Quality Assurance Specialist (6 Months Register) Job in Whitehall, OH

Vacancy No. DLAWpnSpt-26-12815784-DHA Department Defense Logistics Agency
Salary $52,132.00 to $67,776.00 Grade 7 to 7
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 10/22/2025 Close Date 4/22/2026
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Whitehall, OH


Summary

This is an open-continuous announcement with an established initial cut-off date of November 5, 2025. Please see the "How You Will Be Evaluated" section for more information.

Selected applicants will serve as entry-level trainees in the DLA Pathways to Career Excellence (PaCE) Program performing a series of progressively responsible Quality Assurance Specialist functions, along with formal and on-the-job training (OJT). Positions are for Weapons Support - Columbus.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

This is a Direct Hiring Authority for Certain Personnel of the Department of Defense notice open to the Public.

Duties

  • The following duties will be performed in a developmental capacity:
  • Providing pre-award and post-award support to contracting officers and engineering activities, contract administration components, and DLA contractors.
  • Assisting in preparing and issuing QA letters of instruction to government inspection activities/depots on contract quality requirements and history.
  • Participating in quality systems management visits to evaluate the adequacy of technical requirements and product conformance.
  • Evaluating QA procedures, reports, inspection and test/methods and other operational aspects involving assigned items/commodities.
  • Establishing and maintaining quality history files by item, contractor and specification.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • Must be a U.S. citizen
  • Tour of Duty: Flexible
  • Security Requirements: Non-Critical Sensitive
  • 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): Non-Exempt
  • Selective Service Requirement: Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service.
  • Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
  • Bargaining Unit Status: Yes
  • Pre-Employment Physical: Not Required
  • Defense Acquisition Workforce position. Must complete DoD certification and other requirements. See Addtl Info.

Qualifications

To qualify for a Quality Assurance Specialist, your resume and supporting documentation must support:

A. Have a bachelor's degree from an accredited educational institution with major study in quality assurance, statistics, mathematics, production management, industrial management, computer science, engineering, engineering technology, physical sciences, textiles, or another field related to the position AND meet Superior Academic Achievement (SAA) based on ONE of the following: (1) class standing (upper third standing in graduating class); -OR- (2) grade-point average (2.95 or higher overall or over the last two years of bachelor's degree -or- 3.45 in my major field or over the last two years in my major); -OR-(3) election to membership in a national scholastic honor society.
OR
B. Have at least one full year of graduate level study, or possess a master's or Ph.D., with major study in quality assurance, statistics, mathematics, production management, industrial management, computer science, engineering, engineering technology, physical science, textiles, or other closely related fields to the position. One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis.
If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement.
OR
C. Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience that equipped you with the particular competencies to successfully perform the duties of the position, and is directly in or related to this position. In addition to meeting the Basic Contracting Requirement above, to qualify for the GS-07 grade level, specialized experience must be at the GS-5 grade level or equivalent under other pay systems in the Federal service, military or private sector. Applicants must meet eligibility requirements including minimum qualifications and any other regulatory requirements by the cut-off/closing date of the announcement. Creditable specialized experience includes:
  • Understanding techniques, regulations, and requirements related to Quality Assurance (QA) functions to plan and perform a variety of assignments.
  • Ability to perform projects including solving problems from established methods, procedures, or precedents of unknown factors and relationships that are mostly factual in nature.
  • Skilled in interpreting, explaining, and applying technical requirements and specifications to quality problems involving product inspections or investigations.
  • Trained in fact finding or investigative techniques, skills to develop, analyze, and evaluate facts relative to unsatisfactory conditions or trends and to prepare documented reports of findings.
  • Experienced resolving questions of basic QA and technical equipment support methods of product/process characteristics.
OR
D. Have less than the full amount of graduate education described in "B" and less than the amount of experience described in "C," but have a combination of the type of graduate education described in "B" and the type of experience described in "C." COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: If you do not qualify based on education or experience alone, you can combine your education and experience by converting each to a percentage and then adding the percentages.(If your education is currently described in quarter hours, convert the quarter hours into semester hours by multiplying the quarter hours by the fraction 2/3.) For GS-7: To calculate your percentage of graduate education divide the number of graduate semester hours by 18. Refer to the qualification requirements above for a description of the type of experience that is considered qualifying. To determine your percentage of qualifying experience, you must divide your total number of months of qualifying experience by the required number of months of experience. GS-07: Requires 12 months of specialized experience as described in "C" above. Now add your percentages of education and experience. The two percentages must total at least 100% for you to qualify under the combination of education and experience.

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.

Education

Are you using your education to qualify? You MUST provide transcripts or other documentation to support your educational claims. Unless otherwise stated: Unofficial transcripts are acceptable at time of application.

GRADUATE EDUCATION: One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours that your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study.

FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.

Additional information

Position requires DoD Acquisition Engineering & Tech Management (N)/ETM, Foundational certification within required timeframes. Selectee must also achieve 80 hours of Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) every 2-years. Click here for more details and Resources.

