Clarification from the agency

Open only to current, permanent North Atlantic District (District 1) Employees.

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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 December 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 a 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.

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.

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: Not Available
Position Description/PD#: Information Technology Specialist (Customer Service)/PD17041A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

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.
• Pre-employment reference checks are required

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/29/2023.

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. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade.

You may qualify based on your experience as described below:

• 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 resolving customer related software and hardware problems in accordance with established policies and procedures; overseeing Help Desk activities; configuring devices and software applications following established procedures.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Operations Support
• Problem Solving

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

Per Office of Personnel Management policy, 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 usually be part of the employee's position is creditable; however, the experience is considered creditable when documented by satisfactory evidence, such as a signed memorandum from the employee's supervisor or an SF-50 or SF-52 documenting an official detail or other official assignments. 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. The employee should be able to locate this documentation in their official personnel record. To receive credit for experience in your resume that is not within the official series and grade level of your official position, you must provide a copy of the appropriate and official documentation of such experience as indicated above.

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.

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.

Physical Requirements: 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.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

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.