Clarification from the agency

Open to Current, Permanent Midwest District (District 3) Employees

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

• 411 - Tech Support Specialist

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

This is a bargaining unit position

Please read this public notice in its entirety prior to 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, there may or may not be actual/projected vacancies when you submit your application. Your resume and any 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 September 29, 2023. The cut-off date is January 20, 2023, OR the point at which the first 100 applications are received, whichever comes first. Due to the potential of high volume of applicants, not all applicants may receive consideration.

After the initial cut-off period, once a request to fill a vacancy is 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 need will determine the referral of additional applicants. Applicants will be notified about their application's status if referred or if we fill all vacancies.

Work Schedule: This Position supports 24/7 operations throughout the calendar year. Work is typically performed on the day shift; however, candidate may be subject to overtime work, shift work, and/or work on rotating shifts to include evenings, weekends, and holidays. Subject to call back outside tour of duty.
Compressed/Flexible Schedule: Not Available
Telework: Not Available
Duty Location Status: You will be required to work at a VA owned or leased space. You will have to physically report to the location you are selected for.
Position Description Title/PD#: Information Technology Specialist/ PD17041A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required
Physical Requirements: The work is both sedentary and active, requiring walking through out the medical center. Duties may require lifting, carting and carrying computer equipment such as monitors and printers weighing 20-40 pounds. Asking assistance from other specialist to help with lifting is encouraged. There may be limited crawling under desks and behind areas to gain access to equipment.
Physical Demands: The work is sedentary, but may involve intermediate periods of walking, bending, stooping, lifting, carrying, regularly moving (up to 50 pounds) computer components and supplies, reaching, pulling, and working at a keyboard and monitor.

Major Duties:

• Diagnosing and/or resolving problems in response to customer reported incidents via trouble tickets: escalating problems to the Lead or Supervisory IT Specialist as appropriate.
• Manages the movement and installation of IT equipment to assure coordination of IT support and customer service.
• Configuring devices and software applications following established procedures.
• Submitting recommendations to improve the efficient use of the system and responding to special requests for system data.
• Providing account management support, client connectivity support and client application support for various devices.

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.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials.

Provide a copy of your last or most recent SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action" to indicate your current federal status. You must also submit additional SF-50(s) to clearly demonstrate one year time-in-grade as required in the announcement. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate that you possess one year time-in-grade. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one year time-in-grade.

Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

AND

You may qualify based on your experience as described below.

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

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 coordinating customer support activities sufficient to receive, respond to, and ensure complete resolution of complex issues beyond what a help desk can resolve; providing comprehensive software, IT systems, or equipment guidance and/or training to enhance customer knowledge, as well as to prevent recurring help desk inquiries; overseeing Help Desk activities; developing clear and concise IT reports and documentation for senior IT management.

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.

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.