IT Specialist (INTERNET)

Summary

This position is located in the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Office of Communications(OC), Web & Emerging Technologies Group (WETG), Division of Website Operations (DWO). As a IT Specialist (INTERNET), GS-2210-13, you will develop, maintain, and continuously improve transactional web applications and databases for HHS websites.

Duties

• Serves as technical authority for CMS's Internet-based systems, setting cloud-native standards and guiding architecture decisions on AWS, containers, microservices, and APIs, evaluating emerging tech and shaping direction without formal authority.
• Leads continuous delivery of transactional web applications to millions of consumers, using CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and blue-green/canary deployments. Integrates DevSecOps practices and standardizes release processes across teams
• Serves as technical advisor on application performance and reliability, using APM and observability tools to lead root cause analysis, load/stress testing, and capacity planning. Defines SLOs/SLIs and ensures high availability and disaster recovery.
• Leads major agile web development projects, coordinating government and contractor teams via Jira, Confluence, and Slack, while advising senior leadership on architecture decisions and communicating across technical and non-technical audiences.
• Supports secure software development, identity and access management, and secrets management, remediating vulnerabilities per NIST 800-53 controls. Supports ATO activities and ensures compliance with federal security policies and guidelines.

Qualifications

ALL QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS MUST BE MET WITHIN 30 DAYS OF THE CLOSING DATE OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. Your resume (limited to no more than 2 pages) must include detailed information as it relates to the responsibilities and specialized experience for this position. Evidence of copying and pasting directly from the vacancy announcement without clearly documenting supplemental information to describe your experience will result in an ineligible rating. This will prevent you from being considered further.Basic Requirement: You must have IT-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 - 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; AND 4. Problem Solving - identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives, and to make recommendations. AND In order to qualify for the GS-13, you must meet the following: You must demonstrate in your resume at least one year (52 weeks) of qualifying specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in the Federal government, obtained in either the private or public sector, to include: 1) Leading project teams in the planning, development, and cloud hosting of high-volume, public-facing websites, using Agile methodologies; AND 2) Developing and operating web application infrastructure using modern cloud platforms and practices such as: cloud computing, development, security, and operations (DevSecOps), content delivery networks (CDN), continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, containerization, infrastructure as code (IaC), application performance monitoring (APM), and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs); AND 3) Writing technical documentation including roadmaps, architecture diagrams, best practices, standard operating procedures, technical guidance, and test plans tailored for both technical and non-technical audience. 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. Click the following link to view the occupational questionnaire: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13066279

How You Will Be Evaluated

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), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the results of the online assessments required for this position. A Subject Matter Expert will assist in the resume review process to help determine whether you meet the minimum job qualifications. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): Accountability Attention to Detail Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Influencing/Negotiating Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reading Comprehension Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. The 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. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. You will be placed in one of the following categories based on category rating and selection procedures if you meet all of the requirements outlined in this job opportunity announcement: Best Qualified - for those who are superior in the evaluation criteria Well Qualified - for those who excel in the evaluation criteria Qualified - for those who only meet the minimum qualification requirements If you are found to be among the top-qualified candidates, you will be referred to the selecting official for employment consideration. This is a competitive vacancy announcement advertised under Delegated Examining Authority. Selections made under this vacancy announcement will be processed as new appointments to the civil service. Current civil service employees would therefore be given new appointments to the civil service; however, benefits, time served, and all other Federal entitlements would remain the same. The 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. Veterans' preference eligibles who meet the minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent will be listed in the highest quality category (except in the case of professional or scientific positions at the GS-09 level or higher). Other Information

Bargaining Unit Position: American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1923 Tour of Duty: Flexible Recruitment Incentive: Not Authorized Relocation Incentive: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure: Not Required Workplace Flexibility at CMS: This position has a regular and recurring reporting requirement to the CMS office listed in this announcement. CMS offers flexible working arrangements and allows employees the opportunity to participate in alternative work schedules at the manager's discretion. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced federal employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit the required documentation and be rated well-qualified for this vacancy. Click here for a detailed description of the required supporting documents. A well-qualified applicant is one whose knowledge, skills and abilities clearly exceed the minimum qualification requirements of the position. Additional information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at www.opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.asp.