displaced employees.
  • If you have retired from federal service and you are interested in employment as a reemployed annuitant, see the information in the Reemployed Annuitant information sheet.
  • This is an Intelligence (General) Career Field position.
  • Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
  • Salary includes applicable locality pay.
  • Payment of Permanent Change of Station (PCS) costs is not authorized, based on a determination that a PCS move is not in the Government interest.
  • An Incentive may be authorized if determined to be in the best interest of the Government.

NOTE:
*This position has been identified as being a Key Position under the provisions of AR 690-11, Use and Management of Civilian Personnel in Support of Military Contingency Operations. A Key position is defined as any Army position that cannot be vacated during a national emergency or mobilization without seriously impairing the capability of their organization to function effectively. Because of the essential nature of these positions, the Secretary of the Army, or his/her designee, shall designate such positions as Key positions and shall require that they not be filled by Ready Reservists or military retirees with recall obligations. Prior to occupying the position, Civilians must be exempted from recall to active duty because of Reserve or retired military obligations.

*Required to submit a Financial Disclosure Statement, OGE-450, (5 CFR Part 2634, Subpart I USEOGE, 06/08). Executive Branch Personnel Confidential Financial Disclosure Report upon entering the position and annually in accordance with DOD Directive 5500-7-R, Joint Ethics Regulation, dated 17 March 2011.

Benefits

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Once the announcement has closed, a review of your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) will be used to determine whether you meet the qualification requirements listed on this announcement. If you are minimally qualified, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine your level of experience. If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully when applying, errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

You should list any relevant performance appraisals and incentive awards in your resume as that information may be taken into consideration during the selection process. If selected, you may be required to provide supporting documentation.

Required Documents

WARNING: DO NOT INCLUDE CLASSIFIED INFORMATION IN YOUR APPLICATION PACKET! Application packages that contain Classified information WILL NOT receive consideration for this position. Should you submit a resume or any other document as part of your application package and it is confirmed that any of the information is Classified, in addition to being found ineligible for consideration for this position, your Security Office will be notified to determine if any further action is warranted.

The documents you are required to submit vary based on the authority you are using to apply (i.e., applying as a veteran, applying as a current permanent Federal employee, applying as a reinstatement, etc). Please review the following links to see which documents you need to provide to prove your eligibility to apply: Applicant Checklist for Internal/Merit Promotion Announcements.

As described above, your complete application includes your resume, your responses to the online questionnaire, and documents which prove your eligibility to apply. If you fail to provide these documents, you will be marked as having an incomplete application package and you will not be considered any further.

1. Your resume:

  • Your resume may be submitted in any format and must support the specialized experience described in this announcement.
  • If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content, it will not be used to make eligibility and qualification determinations and you may not be considered for this vacancy.
  • For qualifications determinations your resume must contain hours worked per week and the dates of employment (i.e., HRS per week and month/year to month/year or month/year to present). If your resume does not contain this information, your application may be marked as incomplete and you may not receive consideration for this position.
  • For additional information see: What to include in your resume.

2. Other supporting documents:
  • Cover Letter, optional
  • Most recent Performance Appraisal, if applicable
  • Proof of Eligibility to Apply: Your application must include the documents which prove you are eligible to apply for the vacancy. The Proof of Eligibility document describes authorities commonly used in merit promotion recruitment and what document(s) are required to prove you meet the requirements of the authority. You must meet the requirements of at least one of the authorities listed in the Who May Apply section above to receive further consideration.

NOTE: Documents submitted as part of the application package, to include supplemental documents, may be shared beyond the Human Resources Office. Some supplemental documents such as military orders and marriage certificates may contain personal information for someone other than you. You may sanitize these documents to remove another person's personal information before you submit your application. You may be asked to provide an un-sanitized version of the documents if you are selected to confirm your eligibility.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

How to Apply

To apply for this position, you must complete the online questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section above.

The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 02/24/2025 to receive consideration.

  • To begin, click Apply to access the online application. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account to apply. If you do not have a USAJOBS account, you will need to create one before beginning the application (https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12656133).
  • Follow the prompts to select your resume and/or other supporting documents to be included with your application package. You will have the opportunity to upload additional documents to include in your application before it is submitted. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
  • After acknowledging you have reviewed your application package, complete the Include Personal Information section as you deem appropriate and click to continue with the application process.
  • You will be taken to the online application which you must complete in order to apply for the position. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation is included with your application package, and submit the application. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
  • It is your responsibility to verify that your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) is complete, accurate, and submitted by the closing date. Uploaded documents may take up to one hour to clear the virus scan.
  • Additional information on how to complete the online application process and submit your online application may be found on the USA Staffing Applicant Resource Center.

To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account (https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login), all of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/.

Agency contact information

Army Applicant Help Desk
Address
ST-IC-W4JLAA STRATEGIC SYSTEMS SUPPORT ELEMENT
DO NOT MAIL
Fort Huachuca, AZ 85613
US

Next steps

If you provided an email address, you will receive an email message acknowledging receipt of your application. Your application package will be used to determine your eligibility, qualifications, and quality ranking for this position. If you are determined to be ineligible or not qualified, your application will receive no further consideration.


Note: We cannot accept applications on behalf of Federal Agencies. Application instructions are listed within the Job Description.


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