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IT Specialist (APPSW)

Department of Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Service
Business Solutions Center (BSC)

Summary

This position located in the Office of the Administrator (OA), Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), Business Solutions Center (BSC). OCIO provides information technology (IT) planning, design, application development, systems administration, telecommunications, information assurance/security, information management, and IT customer support services for FSIS.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
02/13/2026 to 02/20/2026
Salary
$125,776 to - $163,514 per year

Pay is determined based on location selected for. Range shown represents the Rest of the U.S. locality pay tables.

Pay scale & grade
GS 14
Location
2 vacancies in the following location:
Fort Collins, CO
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
14
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
Yes
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
FSIS-26-MDH-12881166-DW
Control number
857511400

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Applications will be accepted from any U.S. citizen. Direct Hire Authority will be used to fill this position. Veterans' Preference and traditional rating and ranking of applicants does not apply to this vacancy.

Duties

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  • Leads and advises team members on projects, architecture solutions, and technical matters
  • Coordinates software configuration management in different application lifecycle management systems such as Azure DevOps, GitHub, and other open source products.
  • Works with scheduling tools to create, update, review, and maintain SDLC documentation.
  • Provides technical support, guidance, and document review as the subject matter expert at various phases of the Software Development Life Cycle
  • Manages the coordinating and conducting of application performance tuning and monitoring efforts of applications.
  • Acts as a technical advisor for application development within FSIS
  • Leads requirements analysis and refinement efforts to convert business requirements to system requirements, designs, and architectures.
  • Develops and presents technical solutions to customers at various levels within FSIS.
  • Provides support and maintenance of applications and reports.
  • Provides oversight and technical leadership for external contract development efforts and ensures compatibility with FSIS standards, policies, and infrastructure architecture.
  • Supports application production activities including application troubleshooting, analyzing, and diagnosing problems via continuous integration and deployment pipelines, troubleshooting, and diagnosing problems
  • Provide oversight or assist in the development of end user training material, including user manual, installation instructions, help manuals, operation manuals, and computer-based training modules
  • Informs, develops, and recommends technical solutions and alternatives for senior management consideration.
  • Keeps up to date with industry best practices, concepts, and designs.
  • Anticipates potential issues and develops strategies to address said issues.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a US Citizen or US National.
  • Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
  • Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
  • Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served. Refer to the Next Steps section for more information.
  • Direct Deposit: Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
  • Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/.
  • False statements or responses on a resume or application can jeopardize employment and may be grounds for disciplinary action, including removal from Federal service.
  • If you are selected, you may need to complete a Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306) prior to being appointed to determine suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation.
  • If selected, you will be required to submit Form OGE-450 within 30 days of your initial appointment date.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement, as defined below:

For the GS-14 level: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-13 level) that demonstrates:

  • Experience with the design, development, and integration of Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) data engineering pipelines, requiring development of advanced workflows that solve data problems such as cleaning, blending, and joining datasets in a cloud native environment (such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud).
  • Developing web applications, mobile applications, machine learning, AI and other programming or coding that demonstrates expertise in software development.
  • Performing application development using programming languages such as C#, Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Angular, React, Go and SQL.
  • Experience working with various frameworks or platforms such as .NET/.NET Core/.NET Maui and Django and/or others.
  • Designing, developing, testing, and/or implementing software solutions.
  • Utilizing Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) processes, industry best practices, and tools.
  • Experience working with continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) systems such as Azure DevOps Pipelines, GitHub and/ or Gitlab
  • Working with databases such as Postgres and/or SQL Server.
All applicants qualifying based on experience must have IT-related experience demonstrating each of the four competencies listed below. Please refer to the competency definition shown below, when addressing those competencies.
  • Attention to Detail - Is thorough when performing work and conscientious about attending to detail.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Problem Solving - Identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives, and to make recommendations.

For more information on the qualifications for this position, click here: Information Technology (IT) Management Series, 2210

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.

Education

Education may not be used to substitute for specialized experience or to qualify for this position.

Additional information

If selected, you will be required to submit Form OGE-450 within 30 days of your initial appointment date, and annually thereafter. Selectee is subject to financial Disclosure Requirements in accordance with 5 CFR, Part 2635, Sub part E regarding business or personal transactions with applicants, borrowers, or business contacts who have or who are seeking business with this Agency. Selectee must be able to obtain and maintain a security clearance. If selected you will be subject to a National Agency Check and Inquiry (NACI) and a credit report.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

How you will be evaluated

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

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position.

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

  • Attention to Detail
  • Customer Service
  • Oral Communication
  • Problem Solving
  • Occupational Reading
  • Occupational Judgment
  • Occupational Interaction
  • Occupational Reasoning
The USA Hire Assessment includes a cut score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority List (RPL), or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): Visit the OPM website for information on how to apply as a CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP eligible. To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on meeting the minimum level of required proficiency of the USAHire assessment.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

Your application, including the online Assessment Questionnaire, will be reviewed to determine if you meet (a) minimum qualification requirements and (b) your resume supports the answers provided to the job-specific questions. Your resume must clearly support your responses to all the questions addressing experience and education relevant to this position. Those determined to be in the best qualified category will be referred to the selecting official for consideration.

NOTE: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities, or you may be found ineligible. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action up to and including removal from the Federal service.

Clicking the link below will present a preview of the application form; i.e. the online questionnaire. The application form link below will only provide a preview and does not initiate the application process. To initiate the online application process, click the "Apply" button to the right.

To preview the application questionnaire, click the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12881166

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