IT Specialist (ENTARCH) 'Network Product Lead', GS-2210-14 FPL GS-14 (ED only)

Summary

This position is in the U.S. Department of Education (ED), Federal Student Aid (FSA), Chief Technology Office (CTO), Technology Operations Division (TOD). The Technology Operations Division provides information technology operations services for all FSA systems, promoting the effective and secure use of technology to achieve FSA's strategic objectives through sound planning, investments, integrated technology architectures and standards, production support, and cybersecurity services.

Duties

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 (ENTARCH) 'Network Product Lead' GS-2210-14, you will be responsible for: Serving as an advisor to the IOG Director and Chief of the Network Support Division, acting as a network architect and engineer to develop and implement solutions across cloud and on-premises environments, while designing reusable platform services, container environments, identity integrations, networking patterns, and infrastructure components. Providing input to design and technical documentation, review final deliverables, and ensure adherence to the enterprise network operations engineering framework through leadership, while serving as a principal-level expert in platform engineering, cloud architecture, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) practices, and infrastructure automation. Engaging with technology leaders, business partners, and contractors to ensure operational requirements and needs are met, while clearly communicating technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and producing platform standards, design documents, and technical evaluations. Evaluating system security plans and procedures in line with Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA), manage and direct office support contractors, address IT compliance issues, and oversee project planning and updates, while designing and maintaining continuous improvement/continuous Development (CI/CD) pipelines to support automated testing, deployment, change control, and compliance validation. Driving network engineering direction and response for Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Binding Operational Directives (BODs) impacting data center operations with guidance from National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), developing plans and processes to strengthen security, while implementing secure cloud configurations, identity and access management (IAM) models, encryption, and zero-trust architectural patterns. Requirements

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has interagency agreements (IAAs) with other agencies to ensure efficient delivery of funded programs and activities and move closer to fulfilling the President's promise to return education to the states. Employees may receive detail assignments to these agencies in support of the IAAs. Condition of Employment: 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. Key Requirement - Relocation will not be paid. Key Requirement - Males 18 and over must be registered with the Selective Service. Key Requirement - Must be a US Citizen Key Requirement - Must complete a Background Investigation and Fingerprint check. Key Requirement - You may be subject to serve a one-year probationary period. Qualifications

You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement. If you are a current federal employee, you must meet all time-in-grade and time-after competitive appointment qualifications within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement. To verify that you meet these requirements, we will review your responses to the core eligibility questions on the occupational questionnaire, as well as your submitted resume and required documents. To make an accurate determination, you will need to include on your resume your federal position title, pay plan, occupational series, grade level, agency, dates for which you held the grade level (stated as MM/YYYY to MM/YYYY, OR MM/YYYY to PRESENT), and total hours worked per week. 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). Minimum Qualification Requirements You may meet the minimum qualifications for the GS-14, if you possess the specialize experience, education, or a combination of the two. Specialized Experience for the GS-14 One year of experience in either federal or non-federal service that is equivalent to at least a GS-13 performing two (2) out of three (3) of the following duties or work assignments: 1. Experience providing technical and programmatic leadership for enterprise-scale wired, wireless, cloud-connected, and security-enabled network services, including the planning and engineering for modernization, transition/transformation, and life cycle sustainment of mission-critical network infrastructure. 2. .Experience providing cybersecurity governance and operations involving FISMA, NIST, CISA compliance and monitoring, vulnerability/security risk management, and regulatory requirements. 3. Experience supporting program and project management involving scope/schedule planning, risk/resource management, technical deliverables, stakeholder coordination in order to improve operational readiness. Basic Experience Requirements Example (IT Specialist GS-12 and Above GS or Equivalent): For positions at the GS-12, GS-13, GS-14, or GS-15 grade levels, applicants may qualify by meeting or exceeding the minimum proficiency level established for each of the required competencies, in addition to meeting the specialized experience requirement as demonstrated through the assessment of skills. 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 nine competencies listed below. 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. Decision Making - Makes sound, well-informed, and objective decisions; perceives the impact and implications of decisions; commits to action, even in uncertain situations, to accomplish organizational goals; causes change. 4. Information Management - Identifies a need for and knows where or how to gather information; organizes and maintains information or information management systems. 5. Interpersonal Skills- Shows understanding, friendliness, courtesy, tact, empathy, concern, and politeness to others; develops and maintains effective relationships with others; may include effectively dealing with individuals who are difficult, hostile, or distressed; relates well to people from varied backgrounds and different situations. 6. 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. 7. Problem Solving- Identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives, and to make recommendations. 8. Teamwork- Encourages and facilitates cooperation, pride, trust, and group identity; fosters commitment and team spirit; works with others to achieve goals. 9. Technical Competence- Uses knowledge that is acquired through formal training or on-the-job experience to perform one's job; works with, understands, and evaluates technical information related to the job; advises others on technical issues. Applicants may qualify by meeting or exceeding the minimum proficiency level established for each of the required competencies, in addition to meeting the specialized experience requirement as demonstrated through the assessment of skills. 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 seventeen competencies listed below. 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 in applying systems engineering and SRE concepts to ensure reliability, performance, scalability, security, and maintainability across complex, multi-cloud environments. 2. Ability to apply platform and reliability engineering principles them through real-world implementation, debugging, optimization, and modernization of cloud environments. 3. Skill in computer engineering cloud automation, observability tooling, testing frameworks, and CI/CD pipelines, including telemetry, logging, alerting, and distributed tracing. 4. Ability to leverage modern cloud, data, and security technologies to design, test, and deploy resilient platform and reliability systems that support mission-critical applications.