For selected applicants new to Federal civilian service, this position does not meet the regulatory requirements for an advanced in hire rate, therefore, pay will be set at the Step 1 of the applicable rate range. For selected applicants who are current Federal civilian employees or have prior Federal civilian service, pay will be set in accordance with applicable pay setting laws, regulations, policies and guidance.

For Important General Applicant Information and Definitions go to: http://www.dla.mil/portals/104/documents/careers/GenAppInfoDef.pdf

Reemployed Annuitants: This position does not meet criteria for appointment of Reemployed Annuitants. The DoD criteria for hiring Reemployed Annuitants can be found at: https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/140025/140025_vol300.PDF

Drug-Free Workplace Policy

The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is committed to maintaining a safe, drug-free workplace. All DLA employees are required to refrain from illegal drug use on and off duty. DLA conducts pre-employment, reasonable suspicion, post-accident, and random drug testing.

Applicants tentatively selected for employment in testing designated positions will undergo a urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Refusal to undergo testing or testing positive for illegal drugs will result in withdrawal of the tentative job offer and a six-month denial of employment with DLA from the date of the drug test. Employees in drug testing designated positions are subject to random drug testing.

The DLA drug testing panel tests for the following substances: marijuana, cocaine, opiates, heroin, phencyclidine, amphetamines, methamphetamines, fentanyl, norfentanyl, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), and opioids.

ADVISORY: Use of cannabidiol (CBD) products may result in a positive drug test for marijuana. DLA employees are subject to Federal law and under Federal law, Marijuana is a Schedule I drug and is illegal.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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.

The assessments for this job will measure the following Competencies:

  • Educational Experience (ACWA)
  • Mathematical Skills (ACWA)
  • Rating (ACWA)
  • Social Organizations (ACWA)
  • Work Experience (ACWA)

ADMINISTRATIVE CAREERS WITH AMERICA (ACWA) ASSESSMENT: The series on this job announcement is covered under the Administrative Careers with America (ACWA) examining program. You must take and pass the ACWA assessment. Once the announcement has closed, a review of your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the ACWA assessment) will be used to determine whether you meet the qualification requirements listed on this announcement

Open-Continuous Cut-off Information: An initial cut-off date of November 5, 2026 will be used to evaluate candidates for the initial available vacancies. Any application received after the initial cut-off date will only be considered should additional vacancies be received after the initial cut-off date. If additional vacancies are received after the initial cut-off date, ALL applicants that have applied will be evaluated/re-evaluated and ranked as stated within the Evaluation statement in the announcement.

Direct Hire Evaluation: Once the application process is complete, a review of your application will be made to ensure you meet the job requirements. This vacancy will be filled through a Department of Defense Direct Hire Authority. All applicants who meet the basic qualification requirements will be forwarded to the Selecting Official for consideration. The rule of Three, Veteran's Preference and traditional rating and ranking of applicants do not apply to this vacancy. We will evaluate your application for basic eligibility and to determine if your experience meets the basic qualification requirements described in the announcement. All applicants who meet the qualifications and other basic requirement are eligible for referral and selection consideration. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating.

Required Documents

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

  1. Your Resume listing 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 the qualifications and referred for selection consideration if eligible. IMPORTANT NOTE: Ensure that your resume does not contain any specialized characters, fonts, typefaces or formatting (e.g. tables, macros, etc.). It is also recommended that you convert/save your resume as a PDF prior to attaching to your application.
  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.

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 application and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below.

To receive consideration for the initial cut-off date, the complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) of that established date. All applications received thereafter, will be considered should additional vacancies be received after the initial cut-off date in which additional cut-off dates will be established.

  • To begin, click Apply Online to access an online application. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account or you may need to create a new account.
  • You will be taken to an online application. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation, and submit the application. NOTE: Resumes up to a total of two pages will be accepted. Resumes exceeding two pages will be removed from consideration.
  • You will receive an email notification when your application has been received for the announcement.
  • To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account, https://www.usajobs.gov, select the Application Status link and then select the More Information link for this position. The Application Status page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and your responses submitted to the online application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
To preview the questionnaire, please go to https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12815784.

Agency contact information

DLA Weapons Support Columbus
Address
DLA PACERS
3990 E Broad Street
Bldg 11 Section 9
Columbus, OH 43213
US

Next steps

Once you successfully complete the application process, you will receive a notification of receipt. Your application package will be reviewed to ensure you meet the basic eligibility and qualifications requirements, and you will receive a notification. A review may be completed of your online questionnaire and the documentation you submitted to support your responses. Applicants that are found qualified may be referred to the hiring official for consideration, and you will receive a notification of referral. The selecting official may choose to conduct interviews, and as part of the selection process, applicants may be required to complete additional supplemental documents. Once the selection is made, you will receive a notification of the decision. If interviews are conducted, DLA uses a technique called Behavior Based Interviewing (BBI). Be sure to check your USA Jobs account for your notification updates.

Applicants rated ineligible on this vacancy announcement need to reapply and update their application package to be considered on future vacancies filled through this announcement.


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


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