Management and Program Analyst

Summary

This position is with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Transformation Management Organization located in Washington, D.C. The purpose of this position is to serve as the Quality Assurance and Testing Lead; responsible for establishing, directing, implementing, monitoring, and improving enterprise quality assurance, testing, business validation, and organizational readiness activities supporting Department-wide modernization initiatives.

Duties

• Develop and administer Department-wide Quality Assurance and Testing Strategy supporting enterprise modernization initiatives.
• Lead enterprise activities involving integrated testing across business processes, enterprise applications, infrastructure, customer services, shared services, cloud environments, data conversion, cybersecurity, and operational readiness.
• Develop enterprise quality standards, testing policies, governance procedures, quality management frameworks, acceptance criteria, release readiness standards, and testing methodologies.
• Direct activities such as Business Process Validation, Testing, End-to-End Testing, User Acceptance Testing, Operational Readiness Testing, Regression Testing, Performance Testing, Data Validation Testing, and Parallel Payroll Testing.
• Evaluate modernization initiatives throughout the system development lifecycle to ensure business, technical, security, and operational requirements are satisfied before implementation.
• Conduct quality assessments, root cause analyses, lessons learned reviews, independent quality reviews, and post-implementation evaluations.
• Lead testing governance boards, release management reviews, executive quality briefings, and customer readiness assessments.
• Develop innovative quality management techniques to improve modernization delivery and organizational performance.
• Advise senior executives regarding enterprise quality performance, modernization readiness, and organizational risks.
• Represent the chief technology officer during executive governance meetings, customer agency discussions, vendor reviews, and Federal modernization initiatives.

Requirements

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. 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/. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period unless previous federal service is creditable. During this time your employment will be evaluated, and 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

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below: GS-14 Specialized Experience: Applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 grade level in the federal service or equivalent experience in the private sector. Specialized experience is defined as: 1) leading enterprise testing and quality assurance efforts by managing user acceptance testing, business validation, operational readiness, release readiness, and defect tracking to ensure systems meet organizational standards; 2) developing integrated test strategies by defining quality metrics, managing defects, preparing go/no-go recommendations, and validating that solutions meet business and operational requirements; 3) coordinating testing activities across functional users, technical teams, data teams, cybersecurity, operations, contractors, and partner agencies to ensure effective end-to-end system validation; and 4) identifying quality and implementation risks, document findings, and provide recommendations to support informed decisions prior to deployment or release. Quality Ranking Factor (QRF) This position has a Quality Ranking Factor (QRF). Quality Ranking Factors are knowledge, skills and abilities/competencies that could be expected to significantly enhance performance in this position. Certifications in one or more of the following: International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB), Software Quality Analyst, Manager of Software Quality, Agile Testing, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Information Technology Infrastructure Library 4 (ISIL 4), Lean Six Sigma, Project Management Professional (PMP) or equivalent are strongly desired to support work accomplished in this position. 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 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

This position does not have an education qualifications requirement. How You Will Be Evaluated

Applications will be evaluated in accordance with Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Delegated Examining Procedures and USDA policy using Category Rating. This means 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 to the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. Applicants who meet basic minimum qualifications will be placed in one of three categories: Best Qualified, Well Qualified, or Qualified. Within these categories, applicants eligible for veteran's preference will receive selection priority over non-veterans. Category placement will be determined based on applicants' quality of experience and the extent they possess the following knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) or competencies: Accountability Attention to Detail Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Influencing/Negotiating Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Quality Management Reading Comprehension Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork The USA Hire Assessments 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 an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. All applicants are required to complete the online USA Hire assessment administered by OPM in order to be considered for this vacancy. This announcement will also include the following assessment: Resume Review by Subject Matter Experts Structured Resume Review: Subject matter experts (SMEs) will review your resume to determine your technical qualifications for this position based on the required specialized experience. SMEs will review ONLY two (2) pages of your resume, starting at your work experience. SMEs will not review additional information beyond your resume (e.g., links embedded in your resume will not be opened). Applicants passing the resume review will move on to the next phase of the assessment process. To preview the application questionnaire, click the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13086938 Other Information

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 an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section. When assessed through a score-based category rating method, CTAP/ICTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100. 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 here. This position may also be eligible for flexible work arrangements as determined by agency policy and any applicable collective bargaining agreements. Recruitment or Relocation Incentive may be authorized. The final determination to pay an incentive will be made by the hiring official.