Education

Education cannot be substituted for experience for this position and grade level. Foreign Education: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must submit a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, please click Foreign Education. How You Will Be Evaluated

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 comparing your submitted resume and supporting documentation. You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications and competencies listed in this vacancy announcement (if applicable). Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), and the result of the USA Hire Assessment(s) (if applicable) required for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): Non-Supervisory: Accountability, Attention to Detail, Customer Service, Decision Making, Flexibility, Influencing/Negotiating, Integrity/Honesty, Interpersonal Skills, Learning, Reading Comprehension, Reasoning, Self-Management, Stress Tolerance, and Teamwork 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. Benefits

As an ED employee, you will also benefit from our family-friendly work environment. As part of our commitment to maintain a work life balance, we offer excused leave for Parent/Teacher Conferences (3 hours); excused leave for annual health screenings (4 hours); and matching leave for community volunteer service. Other flexibilities that may be available to you include alternative work schedules. You may be eligible to receive a recruitment incentive for this position. To receive this incentive payment, you will be required to sign a service agreement obligating you to remain with the U.S. Department of Education for a specified period as agreed upon. You may be eligible to receive a relocation incentive for this position. To receive this incentive payment, you will be required to sign a service agreement obligating you to remain with the U.S. Department of Education for a specified period as agreed upon. You may be eligible to participate in the Student Loan Repayment Program as a recruitment incentive for this position. To receive student loan repayments, you will be required to sign a service agreement obligating you to remain with the U.S. Department of Education for a specified period as agreed upon. Other Information

Veterans' Career Counseling: If you are a veteran interested in receiving tips on preparing a Federal resume and/or how to prepare for an interview, you may email [email protected] to schedule a session with a career counselor ("Veterans Counseling Session" should be placed in the subject line of the email). Student Loan Default: If selected for this position, we will verify that you have not defaulted on any loan funded or guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Education. If you are found to be in default, we will contact you to make arrangements for repayment prior to making an official offer of employment. Suitability and Investigation: If selected for this position, you will be required to complete the Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306) to determine your suitability for federal employment and successfully complete a pre-appointment investigation/background check. Essential/Non-Essential: This position is considered essential for purposes of reporting to work during federal government closures. Financial Disclosure: This position requires financial disclosure. Bargaining Unit: This position is not included in the bargaining unit. Selections: Agencies have broad authority under law to hire from any appropriate source of eligibles and may fill a vacancy in the competitive service by any method authorized. We may make additional selections from this vacancy announcement within 90 days from the date the selection certificates are issued, should vacancies occur. We may also share selection certificates amongst program offices across the agency. Reasonable Accommodation 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 CompetencyBased 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. (https://appsupport-usastaffing.opm.gov/hc/en-us/sections/45063131363475-Reasonable-Accommodation-Information)