Summary

This position is in the U.S. Department of Education (ED), Federal Student Aid (FSA), 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, effective systems development, production support, and cybersecurity services.

Duties

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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 aIT Specialist (PLCYPLN) 'Senior Contracting Officer Representative (COR)' GS-2210-15, you will be responsible for:

• Leading FSA's nationwide software (SW) procurement and asset management efforts throughout the full acquisition lifecycle. Plans, organizes, and manages FSA's software/technology asset procurement activities in accordance with legal, regulatory, and policy requirements.
• Employing a wide range of analytic and researching methods to provide FSA stakeholders and senior leadership with authoritative, data-driven recommendations and expert technical advice regarding FSA's IT ecosystem, management of its technology procurement and SW asset management efforts, and also commercial/industry best-practices and standards related to SW asset management and SW procurements.
• Establishing and independently leading enterprise-level collaborations and Divisional work teams tasked to standardize, simplify, reengineer, and/or integrate FSA's software/technology asset management operations and/or technology procurement processes. Develops new, or improves existing FSA-wide systems, processes, procedures, and methods of managing and governing FSAs technology asset portfolio, leveraging emerging technologies, optimizing acquisition processes, and achieving cost savings.
• Serving in the role of Senior software procurement COR, responsible for managing the full SW asset acquisition and management lifecycle, including development of procurement strategies and acquisition packages, and conducting proposal/vendor analyses. Leads collaborations across FSA's business, technology, legal, and acquisitions stakeholder communities to ensure customer SW needs are met.
• Providing authoritative data and recommending to FSA senior leadership regarding the long-range strategic vision and near-term operational plans for the FSA software/technology portfolio and supporting management/governance structure. Prepares deliverables that easily communicate comprehensive strategic and operational plans, performance metrics, and. financial analyses to wide variety of technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

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 Requirements:

1. Must be a US Citizen.
2. Males 18 and over must be registered with the Selective Service.
3. Must complete a Background Investigation and Fingerprint check.
4. Must be determined suitable for federal employment.
5. Relocation expenses will not be paid.
6. You may be subject to serve a one-year probationary period.

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 successfully leading initiatives or large-scale operations that continuously monitor, analyze, and manage full-lifecycle IT procurement operations and make authoritative recommendations for organizational process improvements or innovations.

2. Experience as a senior-level Contracting Officer Representative or private sector equivalent, independently managing national/Enterprise-level technology asset portfolios and technology acquisitions lifecycle processes in large Federal Agencies or private sector firm.

3. Experience as a software development asset manager, conducting, managing, and/or directing financial analyses, and financial planning, programming, budgeting, and funds execution of IT Programs and/or software asset portfolios in large Federal Agencies or private sector firm.

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.

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. 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.

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 leading efforts in operational capacity, managing the full-lifecycle activities associated with the acquisition of software development services/technology asset portfolios of large Federal/State Agencies or private-sector companies.

2. Ability to display leadership of initiatives or large-scale operations that continuously monitor and analyze software asset management and/or technology procurement make authoritative recommendations for improvement, and conduct efforts to implement those improvements.

3. Skill in leading teams of diverse stakeholders in efforts to re-engineer, integrate, standardize, or newly devise technology/software asset management and technology acquisition processes that optimize organizations and technology stacks and achieve cost savings.

4. Skill in supporting of Federal or private sector acquisitions staffs, managing software development acquisitions full-lifecycle processes and leading collaborative teams that work to improve acquisition processes and outcomes.

5. Ability to conduct and manage IT strategic and operational planning efforts in large, Federal/State Agencies or private sector firms, effectively communicating those plans to a wide variety of stakeholders, and managing/leading implementations of efforts that execute against those strategic/operational plans.

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.

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 [redacted] 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 non-essential for purposes of reporting to work during federal government closures.

Financial Disclosure: This position does not require a 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.