Summary The Office of Information and Technology (OIT) leads the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in the design, development, deployment, and operation of state-of-the art technology and solutions in order to provide a seamless, unified Veteran experience. OIT provides strategy and technical direction, guidance, and policy to ensure that information technology (IT) resources are acquired and managed for the Department in compliance with appropriate laws, policies, and standards. Responsibilities 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: Provides guidance and expertise for developing IT strategic and tactical plans and processes for the review of assigned service lines. Develops and supports execution of plans for organizational goals, initiatives, and business process transformations. Ensures VA IT programs comply with management frameworks, plans, policies, standards, and architectures. Plans and implements policy changes impacting IT resource requirements. Conducts information, metrics, processes, and issues analysis, providing technical documentation services. Conducts special studies and enterprise-level analysis and reporting. Serves as an advisor for developing IT strategic plans, mission statements, vision statements, and supporting tasks. Manages development and preparation of management reports and other pertinent information. Develops organizational plans and procedures for program administration and execution. Provides narrative and graphical representations of data metrics and process flows. Ensures OIT compliance with Congressional legislation, OMB, GAO, directives, and VA/OIT regulations and policies. Provides requirements development and management guidance, expertise, and training. Collaborates with OIT, vendors, contractors, and industry partners to enhance effectiveness. Manages special projects, facilitating cross-organizational workgroups. Develops presentations and brief papers for VA senior leadership. Advises officials on Congressional and executive changes affecting IT quality and performance management. Leads or participates in study groups and business process re-engineering studies, developing best business practice recommendations. Produces technical documentation, including templates, briefing documents, data analysis, graphics, workflows, communications plans, and status reports. Knowledge of the capabilities and functionality of various collaborative technologies (e.g., groupware, SharePoint). This position is non-bargaining unit eligible. Position Description/PD#: IT Specialist (PlcyPln)/PD17443A 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, 8AM-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 buy may require some physical effort, such as standing, walking, bending, or sitting. The work often requires long hours to meet deadlines and to devise corrective action and solutions to unexpected managerial or program crises resulting in sometimes highly stressful work situations. The work requires almost constant use of a video display terminal. Working Conditions: The employee works primarily in an office setting involving everyday risks or discomforts. Normal safety precautions are adequate. Position is in a geographically dispersed organization. Position requires extensive travel to VA Headquarters and other VA installations. Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 You may be required to serve a probationary period Selectee is subject to background/suitability investigation Selected applicant will be required to complete an online onboarding process This position is subject to pre-employment and random drug testing. Complete the initial online assessment. 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 identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Qualifications To qualify for this position, all qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement-08/08/2025. 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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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. 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-12 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as: possessing extensive knowledge of IT principles, methods, and practices; analytical and evaluative methods; IT services and operations terminology; narrative and graphical presentation tools; executive correspondence guidelines; and internal and external policies and protocols to serve as a technical expert, consultant, and staff writer for national-level documents. Additionally, they need expert knowledge of technical documentation methods and procedures to prepare and update manuals, instructions, guides, reports, and operating procedures. They must demonstrate technical and organizational knowledge to manage operational tasks for executive management and apply enterprise IT goals and objectives to draft IT documentation and communications, utilizing analytical methods to evaluate and recommend changes as needed. Must demonstrate expert knowledge in power automate platforms, power apps and power BI, including SharePoint. -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: Deep understanding of the value of collected information and methods of sharing that information throughout an organization. Development and execution of knowledge management strategies. Efficient collection, organization, and dissemination of knowledge across an organization. Providing technical guidance and support for knowledge management initiatives. This competency is absolutely essential because successful performance relies heavily on the ability to manage and share knowledge efficiently across the organization, impacting all aspects of IT policy and strategic planning. 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. Education There is no substitution of education for experience at the grade level(s) of this announcement. Additional Information VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. 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 well-qualified, applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors if applicable, and must be proficient in most of the requirements of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website which can be found at https://www.opm.gov/. 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. Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position. 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. It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. A selectee receiving a first appointment to the Federal Government (Civil Service) is entitled only to the lowest step of the grade for which selected. The display of a salary range on this vacancy shall not be construed as granting an entitlement to a higher rate of pay. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.
