IT Specialist (Policy and Planning)

Summary

Join VA's Infrastructure Operations (IO) team and help deliver secure, high-availability IT and cloud solutions that power essential services for Veterans. As an Enterprise Storage Engineer, you'll support and modernize mission-critical systems in a dynamic, innovative environment within Data Center and Cloud Engineering, Infrastructure Engineering and Operations in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology. Ready to make an impact? Apply now!

Duties

Leads collaborative efforts with other organizational entities to enable an end-to-end engineering approach for optimal technological solutions. Provides engineering services and technical oversight to critical, national initiatives related to enterprise platform, storage, database, and data center infrastructure solutions and associated issues and contributes to the mission of providing complex services by shaping the underlying IT architecture. Performs enterprise storage and data capacity forecasting and growth planning, developing multi-year roadmaps to ensure future workload demands are met reliably, securely, and cost-effectively. Ensures studies and analyses are appropriately conducted and recommendations are provided on architectural solutions. Provides senior-level technical, enterprise level, expertise, guidance, direction, and project management. Develops complex guidance to allow technically sound IT investment decisions and steer capital planning decisions. Initiates and provides technical oversight to engineering studies and analyses (including modeling and simulation efforts) concerning the introduction of new technologies, products, and topologies, and to find solutions to critical problems in design of solutions that have a national impact. Designs and implements automation frameworks, APIs, and infrastructure-as-code to enable fleet-scale provisioning, configuration management, and compliance drift detection across enterprise storage infrastructure. Applies NIST SP 800-53 controls and FISMA requirements to enterprise storage and data architectures, including encryption at rest and in transit, external key management, and audit logging. This is a Non-Bargaining Unit Position. This position is primarily aligned to the following NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework work roles: Cybersecurity Code 451- System Administrator: Responsible for setting up and maintaining a system or specific components of a system (e.g. for example, installing, configuring, and updating hardware and software; establishing and managing user accounts; overseeing or conducting backup and recovery tasks; implementing operational and technical security controls; and adhering to organizational security policies and procedures). 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 Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8 am-4:30 pm Compressed/Flexible: Available at Supervisor's discretion. Telework: ADHOC, as determined by Agency Policy. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: IT Specialist (Policy and Planning)/PD02359A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized Requirements

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 Subject to background/security investigation May serve a probationary period. Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required. A complete application package; Resume, SF-50s, etc. Only resumes up to TWO total pages will be accepted. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for position requirements listed in the job announcement. File size must not exceed 5MB. 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 dentification 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, 10/14/2026. You must meet the Basic Requirements (Individual Occupational Requirement), Specialized Experience, and the Selective Placement Factor to qualify for this series as described below. Basic Requirements (Individual Occupational Requirement): Applicants must have IT-related experience demonstrating each of the four competencies listed below at a proficiency level equivalent to the next lower grade level in federal service: Attention to Detail - Is thorough when performing work and conscientious about attending to detail. 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. 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. Problem Solving - Identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives, and to make recommendations. -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 experience in enterprise storage and data management engineering supporting mission-critical systems within a large enterprise environment. For purposes of this position, a large enterprise is defined as an organization operating a geographically distributed IT portfolio across multiple data centers or regions, supporting 10,000 or more end users, managing one hundred or more storage arrays and multiple petabytes of storage under centralized governance, and subject to formal regulatory or compliance requirements (e.g., FISMA (Federal Information Security Modernization Act), HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard), and SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley Act)). Fleet-scale experience is required to demonstrate the disciplined, deliberate engineering and architectural judgment that only develops when standardization, automation, and repeatability are non-negotiable. -AND- Selective Placement Factor: In addition to the minimum qualifications described above, you must meet the following requirement(s) to be considered qualified for the position: Hands-on engineering and architecture experience within the last three years designing and evolving enterprise-class scale-out unified storage environments at petabyte scale across a fleet of one hundred or more arrays or equivalent scale-out cluster nodes; engineering judgment and architectural decision-making, including standardization, reference designs, lifecycle planning, array-based and cloud replication, cloud tiering, and automation-driven configuration management, rather than day-to-day operational tasks. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level. How You Will Be Evaluated

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 for this position: Accountability Attention to Detail Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Influencing/Negotiating Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reading Comprehension Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork USA Hire Assessments include 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. Assessment Update Policy: Please be advised that once your application is submitted, the assessment responses cannot be revised or updated. The numerical rating (score) from your initial submission will be final and used for all rating purposes. You may, however, update your eligibility information and submit additional supporting documents (e.g., SF-50s) for this vacancy after your initial submission but BEFORE the closing date of the announcement. Your experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. 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. 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 the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. 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. During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions. 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. Other Information

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act. Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job (score 85 or above). Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. 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. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. This is not a remote position. OIT has multiple worksites at various duty locations, and the individual(s) selected may be assigned to any federal government work site. This announcement will NOT be used for changing duty locations. If selected, and you are a current VA employee, and not on an approved exemption, you will continue to report to your current duty location. If selected you will be required to report to one of the following locations: Little Rock, AR North Little Rock, AR Phoenix, AZ Anaheim, CA Long Beach, CA Los Angeles, CA Oakland, CA San Francisco, CA Aurora, CO Denver, CO Washington, DC Miami, FL Orlando, FL St. Petersburg, FL Tampa, FL Atlanta, GA Chicago, IL Hines, IL North Chicago, IL Bedford, MA Boston, MA Baltimore, MD Detroit, MI Minneapolis, MN St. Louis, MO Eatontown, NJ Albany, NY Cleveland, OH Philadelphia, PA Pittsburgh, PA Davidson, TN Nashville, TN Murfreesboro, TN Arlington, TX Austin, TX Dallas, TX Houston, TX San Antonio, TX Salt Lake City, UT SeaTac, WA Seattle, WA Martinsburg, WV Shepherdstown, WV