Clarification from the agency

Open to CTAP/ICTAP Employees Only. This announcement will NOT be used for changing duty locations. If selected, and not on an approved exemption, you will continue to report to your current duty location.

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This position in the Office of Information Technology (OIT), Service Delivery and Engineering (SDE) ITOPS, Facility Area Operations and is located at a VA facility. The work involves the planning and delivery of customer support services. The primary duties and responsibilities include providing
Point of Care Customer Service, resolving customer related technical software and hardware problems in accordance with established policies and procedures of the specific VA facility assigned.

Major Duties

• Diagnosing and/or resolving problems in response to customer reported incidents via trouble tickets.
• Works on the development, implementation and management of Information Technology (IT) processing systems.
• Supports the operation of systems/pilot testing of new systems in accordance with documented procedures established in VA.
• Identifies and breaks down problems using structured problem resolution approaches; and works with network specialists, applications developers, system administrators and security specialists to prevent recurring problems.
• Provides group and one on one systems/software applications training to customers as required; and provides on the job training to lower graded IT Specialists.
• Maintains inventory of local application systems and software/hardware used, to include maintaining AEMS/MERS and/or SOARD/Maximo data integrity, routine validations of assets, reports of survey, and proper data removal and hardware turn-in.
• Participates and provides OIT resources in the preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery efforts for natural, manmade and/or other emergencies/disasters.

This position is primarily aligned to the following NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework work roles:
NCWF Code: 411 Technical 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

Position Description/PD#: Information Technology Speicalist (CUSTSPT)/PD15265-A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required
Travel Required: Occasional travel may be required as needed for this position.
Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8am - 4:30pm
Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Remote: This is not a Remote Position

Physical Demands: 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.

Working Conditions: The work is performed in the facility's computer repair workroom and in various business and/or clinical settings. There will be instances where the employee will need to crawl under/over/behind desks, through various types of furniture to get to the device in need of repair. There is some exposure to circuitry of electronic equipment during bench-top or on-site analysis of problems or testing. In the latter situation, the employee must apply knowledge and reasonable precautions to and personal injury or damage to the equipment. Occasional travel may be required on short notice.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Selectee is subject to background/suitability investigation.
• Selected applicant will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• Complete the initial online assessment and USAHire Assessment, if required.
• To be considered for this position, applicants must complete all required steps in the process.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary 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, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 05/19/2026.

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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. 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. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement.

Basic Requirements: This position allows eligibility through meeting either the requirements specified in the section titled Education or the requirements specified in the section titled Experience.

EDUCATION: Degree in computer science, engineering, information science, information systems management, mathematics, operations research, statistics, or technology management or degree that provided a minimum of 24 semester hours in one or more of the fields identified above and required the development or adaptation of applications, systems or networks.

• For the GS-11, you must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree; or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. OR 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.

You must submit relevant transcripts if qualifying based on education.

-OR-

EXPERIENCE: To qualify for this position, you must have information technology-related experience demonstrating all of the four competencies listed below. Ensure that this experience is clearly described in your resume:

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-

To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level, you must possess all of the following minimum qualifications by the closing of the announcement:

Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular competencies/knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position and is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Such experience is typically gained in the IT field or through the performance of work where the primary concern is IT.


For GS-11: you must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-9 level. Specialized experience is defined as experience in IT operations, IT delivery systems and equipment; administering IT operational activities that support all organizations within the geographic area: implementation of new, and maintenance of, existing operational hardware and software required for IT Support of all end users in the area; identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance relative to the goals of the systems; applying service management concepts for networks and related standards.

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.

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.

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

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):

USA Hire

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.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

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.

In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process.