Clarification from the agency

All US Citizens

This position is being filled under the memorandum from the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (USD(P&R)) "Expansion of Direct Hire Authority for Certain Personnel of the Department of Defense," dated October 15, 2021.

As a IT SPECIALIST (ENTARCH/SYSANALYSIS) at the GS-2210-14 some of your typical work assignments may include:

• Design and implement comprehensive technical architecture blueprints for complex IT systems, including cloud-native platforms, API integrations, and ICAM/Zero Trust (ZT) security frameworks, detailing components, interactions, and data flows to ensure scalability, security, and maintainability.
• Translate business needs into actionable technical solutions that align with strategic goals, drive long-term success, and support enterprise development through innovation and opportunity identification.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to set technical direction, drive AI-enabled and API-driven solutions, and interpret complex requirements to deliver impactful outcomes across the organization.
• Research, evaluate, and recommend emerging technologies, platforms, and tools, leading proof-of-concept efforts and presenting designs to review boards while ensuring adherence to technical strategies, policies, and standards.
• Define and enforce technical architectural guidelines, principles, and standards to ensure consistency and quality across IT solutions, while validating solutions against functional and non-functional requirements such as performance, scalability, security, and maintainability.
• Identify risks and challenges in solution architecture, develop mitigation strategies, and communicate them effectively to stakeholders.
• Provide expert guidance on system development, integration, and processes, maintaining deep technical knowledge to support organizational goals and drive continuous improvement.
• Create clear and detailed documentation of solution architecture, including diagrams, specifications, and rationale to ensure transparency and alignment.

Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. citizen
• Tour of Duty: Flexible
• Security Requirements: Non-Critical Sensitive/Secret
• Appointment is subject to the completion of a favorable suitability or fitness determination, where reciprocity cannot be applied; unfavorably adjudicated background checks will be grounds for removal.
• Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): Exempt
• Selective Service Requirement: Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service.
• Bargaining Unit Status: No
• Pre-Employment Physical: Not Required
• Selectees are required to have a REAL ID or other acceptable identification documents to access certain federal facilities. See https://www.tsa.gov/real-id for more information.
• Financial Disclosure: Required
• Telework Eligibility: This position is telework eligible

Qualifications

You may qualify at the GS-14, if you fulfill the following qualifications:

A. One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS 13 grade level in the Federal service:

• Leading the design and technical architecture of end-to-end solutions that drive digital transformation and IT modernization initiatives.
• Focus on cloud computing, API integration, ICAM (Identity, Credential, and Access Management), or Zero Trust Architecture principles.
• Assessing and recommending strategies for modernizing legacy systems, ensuring seamless integration with new technologies, and enabling the transition from monolithic technical architectures to microservices, containers, and serverless computing.
• Staying updated on emerging technologies and industry trends to propose modern upgrades that improve organizational efficiency.
• Working closely with business leaders, project managers, and development teams to translate business requirements into technical solution designs.

For all positions individuals must have IT-related experience demonstrating each of the four competencies listed below:

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.

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). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

How you will be evaluated

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

We will review your resume and supporting documents, to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. We will evaluate each applicant who meets the basic qualifications on the information provided and evaluate your relevant work experiences as it relates to fundamental competencies, identified below, required for this position.

Traditional rating and ranking of applications does not apply to this vacancy. Your application (resume and supporting documentation) will be evaluated to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications required as listed on the announcement under qualification requirements.

Veterans Preference: If you are entitled to veterans preference, you should indicate the type of veterans' preference you are claiming on your resume. Your veterans' preference entitlement will be verified by the employing agency.

For information on entitlement see http://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/vetpref/index.aspx

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP): This program applies to employees who have been involuntarily separated from a Federal service position within the competitive service or Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: 1) meet ICTAP eligibility criteria AND 2) be rated well-qualified for the position AND 3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your ICTAP eligibility. Well-qualified means you possess the type and quality of experience that exceeds the position's minimum qualifications. See the Required Documents section of this announcement for more information.

Appointment of Military Spouses (5 CFR 315.612) (NonComp Mil Sp): To receive this preference, you must choose to apply using the " Appointment of Military Spouses (5 CFR 315.612) (NonComp Mil Sp)" eligibility. If you are claiming Military Spouse eligibility and are determined to be Well Qualified (score of 85 or above) for the position, you will be referred to the hiring manager. Information and required documentation for claiming Military Spouse eligibility may be found at the General Applicant Information and Definitions link below.

To apply for this position you must provide a complete Application Package. Each Application Package MUST include:

1. Your Resume: IMPORTANT UPDATE: Your resume must not exceed two (2) pages. If your resume exceeds the two-page limit, you will be removed from consideration for this announcement. The resume and required supporting documentation should provide the minimum qualifications and relevant experience for the announced position. Must include the work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment, and duties performed. If multiple resumes are submitted by an applicant, only the last resume submitted will be reviewed for qualifications and referred for selection consideration, if eligible. The resume must not be more than 5MB and should be saved and uploaded as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. Page margins should be 0.5 inches, and font styles must be legible. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text. We recommend using a font like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans.
2. Applicable documents to support the eligibility(s) for which you are applying. Please review the following link for a listing of the additional documents you will need to provide: Supporting Documents.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP): If you are an eligible ICTAP applicant you may apply for special selection over other candidates for this position. To be well-qualified and exercise selection priority for this vacancy, displaced Federal employees must be rated at a score of 85 or higher for this position. ICTAP eligibles must submit one of the following as proof of eligibility for the special selection priority: a separation notice; a "Notice of Personnel Action" (SF-50) documenting separation; an agency certification that you cannot be placed after injury compensation has been terminated; an OPM notification that your disability annuity has been terminated; OR a Military Department or National Guard Bureau notification that you are retired under 5 U.S.C. 8337(h) or 8456.

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