Clarification from the agency

ALL US CITIZENS. DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY: This position is being filled using Direct-Hire Authority (5 CFR 337.205) for this occupation.

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This is a bargaining unit position.

Please read this public notice in its entirety before submitting your application.

Vacancies may not presently exist but may become available at any point during the opening period of this vacancy announcement. We will not review applicant resumes until there is a request to fill a vacancy.

You are applying to a public notice to fill current and future vacancies. Please note, that there may or may not be actual/projected vacancies when you submit your application. Your resume and supporting documentation will be retained with other applicants and reviewed as vacancies occur. You will not receive a notice regarding your application's status other than the initial acknowledgment until a request is received to fill a position.

This announcement will remain open until October 31, 2022. The cut-off date is August 30, 2022, OR the point at which the first 100 applications are received, whichever comes first. Applications submitted after August 30, 2022, may not receive consideration. In addition, due to the potential of a high volume of applicants, not all applicants may receive consideration.

After the initial cut-off period, once additional requests to fill a vacancy are received, applications will be reviewed in increments of 100 applications in date order.

Note: Submitting multiple applications will change the order in which your application is reviewed.We will refer qualified applicants to the selecting official for consideration. The organization's hiring needs will determine the referral of additional applicants. Applicants will be notified about their application's status if referred or if we fill all vacancies.

This position is primarily aligned to the following NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework work roles:

• 451 - System Administrator - Systems Administration

For more information about these work roles, where they fit within the larger Cyber Workforce, and how they can support your unique career journey, please visit the Cyber Career Pathways tool on the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies website: https://niccs.us-cert.gov/workforce-development/cyber-career-pathways

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Compressed/Flexible Schedule: Available
Duty Location Status: Will work remotely from home
Position Description Title/PD#: IT Specialist/ PD10102A and PD10103A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
Physical Demands: The work is sedentary, but may involve intermediate periods of walking, bending, stooping, lifting, carrying, moving (up to 50 pounds) computer components and supplies, reaching, pulling, and working at a keyboard and monitor. Subject to call back outside tour of duty.
Major Duties:

• Support Financial and/or Administrative VistA Applications for production and test accounts.
• Create and maintain documentation on IT systems and infrastructure to include configuration standards, as-built diagrams and historical and trending information.
• Plan, execute, and maintain IT systems, infrastructure, and operations.
• Oversee or conduct backup and recovery tasks.
• Implement operational and technical security controls.
• Participate as a team or project leader with others in a virtual environment accountable to the division chief.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job.
• Selectees are subject to a background/suitability investigation.
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
• Selectees may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• A complete application package, i.e., Resume, Transcripts, etc., as required by the job announcement.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• Participation in the Seasonal Influenza Prevention Program for VHA Health Care Personnel (HCP) is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs HCP.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Pre-employment physical evaluation may be required.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements when a request is received to fill a vacancy.

You may qualify based on your education or experience as described below.

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing our qualifications on education.

GS-11: Education: Possess a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in Degree in computer science, engineering, information science, information systems management, mathematics, operations research, statistics, or technology management or degree that provided a minimum of 24 semester hours in one or more of the fields identified above and required the development or adaptation of applications, systems or networks.

OR

Experience - Experience must be IT related; the experience may be demonstrated by paid or unpaid experience and/or completion of specific, intensive training (for example, IT certification), as appropriate.

For all positions individuals must have IT-related experience demonstrating each of the four competencies listed below. The employing agency is responsible for identifying the specific level of proficiency required for each competency at each grade level based on the requirements of the position being filled.

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.

AND

GS-11 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as supporting accounts, network rights, and access to systems and equipment; resolving hardware/software interface and interoperability problems; installing and configuring new or modified hardware and operating systems and applications software; monitoring server performance using performance monitoring tools; applying security rules to complete tasks and protect IT systems.

GS-12 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as planning and scheduling the installation and configuration of new or modified hardware and operating systems and applications software; managing systems resources including performance, capacity, availability, serviceability, and recoverability in the event of system failures; implementing security procedures and tools; identifying and anticipating system/server performance, availability, capacity, or configuration problems.

Such experience is typically gained in the IT field or through the performance of work where the primary concern is IT.

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; religions; 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.

Per Office of Personnel Management General Schedule Qualification Policies, federal employees are assumed to have gained experience by performing duties and responsibilities appropriate for their official series and grade level as described in their position description. Experience that would not normally be part of the employee's position is creditable when documented by satisfactory evidence (e.g., a memorandum from the manager, human resources director, or official documentation such as SF-52, SF-50 documenting an official detail/assignments, or other comparable documentation). The documentation must indicate whether the employee performed the duties full time or, if part-time, the percentage of times the employee performed the additional duties.

To receive credit for experience in your resume that is not within the official series and grade level of your position, you must provide official documentation of such experience as indicated above.

Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit OPM's web site at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/standards/indexes/alph-ndx.asp.

How you will be evaluated

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

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Applicants will be referred in the order in which they were received.