Summary

The Program Management Officer serves as a senior leader within the Office of Financial Management Business Transformation Service (FMBTS), providing strategic oversight, and project management for enterprise-wide financial and data management modernization initiatives. The position is responsible for the implementation of financial management transformation efforts, business testing, and program management processes that support the Department of Veterans Affairs' mission and objectives.

Duties

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Major Duties:

• Provides executive leadership and direction for enterprise testing activities supporting large-scale financial management modernization and business transformation initiatives, including development of testing strategies, governance frameworks, policies, methodologies, performance measures, and production readiness activities.
• Directs and oversees business testing efforts, including user acceptance testing (UAT), integration testing, regression testing, validation testing, defect management, and implementation readiness to support successful deployment and sustainment of enterprise systems.
• Directs and manages federal employees, contractors, and cross-functional teams responsible for testing, quality assurance, and program execution activities, including workforce planning, employee development, performance management, and operational oversight.
• Establishes and maintains collaborative relationships with senior leaders, customers, shared service providers, and internal and external stakeholders to resolve complex program, operational, and technical issues impacting financial management modernization initiatives.
• Oversees program and project management activities to ensure modernization initiatives are completed within scope, schedule, budget, and organizational objectives.
• Develops, implements, and evaluates policies, procedures, standards, reporting processes, and governance structures related to financial management modernization and business testing programs.
• Ensures compliance with VA policies, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directives, federal regulations, and applicable financial management and accounting standards.
• Advises senior executives and key stakeholders on testing readiness, financial systems modernization, program risks, quality assurance outcomes, risk mitigation strategies, and overall program performance.
• Provides executive briefings, recommendations, analyses, and decision-support information to senior leadership regarding program status, testing outcomes, implementation readiness, and organizational priorities.
• Establishes long-range strategic plans, program objectives, performance measures, and resource requirements to support enterprise-wide financial management transformation efforts.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm

Compressed/Flexible: Available with supervisory approval.

Telework: Ad hoc telework (situational telework) available as determined by the agency policy.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: PD191810

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to background/security investigation
• 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.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a one year probationary period or two year 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 one year probationary period or two year trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Physical Requirements:

The work is primarily sedentary and performed in an office setting. No special physical demands are required. Some travel may be necessary to attend meetings, training, conferences, or program-related activities.

Local Commuting Area: The local commuting area for this position is defined as a radius of 50 miles from Austin, TX OR Washington, DC. This includes all locations that fall within a 50-mile driving distance from 1619 Woodward Street, Austin, TX 78741 OR 810 Vermont Ave NW, Washington, DC 20420.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/25/2026.

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 a 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. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to some former Federal employees applying for reinstatement, as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. See the Required Document section below for more information regarding the SF-50s needed to verify time-in-grade.

You may qualify based on your experience as described below:

Specialized Experience: To qualify for this position, applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level, GS-14, that demonstrates the ability to lead and manage enterprise testing activities supporting large-scale business transformation and financial management system implementations. Specialized experience includes:

• Directing all phases of the software testing lifecycle, including development of testing strategies, test plans, test execution, defect management, user acceptance testing (UAT), integrated systems testing (IST), and production readiness activities for complex enterprise systems.
• Leading and managing multidisciplinary teams of federal employees, contractors, and stakeholders responsible for testing activities across multiple concurrent implementation waves, ensuring successful deployments, risk mitigation, and operational transitions.
• Providing strategic leadership and executive-level guidance on testing readiness, program risks, testing outcomes, and corrective actions to senior leaders, governance boards, customers, and program stakeholders.
• Establishing and implementing testing governance, methodologies, performance metrics, dashboards, and process improvements to enhance testing effectiveness, auditability, quality assurance, and program decision-making.
• Coordinating testing activities across business, finance, acquisition, technology, training, security, and external partner organizations to support enterprise-wide system modernization initiatives and achieve program objectives.
• Leading innovation and continuous improvement efforts, including implementation of test automation tools, modernization of testing processes, support for audit and compliance activities, and development of workforce capabilities through coaching, mentoring, and organizational 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: Resume must include job title and employer name, number of hours worked per week, start and end dates (including month and year), list of duties and responsibilities for each position held. In addition, if the experience was a federal position, you must list series and grade for each position held. Failure to include this information may result in an ineligible rating. A full year of work is considered to be 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.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at http://://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/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 found well qualified, applicants must clearly demonstrate experience in four (4) or more of the following at a level comparable to the GS-14 grade level or higher:

• Leading enterprise testing programs supporting large-scale financial management, ERP, acquisition, healthcare, or business transformation initiatives.
• Directing all phases of the software testing lifecycle, including test strategy development, test planning, test execution, defect management, User Acceptance Testing (UAT), Integrated Systems Testing (IST), and production readiness activities.
• Managing and supervising federal employees, contractors, and cross-functional teams responsible for testing, quality assurance, or system implementation activities.
• Providing executive-level briefings, recommendations, and risk assessments to senior leaders regarding testing readiness, deployment decisions, program performance, and mitigation strategies.
• Developing and implementing testing governance frameworks, performance metrics, dashboards, methodologies, and reporting processes used to improve quality, transparency, and decision-making.
• Leading testing activities across multiple concurrent system deployments, implementation waves, or geographically dispersed organizations.
• Implementing or overseeing test automation initiatives, testing tools, or process improvements that resulted in increased efficiency, reduced costs, or enhanced testing effectiveness.
• Coordinating with business owners, financial management organizations, acquisition offices, information technology organizations, training teams, cybersecurity personnel, and external partners to support successful system implementations.
• Supporting audits, independent verification and validation (IV&V) reviews, Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviews, Government Accountability Office (GAO) inquiries, or other compliance and oversight activities related to testing programs.
• Leading organizational change, workforce planning, succession planning, employee development, mentoring, and performance management activities within a testing or quality assurance organization.
• Experience supporting Federal financial management systems, shared service providers, or enterprise modernization initiatives involving multiple stakeholders and complex business processes.
• Experience implementing Agile, DevSecOps, Behavior-Driven Development (BDD), or other modern software delivery and testing methodologies.

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/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Additional 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 (HRA) at The Fair Chance Act.

Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR [redacted](u), Schedule A