Clarification from the agency

US Citizens and Nationals; no prior Federal experience is required.

WHAT DOES A COMPUTER ENGINEER DO? As a Computer Engineer with the IRS, you will perform complex assignments to modernize and enhance the software systems that perform tax administration. Your responsibilities will include the analysis, planning, design, implementation, and documentation of the structural framework to align IT strategy, plans, and systems with the mission, goals, structure and processes of the IRS. An IRS computer engineer develops plans for transitioning legacy systems to target architecture while documenting key processes, and ensures that the systems conform to information security policies, practices and applicable federal mandates. Examples of specific assignments may include the software development for a major project or system initiative involving new or unexplored areas of system theory, data structures, architecture and communications; overseeing the development of integrated systems; or conducting a technological assessment of a portfolio of Enterprise wide software suites that provide business operations and infrastructure support for day to day IRS operations on a National level.

As a Computer Engineer, you will:

• Provide direction to the IT executives and business units on all aspects necessary to deliver new IT systems and solutions or modernize legacy systems, including planning, architecture, design, development, legacy migration, testing security, delivery and operations for hardware/software information systems.
• Serve as engineering design authority responsible for creating/reviewing/guiding detailed engineering designs for major programs and/or projects.
• Initiate, direct, or conduct engineering or information systems studies and alternative analyses of products/tools to implement a complex end to end solution and conduct analysis on how decision/design approaches impacts architecture delivery.
• Articulate the architectural vision, conceptualize and experiment with alternative architectural approaches, create models and component and interface specification documents, and validate the proposed architecture against requirements and assumptions in order to design, acquire and implement major prototype and developmental systems, or to make extensive modifications and upgrades to existing systems, taking into account changing requirements and interfaces, advances in technology, and evolving standards.
• Participate in Enterprise Architecture Governance Board, provides oversight to SOA Governance, Best Practices and Standards for all systems, and develop and establish processes by which emerging and open source technologies are identified and incorporated into future development efforts.
• Support service restorations teams as part of incident management, conduct root cause analysis as part of problem management support, conduct code reviews on request to support application development.

WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OTHER IRS CAREERS?
If you want to find out more about IRS careers, visit us on the web at www.jobs.irs.gov

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Conditions of employment

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Qualifications

You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement

BASIC REQUIREMENTS: (All grade levels)  Four (4) year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher professional engineering degree. The curriculum must: 1) be in a school of engineering accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) or 2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: a) Statics, dynamics, b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships), c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics, d) thermodynamics; e) electrical fields and circuits; f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics. OR
 A combination of education and experience. The education must include courses equivalent to a major in engineering, as shown above. To be qualifying your experience must be sufficient to demonstrate: Thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying professional engineering, and a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering.
This must be demonstrated by meeting one (1) of the following:
1. Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT), or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico.
2. Written Test showing evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination, or any other written test required for professional registration.
3. Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences that included the courses specified in the basic requirements.
4. Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a degree in engineering, provided that you have had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance.

In addition to meeting the basic requirements described above, you must meet the following:

GRADE-13: You must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position includes experience that is related to the work of this position and has provided you with the competencies required for successful job performance. Qualifying experience is having the expert knowledge and technical understanding of the fundamental principles of professional engineering and scientific disciplines to research, design, develop and maintain integrated computer hardware/software information systems; Maintains knowledge of computing technology, relevant research, industry trends, Government requirements to design, acquire and implement developmental systems. Knowledge of systems design principles and development methodologies to modify and upgrade systems; Knowledge of information systems practices in areas such as applications development, systems integration, telecommunications, database management, security, and software engineering; Technical knowledge of the discipline and principles of IT configuration management. At this level your experience should include formulating and applying new IT design principles based on broad architectural guidance; Assessing project effectiveness; Participating in resolving mission critical agency-wide issues; Assisting with the development of Service-wide information systems. 

GRADE 14: You must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-13 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position includes experience that is related to the work of this position and has provided you with the competencies required for successful job performance. Qualifying experience is having the mastery knowledge and technical experience of fundamental principles of professional engineering and scientific disciplines research, design, development integrated computer hardware/software information systems; expert experience of systems design principles and development methodologies; experience with information systems practices in areas such as applications development, systems integration, telecommunications, database management, security, and software engineering.

-The experience may have been gained in the public sector, private sector or Volunteer Service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis.
-To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week, on your resume.

How you will be evaluated

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

Your application includes your resume, responses to the online questions, and required supporting documents. Please be sure that your resume includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position; failure to provide sufficient evidence in your resume may result in a "not qualified" determination.
This position will be filled through the Direct Hire Authority. Under this authority, competitive rating, ranking, and veterans' preference procedures do not apply. Your application will be considered based on education, training, and quality of your experience. For more information on Direct-Hire Authority visit: OPM Direct Hire Fact Sheet.

Referral:  Applicants who meet the basic qualification requirements may be referred to a selecting official for consideration. You may be required to participate in a selection interview (telephonic and/or in person at the discretion of the Selecting Official in accordance with hiring polices). We will not] reimburse costs related to the interview such as travel to and from the interview site.

This vacancy announcement will be used as a register to fill vacancies via Direct Hire. Contingent upon funding and space requirements, one or more vacancies may be filled in the individuals locations listed below as they become available in that location.