Summary This position is in the Office of Information and Technology )OIT), Office of Information Security (OIS), Office of Information Operations (OIS), Cybersecurity Engineering Operations Group (CEOG). OIS manages VA's cybersecurity and privacy programs and is committed to protecting Veteran data and VA information systems. OIS delivers enterprise-wide strategy, policy, governance, and network defense through collaboration with VA and the OIT business units. 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: Executes decision-making authorities and establishes vision and direction for an organization's cyber and cyber-related resources and/or operations. Responsible for managing and constructing hardware, software, and security blueprints for the safety and well-functioning of systems, data, and networks; evaluates security status, monitor, and analyze it, troubleshoot any concerning problems, and ensure that all the organizations data is safe and secure. Designs, develops, tests, and evaluates information system security throughout the systems development life cycle. Provides technical and administrative supervision to employees performing strategic and tactical planning of cybersecurity and risk management programs, threat and vulnerabilities prevention and assessments, and enhancement of existing program; and leading IT projects, software and systems engineering and software systems research, ensuring cybersecurity is fully integrated through two subordinate supervisors. Plans work to be accomplished by subordinate supervisors, set and adjust short-term priorities, and prepare schedules for completion of work. Recommends selections for subordinate supervisory, group or project leader, or similar positions responsible for coordinating the work of others. Develop a plan to investigate alleged crime, violation, or suspicious activity utilizing computers and the Internet. Conducts technology assessment and integration processes; provides and supports a proto@type capability and/or evaluates its utility (minor duty). Maintain deployable cyber defense toolkit (e.g., specialized cyber defense software/ hardware) to support Incident Response Team mission. Acquire and maintain a working knowledge of constitutional issues which arise in relevant laws, regulations, policies, agreements, standards, procedures, or other issuances. Plans, develops and coordinates VA information assurance and information security programs and strategies and formulates IT cyber security program initiatives in response to critical IT cyber security issues. Establishes project and program principles, standards and policies and conducts major internal and external program, project, and policy reviews. Responsible for developing, coordinating, implementing, evaluating, and advising management on information security planning, analyses, policy, stewardship, operations, compliance, and budget related to the VA's cybersecurity program. Identify and/or develop reverse engineering tools to enhance capabilities and detect vulnerabilities. Position Description/PD#: Supervisory IT Specialist (Infosec)/PD204550 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. Typically, the employee sits comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking; standing; bending; carrying light items, such as papers, books, or small parts; or driving an automobile. No special physical demands are required to perform the work. Working Conditions: The environment involves everyday risks or discomforts that require normal safety precautions typical of such places as offices, meeting and training rooms, libraries, residences, or commercial vehicles, e.g., use of safe work practices with office equipment, avoidance of trips and falls, observance of fire regulations and traffic signals. The work area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated. 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 08/25/2025. 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-15 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-14. 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-14 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as: Possesses mastery of IT cybersecurity through the development of new theories, principles, concepts, standards, and practices and emerging issues across the VA and in coordination with other federal agencies to advance cybersecurity and ensure the protection of VA and Veterans data. Demonstrates mastery of cybersecurity engineering expertise through the following skills and competencies. Holds technical expertise in network security knowledge, including VPN, firewall, network monitoring, intrusion detection, endpoint security, web server security, and wireless security, cloud, OT, and the Internet of Things (IoT). Has detailed work experience with incident detection, incident response, and forensics, and experience with Firewalls (functionality and maintenance), Intrusion Prevention/Detection Systems (IDS/IPS), Security Incident and Event Management (SIEM), User and Entity Behavioral Analytics (UEBA), Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP), Heuristics Based Analytics (HBA), Cloud Security, Office 365 Security, VSX, and Endpoint Security. Mastery of IT theories, principles, concepts, standards, and practices sufficient to develop new theories, concepts, principles, standards, and methods in the specialty area(s). Advises other IT experts throughout the agency or in other agencies on a variety of situations and issues that involve applying or adapting new theories, concepts, principles, standards, methods, or practices, that are developed by the employee or result from the employee's leadership; serves as a senior expert and consultant to top agency management officials to advise on integrating IT programs with other programs of equivalent scope and complexity. Mastery of IT security theories and concepts, practices, and emerging issues; and project management methods and concepts sufficient to plan, develop, and coordinate agency-level information assurance or information security programs and strategies, e.g., the agency workforce security training program or security audit program; and formulate agency-level IT security program initiatives in response to critical IT security issues. 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.
