This position is located in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Information and . Technology (OIT). within theses services: Software Product Management, Product Engineering Service, Chief Technology Office, Compliance, Risk and Remediation and End User Operations. The incumbent will serve as Senior Information Technology (IT) Specialist.
To qualify for this position, all qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement-08/12/2025. 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 the GS-14 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-13. 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. Applicants must meet all requirements when a request is received to fill a vacancy. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Basic Requirements 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. For all positions individuals must have IT-related experience demonstrating each of the five competencies listed below. 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. Information Technology Architecture: Knowledge of architectural methodologies used in the design and development of information systems, including the physical structure of a systems' internal operations and interactions with other systems Information Technology Program Management - Knowledge of the principles, methods, and tools for the coordinated management of an IT program to include providing oversight of multiple IT projects, integrating dependent schedules and deliverables, and related activities (for example, benefits management, life cycle management, program governance). Strategic Thinking: Formulates effective strategies consistent with the business and competitive strategy of the organization in a global economy. Examines policy issues and strategic planning with a long-term perspective. Determines objectives and sets priorities; anticipates potential threats or opportunities. AND Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-13 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as: Experience in management of IT products/projects including modernization of IT products. Beneficial to have extensive knowledge in Agile Development, VistA, and Commercial Health Information Exchange Knowledge (HIE). 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. 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.
OIT Mission: The mission of the Office of Information and Technology (OIT) is to collaborate with our business partners to create the best experience for all Veterans. OIT Vision: To become a world-class organization that provides a seamless, unified Veteran experience through the delivery of state-of-the-art technology. Major Duties: Maintains a mastery technical knowledge base and understanding of VA enterprise architectures and data models, hardware and software standards and VA strategic technical initiatives and System of System engineering challenges to develop and deploy compatible solutions. Possess mastery knowledge of and provide direction on application development and adherence to all VA software standards as well as tools approved for use within the enterprise Maintains skill in identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system Mastery understanding to provide direction on use of agile software engineering techniques as it applies to software buys, builds, hybrids or Software AS a Service (SAAS) solutions. Manage program/project management and systems lifecycles to include: Acquisition, development, modification, enhancement, deployment or decommissioning of a product, service or system which may be Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) or internally developed software business applications. The product may be developed internally with IT staff resources or procured from commercial sources and integrated into the enterprise. Provide feedback to leadership and other project stakeholders through appropriate reports, meetings, briefings and information papers, both formally and informally. Regularly brief senior leadership and management staff on project status and significant developments. Facilitating cross-functional and cross-team planning sessions to ensure integration of critical path development activities. Conduct, or provide oversight for the performance of special studies and analyses for senior leadership that has a national impact and/or priority which may receive congressional and media attention. Conduct extensive investigation and analysis of undefined factors and changing conditions to analyze and understand task and project interrelationships and their potential effect on the project and program Participate in formal change and configuration management processes as a senior technical analyst to ensure adherence to approved VA processes and to identify cross product configuration issues for resolution. Position Description/PD#: IT Specialist (Appsw)/PD18421A 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 8:00AM-4:30PM; Tour of duty will be determined based on organizational needs. Compressed/Flexible: As determined by the Agency Policy Virtual: This is NOT a virtual position. Physical Demands: The work is sedentary. Some work may require walking and standing in conjunction with travel and to attendance at meetings and conferences away from the work site Working Conditions: Work is performed in a typical computer operations environment. Rooms are well-lighted, air-conditioned office spaces with moderate noise from common office equipment. Computer equipment on the operations floor involves the use of high voltage electricity. Designated Drug Testing Position: Not Applicable