Clarification from the agency

United States Citizens.

APPLICATION LIMIT: This vacancy announcement is limited to the first 200 applications received and will close at 11:59PM Eastern Time on the day that we receive the 200th application, or at 11:59PM Eastern Time on the listed closing date, whichever occurs first.  

We encourage you to read this entire vacancy announcement prior to submitting your application.

As a IT Specialist (Policy and Planning), GS-2210-15, you will be responsible for:
•    Leading FSA's nationwide software procurement and asset management efforts throughout the full acquisition lifecycle and plans, organizes, and manages FSA's software/technology asset procurement activities in accordance with legal, regulatory, and policy requirements.
•    Employing a wide range of analytic and research methods to provide FSA stakeholders and senior leadership with authoritative, data-driven recommendations and expert technical advice regarding FSA's IT ecosystem, management of its technology procurement and SW asset management efforts, and also commercial/industry best-practices and standards related to SW asset management and SW procurements.
•    Establishing and independently leads enterprise-level collaborations and Divisional work teams tasked to standardize, simplify, reengineer, and/or integrate FSA's software/technology asset management operations and/or technology procurement processes. Develops new, or improves existing FSA-wide systems, processes, procedures, and methods of managing and governing FSAs technology asset portfolio, leveraging emerging technologies, optimizing acquisition processes, and achieving cost savings.
•   Serving in the role of Senior software procurement COR, responsible for managing the full SW asset acquisition and management lifecycle, including development of procurement strategies and acquisition packages, and conducting proposal/vendor analyses. Leads collaborations across FSA's business, technology, legal, and acquisitions stakeholder communities to ensure customer SW needs are met.  
•   Providing authoritative data and recommendations to FSA senior leadership regarding the financial estimates, long-range strategic vision, and near-term operational plans for the FSA software/technology portfolio and supporting management/governance structure. Prepares deliverables that easily communicate complex financial information, comprehensive strategic and operational plans, performance metrics, and financial analyses to wide variety of technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Conditions of employment

• Relocation will not be paid.
• Males 18 and over must be registered with the Selective Service.
• Must be a US Citizen
• Must complete a background investigation and fingerprint check.
• You may be subject to serve a one-year trial period.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a probationary period or trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;

• the needs and interests of the agency;

• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and

• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period OR trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement.

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. We will consider all qualifying experience, including any volunteer experience.

Qualifications

Selective Placement Factor
You must meet the following selective placement factor:
This position requires the incumbent to hold two specific certifications at the time of hiring

1. Certified Software Asset Manager (CSAM) from the International Association of IT Asset Managers (IAITAM) organization.

2. Federal Acquisition Certification for Contracting Officer's Representatives (FAC-COR), Level III from the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI).  

Minimum Qualification Requirements
You may meet the minimum qualifications for the GS-15, if you possess the specialize experience.

Specialized Experience for the GS-15
One year of experience in either federal or non-federal service that is equivalent to at least a GS-14 performing two (2) out of three (3) of the following duties or work assignments:
1. Experience leading large-scale initiatives and programs that monitor, analyze, and manage the lifecycle of IT Procurement operations and provide authoritative recommendations to leadership to improve organizational processes, efficiency, and innovation. 
2. Experience independently managing national or enterprise-level technology asset portfolios and overseeing the lifecycle of technology acquisitions within large, complex federal agencies.
3. Experience managing and directing financial analysis, planning, programming, budgeting, and funds execution for IT programs or software asset portfolios within large, complex federal agencies.  

Basic Experience Requirements

You must possess IT related experience (paid or unpaid experience and/or completion of specific, intensive training (e.g., IT certification), as appropriate) 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 - Works with clients and customers (i.e., 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 (e.g., ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (e.g., 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.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs)
The quality of your experience will be measured by the extent to which you possess the following knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs). You do not need to provide separate narrative responses to these KSAs, as they will be measured by your responses to the occupational questionnaire (you may preview the occupational questionnaire by clicking the link at the end of the Evaluations section of this vacancy announcement).

1.    Skill gained in an operational (hands-on) capacity managing the full-lifecycle activities associated with software/technology asset portfolios of large, complex Federal/State Agencies or private-sector companies.  
2.    Skill gained in a leadership capacity on initiatives or large-scale operations that continuously monitor and analyze software asset management and/or technology procurements, that make authoritative recommendations for improvement, and that conduct efforts to implement those improvements. 
3.    Ability gained in leading multiple initiatives and multiple teams of diverse stakeholders to reengineer, integrate, standardize, or newly devise technology/software asset management and technology acquisition processes that optimize organizations and technology stacks and achieve cost savings. 
4.    Ability gained as a Contract Specialist, Contracting Officer's Representative (COR), or Contracting Officer within the Federal Government, (or in such roles as a private contractor in support of Federal acquisitions staffs), managing multiple software acquisitions full-lifecycle processes and leading multiple collaborative teams that work to improve acquisition processes and outcomes. 
5.    Ability gained conducting and managing multiple IT strategic and operational planning efforts, and software/technology Capital Planning & Investment Control activities in large, complex Federal/State Agencies or private sector firms, effectively communicating those initiatives and financial/management deliverables to a wide variety of stakeholders, and managing/leading multiple implementation efforts that execute against those financial estimates and strategic/operational plans.  

How you will be evaluated

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

We use a multi-step process to review and evaluate applicants:

1. Eligibility and Minimum Qualifications: Once the vacancy announcement closes, we will review your submitted resume and documents to determine if you meet the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements, including any required education, experience, and/or selective placement factors. You will be rated as ineligible if you are outside of the area of consideration (i.e., who may apply) or your application is missing any required documents. You will be rated as not qualified if you do not possess the minimum qualification requirements.

2. Rating and Ranking: If you are found to meet both the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements, we will assess the quality of your experience and the extent to which you possess the required KSAs by reviewing your submitted resume and documents. Your application may be referred to a subject matter expert or panel of subject matter experts for further evaluation. Based on the outcome of this evaluation, you will be placed into one of three categories: Best Qualified, Well Qualified, or Qualified. If your experience is not substantiated by your submitted resume, you may be eliminated from receiving further consideration.

Veterans’ Preference: Qualified veterans’ preference eligibles will be ranked ahead of qualified non-preference eligibles within each category for which they are qualified. Qualified veterans’ preference eligibles with a compensable service-connected disability of 10 percent or more (CPS and CP) will be placed at the top of the Best Qualified category, except in the case of scientific or professional positions at the GS-9 grade level or higher.

Under category rating procedures you are placed into one of three categories based on the evaluation results:

Best Qualified -Candidates who possess the type and quality of experience that substantially exceeds the position’s minimum qualifications, including appropriate quality ranking factors.

Highly Qualified- Candidates who possess the type and quality of experience that exceeds the position’s minimum qualifications.

Qualified-Candidates who meet the minimum qualifications and are proficient in some but not all of the position’s requirements.

3. Referral and Selection: If you are found to be amongst the most highly qualified applicants, you will be referred to the selecting official. As part of the assessment and selection process, the selecting official may invite you to participate in a structured interview, check your references, and/or request that you submit a writing sample or complete a written assessment or exercise to further evaluate your qualifications for this position. If you require reasonable accommodation for any part of the interview process or written assessment or exercise, please inform the selecting official at the time of scheduling.