Clarification from the agency

Open to U.S. Citizens or Nationals. The duty location is either Portland, OR, Vancouver, WA, or Spokane, WA and is not negotiable, except for applicants eligible under the military spouse hiring authority.

As a, IT Specialist (INFOSEC), you will:

• Perform system administration on specialized cyber defense applications and systems (e.g., antivirus, audit and remediation) or Virtual Private Network (VPN) devices, to include installation, configuration, maintenance, backup, and restoration.
• Administer test bed(s), and test and evaluate applications, hardware infrastructure, rules/signatures, access controls, and configurations of platforms managed by service provider(s).
• Develop, implement, and coordinate activities designed to ensure, protect, and restore Information technology (IT) systems, services, and capabilities.
• Analyze and resolve the most difficult customer support requests involving integration or configuration related issues.
• Interpret information technology security policy, guidelines, and procedures for systems processing multiple applications that require differing security controls and are typically accessed by a moderate-to-large user community.
• Identify complex technology problems, determined the data required for a solution, reviewed information from several sources, and reconciled conflicting data to recommend alternative solutions.

Conditions of employment

In accordance with Executive Order 14170, applicants are encouraged to respond to four short, free-response, essay questions in the questionnaire. Answer to these questions is not scored or rated. Your answers will be reviewed by the hiring manager and agency leadership if you are referred for selection consideration

When you apply you will be asked a series of questions to determine your eligibility for employment and your qualification for this position specifically. You must answer all of these questions completely and truthfully.

Key Requirements:

• You must be a United States Citizen.
• This employer participates in the e-Verify program.
• Males must abide by Selective Service registration requirements.
• You will be required to report in person to the official duty location.

• Positions located in Information Technology are required to be 24/7 on call.
• Current Federal employees or other individuals with an existing completed background investigation may not be required to undergo another background check.
• May be required to successfully complete a probationary period.

Qualifications

BASIC REQUIREMENT: You must have IT-related experience demonstrating each of the four (4) competencies listed below. The experience must be IT related and may be demonstrated by paid or unpaid experience and/or completion of specific, intensive training (for example, IT certification) as appropriate.

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.

To meet this requirement, you must demonstrate advanced proficiency in each of the four competencies listed above as follows:
Advanced - You can perform the actions associated with each of these competencies without assistance. You are recognized within your immediate organization as "a person to ask" when difficult questions arise regarding each of these competencies. Focus is on broad organizational/professional issues; You have consistently provided practical/relevant ideas and perspectives on process or practice improvements which may easily be implemented; You are capable of coaching others in the application of each of these competencies by translating complex nuances relating to each competency into easy to understand terms; You participate in senior level discussions regarding these competencies; You assist in the development of reference and resource materials in these competencies.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTSA qualified candidate's resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-12) in the Federal service. Specialized Experience is defined as: 1) installing and configuring security tools (Palo Alto firewall, intrusion detection systems) to identify vulnerabilities in self-assessment evaluations; 2) applying IT systems security principles, concepts, and methods to develop IT infrastructure protection involving remediation of vulnerabilities, systems security certification, and accreditation requirements; and 3) managing security programs implementations, changes, and conduct system security evaluations and reviews to anticipate system vulnerabilities across the enterprise.

"Experience" refers to paid and unpaid experience. Examples of qualifying unpaid experience may include: volunteer work done through National Service programs (such as Peace Corps and AmeriCorps); as well as work for other community-based philanthropic and social organizations. 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.

You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

How you will be evaluated

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

Application of Veterans' Preference: If you are a preference eligible candidate, you will be listed ahead of non-preference eligibles with the same score. Preference eligibles with a compensable service-connected disability of 10 percent or more are listed at the top of the certificate in the order of their ratings unless the job is scientific or professional at the GS-9 grade level or above (or equivalent).


Category Rating Procedure: You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above. Once the application process is complete, your resume, supporting documentation, and questionnaire/assessment responses will be used to determine whether you meet the job qualifications. If you are minimally qualified for this job, your responses to the USA Hire rating assessment(s) will be evaluated and you will be placed into one of three predefined quality categories. These categories are Best Qualified, Well Qualified, and Qualified.

Application of Veterans' Preference: If you are a preference eligible candidate, you will be listed at the top of whichever quality category your rating places you in. Preference eligibles with a compensable service-connected disability of 10 percent or more are placed at the top of the highest category for all positions except scientific or professional at the GS-9 grade level or above (or equivalent).

Career Transition Assistance Programs: To receive selection priority for this position, you must: 1) meet the eligibility criteria; and 2) be rated "well-qualified", which is defined as scoring 85.0 or higher.

You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date (03/27/2026) of this announcement.

To preview the Assessment Questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12912398


USAHire: To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. The USA Hire Assessment includes a cut score. USA Hire cut scores are based on the minimum level of proficiency required to perform the job for a specific series and grade. You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment. The cut score is set at a government-wide level and not at the agency or individual vacancy level for USA Hire standard assessments. In accordance with 5 CFR 300.201(a), the U.S. Office of Personnel Management does not release testing and examination materials, scoring criteria including the specific cut score requirements, or other information used solely to determine individual qualifications, so as not to compromise the objectivity of the testing process.

To apply for this position, you MUST provide a complete application package which includes:

• Your two (2) page RESUME showing all relevant work experience (paid and unpaid) including: duties performed; full name and address of each employer; start and end dates (month/day/year); work schedule (part-time, full-time, number of hours if intermittent); salary; and any completed education and training (program title, subject area, number of hours completed, and completion date).
  • Information on how to create a federal resume https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to/account/documents/resume
• Cover Letter, optional, expressing additional information not covered in your resume.
• Transcripts, if specific educational requirements are indicated in this job announcement.Unofficial transcripts or any report listing institution, course title, credits earned (semester or quarter hour) and final grade is acceptable. It is your responsibility to provide adequate proof that you meet the educational requirements.
• Veterans' Preference documentation,if applicable, DD-214 Member Copy 4 showing type of discharge/character of service; current active duty members- certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions dated within 120 days; SF-15 Form and related documentation; VA letter. For more information visit the USAJOBS Help Center & OPM CHCOC website for VOW information.
• Career Transition Assistance Program/Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program documentation, if applicable(e.g., Certification of Expected Separation, Reduction-In-Force Separation Notice, or Notice of Proposed Removal; SF-50 that documents the RIF separation action; and most recent performance appraisal.) For more information see the OPM Guide to Career Transition.

Failure to submit any of the above mentioned required documents may result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted.

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