Clarification from the agency

This position is open to all U.S. Citizens or U.S. Nationals. Note: Federal employees with permanent status or individuals eligible for special appointing authorities may also apply to Job Announcement # More than one selection may be made from this announcement.

This position serves as one of the OCIO project managers and experts of the Smithsonian Online Academic Appointments and Internships (SOLAA) software system for the Smithsonian. As a Senior Information Technology Specialist, the incumbent performs project management, and a wide range of software engineering, system development, methodology development and evaluation activities.

In this position, you will:

• Lead IT projects in the development, design, acquisition, test, implementation, maintenance,
  and modification of Online Academic Appointments and Internships software.
• Lead project team in project management activities including requirements gathering, analysis, design, development, configuration, testing, implementation, deployment, maintenance, and enhancement of complex and large-scale, advanced technology automated information system (AIS) projects.
• Provide project representation and leads at inter-group coordination meetings to gain consensus and communicate effectively orally with all types and level of audiences.
• Provide expert guidance to the project teams on accepted technology privacy and security principles, standards, and guidelines.

Conditions of employment

• Pass Pre-employment Background Investigation
• May need to complete a Probationary Period
• Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer
• Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service.

ATTENTION: Due to the large number of qualified applicants for positions of this type, this job announcement will close at 11:59 pm Eastern Time on either: (A) The closing date listed above or (B) The date that 100 applications are received; whichever occurs first. If the announcement closes on the date that 100 applications are received, all applications submitted by 11:59 pm that day will be given consideration, including those in excess of 100.

Conditions of Employment

Qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement.

For information on qualification requirements, see Qualification Standards Handbook for General Schedule Positions on OPM website.

Qualifications

Experience: You qualify for this position if you possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-13 level in the Federal Service. For this position, specialized experience is defined as experience operating and enhancing a custom enterprise software system used for obtaining educational opportunities that include either internships, research fellowships or academic appointments for educational organizations, museums, research or cultural centers and for staff in those organizations to process and accept academic appointment applications from the public.

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; religious; 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.

Part-time and/or unpaid experience related to this position will be considered to determine the total number of years and months of experience. Be sure to note the number of paid or unpaid hours worked each week.

In addition to meeting the Specialized Experience for all positions individuals must have related experience demonstrating each of the four competencies listed below:

1. Attention to Detail:  Is thorough when performing work and conscientious about attending to detail.
2. Customer Service: Anticipates and meets the needs of both internal and external business partners and customers (any individuals who use or receive the services or products that your work unity produces including the general public, individuals who work in the agency, other agencies, or organizations outside the Government).  Provides information or assistance. Delivers high-quality products and services; is committed to continuous improvement.  Effectively manages customer relationships.
3. Oral Communication:  Makes clear and convincing oral presentations to individuals and groups. Listens effectively; clarifies information, as needed.  Speaks and writes in a clear, concise, organized, and convincing manner that is appropriate to the audience.  Facilitates an open exchange of ideas to ensure all group input is considered.  Handles technical, sensitive, or controversial topics with agility involving executives/managers as appropriate.
4. Problem Solving: Identifies and analyzes problems, weighs relevance and accuracy of information, generates and evaluates alternative solutions, and makes sound recommendations.

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.

In the Basic requirement questions section below you will have an opportunity to prepare narrative relating to your IT experience which demonstrates each of the four competencies (Attention to Detail, Customer Service, Oral Communication, and Problem Solving).

How you will be evaluated

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

Your application will be evaluated first for the basic qualifications described above. The applications that meet the basic qualifications will be evaluated further against the following criteria:

• Knowledge to develop, deploy, operate, and enhance a custom enterprise software system used for obtaining educational opportunities. 
• Knowledge of requirements gathering, analysis, design, development, configuration, testing, implementation, deployment, maintenance, and enhancement of enterprise software.
• Ability and expertise in communicating orally within a trifunctional team, to diverse types of audiences and at various levels within the organization to support and forward the organization’s business and IT objectives.

Applicants who meet or exceed minimum qualifications will be assigned to one of three category groups based on job-related criteria:

Best Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements and excels in most of the job related competencies above.

Better Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements and satisfies most of the job related competencies above.

Good Category - Meets the minimum qualification requirements, but does not satisfy most of the job related competencies above to a substantive degree.

This category rating process does not add veterans' preference points or apply the "rule of three", but protects the rights of veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each category. A selecting official may make selections from the highest quality category (Best Category) provided no preference eligible in that category is passed over to select a non-preference eligible in that category unless the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 3317(b) or 3318(b) are satisfied. Preference eligibles who meet minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent must be listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-9 grade level or higher. Applicants who have not submitted a resume in the USAjobs system and/or have not answered all of the vacancy questions will not be considered for this position.

Important Note:

Your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses to the occupational questionnaire or other assessment tool for consistency. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your resume, you will be assigned a rating commensurate to your described experience. Your resume should provide sufficient information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed.