As part of a team, you will assist in planning and conducting in-depth audits and evaluations of executive and legislative branch IT programs. The audits cover a range of topics such as system acquisition and development; program/project planning and management;  requirements management;  investment management; information assurance; cloud computing; CIO responsibilities; IT contractor oversight; IT workforce planning; cybersecurity of critical infrastructures; electronic records management; and IT privacy. You will collect appropriate data, analyze the data, develop data-based findings and conclusions, and present the information both orally and in writing to diverse audiences.

Specific duties are:

• planning, prioritizing, and balancing your work assignments to carry out required activities and meet timelines;
• identifying or developing methodologically sound techniques to audit and evaluate federal IT programs;
• learning new and complex IT-related material quickly to understand issues;
• researching and collecting relevant information that helps achieve audit objectives;
• conducting analyses to assess information collected about federal agencies’ IT practices and comparing them against IT best practices;
• developing findings and conclusions based on analyses;
• interviewing agency officials to obtain testimonial evidence to support audit findings and conclusions;
• observing federal agencies’ IT systems management and security practices;
• writing reports and other written products that effectively communicate information and findings; 
• communicating relevant information to agency officials, team members, internal stakeholders, and congressional staff, during formal and informal presentations, meetings, and/or interviews;
• collaborating with others to address issues or solve problems and follow up with others to ensure needs are met;
• soliciting, listening to, and considering diverse perspectives, approaches, or viewpoints, and incorporating others’ perspectives into decision-making (when appropriate).

You will join GAO's 2-year Professional Development Program (PDP) for entry-level analysts. The PDP experience includes a combination of on-the-job and classroom training, regular feedback and coaching, and exposure to different projects, issues, and management styles. Project assignments are based on a combination of GAO's needs and your background and interests. The PDP will place you in various project assignments within IT Team that provide you with a range of developmental opportunities. 

For more information about the Professional Development Program, please visit http://www.gao.gov/careers/pdp.html

To learn more about GAO and our IT Team, please visit http://www.gao.gov/careers/infotech.html.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen.
• You will have to complete a financial disclosure statement.
• Subject to a background/suitability investigation/determination.
• The Professional Development Program is a 2 year probationary program.
• Selective Service registration if you are a male born after Dec. 31, 1959.
• Your complete application must be received by closing date of announcement.

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Qualifications

All Qualifications must be met by start of the position.

To qualify, applicants must meet at least one of the four following conditions:

1.  Have a bachelor’s degree with superior academic achievement (defined below) in computer science, engineering, information science, information systems management, mathematics, operations research, statistics, or technology management; OR

2.  Have a bachelor’s degree with superior academic achievement (defined below) that provided a minimum of 24 semester hours in one or more of the IT-related fields identified above, and required the development or adaptation of applications, systems or networks; OR

3.  Have one full year of graduate-level education in one or more of the fields identified above; OR

4.  Have one year of specialized experience at the GS-5 level or equivalent. Specialized experience is defined as performing duties that involve evaluating information about IT management and security topics, such as systems development; program planning and management; requirements management; investment management; information assurance; cloud computing; IT contractor oversight; IT workforce planning; cybersecurity of critical infrastructures; electronic records management; and/or IT privacy; and developing recommendations based on findings, and presenting such recommendations to decision makers. In addition, have IT-related experience demonstrating each of the following four competencies: (1) Attention to Detail - demonstrates the ability to take thorough notes, prepare accurate written summaries, and synthesize information and drawing preliminary conclusions; (2) Teamwork – demonstrates the ability to collaborate and work effectively in a team-based setting (3) Written and Oral Communication – demonstrates the ability to conduct and participate in meetings, and present information in writing and orally to team members, management, and stakeholders; and (4) Problem Solving – demonstrates the ability to apply analytical methods to identify patterns, trends, or irregularities, and to assess evidence to develop findings and recommendations for improvement.

Superior Academic Achievement is defined as: a) Class Standing - upper third of the graduating class based on completed courses in the college, university, or major subdivision; b) Grade Point Average - 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 as recorded on your official transcript or as computed based on 4 years of education or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of curriculum; OR 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 based on the average of the required courses completed in your major field or the required courses in your major field completed during the final 2 years of your curriculum. If more than 10 percent of total undergraduate credit hours are non-graded, i.e. pass/fail, CLEP, CCAF, DANTES, military credit, etc., you cannot qualify based on GPA; c) Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society (note: freshman honor society cannot be used to meet the requirements of this position). (If qualifying based on class standing or honor society membership, provide appropriate documentation).

NOTE: Positions in GAO are covered under the agency’s performance based compensation system, which is pay-banded.  This position is classified as a PE-2210, Band I, which is equivalent to the GS-7 level in the federal government.

How you will be evaluated

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

The questionnaire will assess your qualifications for the job. If you meet all of the qualification requirements, your application will be placed in one of three categories: Best Qualified, Well Qualified, or Qualified. Within these categories, applicants eligible for veteran's preference will receive selection priority over non-veterans. Please make sure that your responses to the assessment questions are supported in your resume. Follow all instructions carefully as incomplete answers, errors, or omissions may affect your rating. Your rating will be invalid if you fail to include a narrative reply to any assessment question(s) that requires further explanation or your reply is "see resume."

It is important to have well-written, thoughtful responses to the questionnaire contained in this announcement that are supported by your resume.  You must provide a narrative totaling no more than 1000 characters per question that captures your possession of the knowledge, skill, or ability specified. You may also draw upon academic, volunteer, and/or work experience that demonstrates your knowledge of various information management and technology areas.

You must provide an actual narrative response. Any application that says “Please see resume” or the equivalent or “N/A” will not be accepted. Please note that your narrative response must be supported by your resume and must reflect the experience on which you rely. It is important that you do not overstate or understate your level of experience and capability. If the panelists conclude that your narrative response is not supported by your resume, they will assign scores accordingly.

All applicants will be rated based on their responses to the assessment questions, in conjunction with the following Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA’s):

• Ability to effectively communicate information orally to various audiences
• Ability to effectively prepare a variety of written products that effectively communicate information, some of which is complex, in a complete, organized, and grammatically correct manner
• Ability to conduct research and collect evidence to support report findings and recommendations.
• Ability to analyze and evaluate IT-related quantitative and qualitative data collected from various sources to make logical inferences and/or draw accurate conclusions to identify problems and solutions for improvement, by leveraging knowledge in one or more of the following IT-related areas: data structures; computer system architecture; software engineering; computer communications; systems acquisitions and development; business analytics; information science; management of information systems; IT workforce planning; business process management; cybersecurity of critical infrastructure; electronic records management; IT privacy; program/project planning and management; requirements management; investment management; information assurance; cloud computing; and/or contractor oversight.
• Ability to collaborate effectively in a team setting, respecting diverse backgrounds and viewpoints, to achieve timely completion of a project.