Clarification from the agency

Open to all U.S. Citizens. You do not need any prior federal government experience to apply. Special consideration will be given to former federal employees in the local commuting area who are eligible for priority selection under the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP).

As an IT Specialist (System analysis/System administration), you will be responsible for a wide range of complex duties. Your major duties include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Manage the complete lifecycle of mission-critical information technology systems, from planning and installation to performance tuning, maintenance, and upgrades, ensuring high availability for systems that support audits, investigations, and other core business functions.
• Lead and manage complex IT projects using industry-standard project management principles, where you will be responsible for developing project plans, defining objectives and deliverables, and managing resources, schedules, and risks.
• Serve as a senior technical expert on cybersecurity, participating in formal security assessment and authorization processes to ensure systems meet rigorous security standards (such as those from NIST) and maintain their authority to operate.
• Design, develop, and administer complex databases, including optimizing performance, ensuring data integrity through backups and recovery operations, and generating custom queries and reports for management.
• Act as a primary technical consultant to senior leadership and other stakeholders, providing expert advice on complex IT challenges, evaluating emerging technologies, and developing strategies for system improvements and modernization.

Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• This employer participates in the e-Verify program.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for Selective Service.
• Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by a background investigation.
• May be required to successfully complete a probationary period.
• May be required to submit a Financial Disclosure Statement, OGE-450 or an Executive Branch Personnel Confidential Financial Disclosure Report upon entering the position and annually (5CFR Part 2634, Subpart I USOGE, 6/08).
• This position is not remote, the selectee will be expected to report to the duty station(s) listed. If selected, military spouses, veteran caregivers, and spouses of foreign service employees may be eligible for applicable workplace flexibilities.

Qualifications

You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date (05/19/2026) of this announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 for each federal position listed as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of qualifying experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience.

For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected

To qualify for this position at the GS-14 grade level, you must possess all of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement.

BASIC REQUIREMENT: In accordance with OPM's Individual Occupational Requirements for the GS-2210 series, applicants must meet the following basic requirement: For all GS-5 through GS-15 IT positions, individuals must have IT-related experience demonstrating each of the four competencies listed below. (This experience must be demonstrated in your resume).

• Attention to Detail: Is thorough when performing work and conscientious about attending to detail.
• 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.
• 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.
• Problem Solving: Identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives, and to make recommendations.

-AND-

EXPERIENCE: A qualified candidate's online application and resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-13) in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position is defined as experience that demonstrates ALL of the following.

1. Administering complex IT systems, including managing system resources, performing server maintenance, and coordinating hardware or software modifications.
2. Participating in or leading IT projects, including developing project plans, tracking deliverables, and coordinating with stakeholders to meet project goals.
3. Securing IT systems by implementing security frameworks and controls (such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology - NIST), participating in the Authorization and Assessment (A&A) process, and monitoring systems for vulnerabilities.
4. Providing technical advice and detailed recommendations to management or senior specialists on complex IT issues and system improvements.

In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined above by the closing date of the announcement. Additional qualification information can be found from the following Office of Personnel Management website: Information Technology (IT) Management Series 2210 (Alternative A)

Volunteer Experience: "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.

How you will be evaluated

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

Once the application process is complete, your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the job qualifications. If you are minimally qualified for this job, the following evaluation procedure will be used:

CATEGORY RATING
Your responses to the self-assessment questions will be evaluated and you will be placed into one of the predefined quality categories below. If you rate yourself higher than is supported by your application materials, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job.

• 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 (CP/CPS) 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).

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics):

• Cybersecurity Compliance
• IT Operations and Customer Support
• IT Project Management
• Requirements Engineering
• Systems Administration

Career Transition Assistance Programs (ICTAP/CTAP): To receive selection priority for this position, you must meet the eligibility criteria and be rated "well-qualified." A "well-qualified" candidate is defined as having a score of 85 or higher under the Rule of Many, or ranking in the Best Qualified or Well Qualified category under Category Rating procedures.


To preview the Assessment Questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12956070

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 the 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).
• 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.

Next steps