Summary This position is located in the U.S. Department of Education (ED) Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA). FSA is a Principal Office of the United States Department of Education responsible for awarding billions of dollars in federal student aid funds. Our vision is to be the most trusted and reliable source of student financial aid, information, and services in the nation. Responsibilities 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 an Information Technology Specialist (APPSW), AI Software Engineer, GS-2210-15 you will be responsible for: - Providing senior technical consulting, architectural leadership, and expert direction across the full Artificial Intelligence (AI) development lifecycle. - Implementing and operating enterprise AIOps pipelines (automated testing, deployment, monitoring), and maintain tools for data lineage, version control, CI/CD, and model validation to ensure repeatable production delivery. - Leading software development and integration efforts; coordinate internal and contractor teams; translate functional/user requirements into secure technical design specifications and system architectures. - Providing expert consultations to integrate AI services into enterprise, high-availability, mission-critical financial aid systems; ensuring interoperability, resiliency, and performance at scale. - Communicating complex AI concepts, architectures, and strategic recommendations to technical and non-technical stakeholders, including senior leadership. Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a United States citizen to apply. You may be subject to serve a one-year probationary period. Males 18 and over must be registered with the Selective Service. Relocation Expenses will not be paid. 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. You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement. 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, knowledge, and skills, and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. We will consider all qualifying experience, including any volunteer experience. Qualifications Minimum Qualification Requirements You may meet the minimum qualifications for the GS-15, if you possess the specialize experience, education, or a combination of the two. Specialized Experience for the GS-15 One year of experience in either federal or non-federal service that is equivalent to at least a GS-14 performing two (2) out of three (3) of the following duties or work assignments: 1. Experience in architecting, developing, and operationalizing enterprise-scale Gen AI systems where responsibilities include directing the full AI software lifecycle, including leading requirements analysis, testing, validation, deployment, AIOps monitoring, and continuous improvement for high-availability, mission-critical environments. 2. Experience in integrating AI services into large, distributed, enterprise information systems, including translating complex mission/business requirements into secure, scalable architectures; performing high-impact system design reviews; and coordinating cross-functional teams to deliver AI software and system capabilities. 3. Experience in developing, implementing, or overseeing AI governance frameworks, including defining policies, ethical standards, training staff, assessing model risk controls, and compliance requirements that ensure the safe, secure, and responsible deployment of AI systems across an organization Basic Experience Requirements 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 four competencies listed below. 1. 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. Oral Communication - Expresses information (e.g., ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (e.g., technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing oral presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately. 4. Problem Solving - Identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives, and to make recommendations. 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. Knowledge of software engineering best practices and systems integration to build and operate large-scale, mission-critical AI systems. 2. Skill in applying cloud-native services and software engineering practices to ensure operational reliability of AI capabilities. 3. Ability to document and interpret business requirements and convert them into secure, scalable technical designs especially with AI technologies. 4. Knowledge of federal or comparable IT governance and security standards such as National Institute of Standards and Technology and Federal Information Security Modernization Act (NIST, FISMA) to ensure compliant, resilient integration and performance engineering for AI systems at scale. 5. Skill to provide expert technical advice, guidance, and recommendations to senior leadership on critical, and often complex AI & Software Engineering issues. Education Education cannot be substituted for experience for this position and grade level. Additional 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 careers@ed.gov 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/non-essential) for purposes of reporting to work during federal government closures. Financial Disclosure: This position does not require 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.
