IT Specialist

Summary

The position is located in the Office of Analytics (GPA/AN), Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) of Research and Analytics, Bureau of Global Public Affairs (GPA), Department of State (DoS). The Bureau serves the American people by effectively communicating American foreign policy around the world.

Duties

• Supports day-to-day management of operations for elements of the Office's cloud infrastructure that support the collection and analysis of open-source information, including traditional and social media.
• Leads the scoping, prototyping, and testing of IT infrastructure, tools, platforms, and capabilities for use by the Office in collecting, curating, storing, exploiting, and disseminating data of interest and value to GPA and the Department.
• Establishes and nurtures relationships with all elements of GPA and stakeholders within and outside the Department to drive further coordination, collaboration, and mission equity across the whole of government.
• Prepares briefings and reports advising the Unit Chief and Office Director and identifying opportunities to improve service delivery and collaboration within and outside of the Department.
• Integrates technical development cycles and work schedules, tracks projects and programs, monitors quality of deliveries into the architecture, and makes decisions on the acceptability, rejection, or correction of engineering work products/services.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship is required.
• Incumbent will be subject to random drug testing.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit: www.dhs.gov/E-Verify/

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all the qualification requirements described below by the closing date of this announcement.

Applicants applying for the GS-14 grade level must meet the following requirements:

Have IT-related experience demonstrating EACH of the four competencies AND specialized experience listed below:

1. Attention to Detail - Details technical requirements and descriptions of work to be accomplished, organizes matrixed teams to achieve measurable results, ushers appropriate resources, and establishes firm deadlines and standards for acceptable work.
2. Customer Service - Supports day-to-day management of operations for elements of the Office's cloud infrastructure that support the collection and analysis of open-source information, including traditional and social media, as well as identifying and resolving most complex data management issues that arise.
3. Oral Communication - Communicate complex technical information to non-technical personnel.
4. Problem Solving - Mastery of evaluation and assessment strategies to apply analytical developments and research findings to broad public policy issues.

AND Have at least 1 full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level in the Federal service which provided you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the duties of the position.

Qualifying specialized experience must demonstrate the following:

• Experience with operations and maintenance of a large-scale data warehouse (5TB or larger), including demonstrated experience maintaining real-time processing of more than 1 million items a day with less than one-percent downtime.
• Experience in designing, developing, and implementing data mining, data warehousing,and data storage and retrieval; developing guidelines and practices; and identifying and resolving complex data.
• Experience in developing, testing, evaluating, and implementing complex, cloud-based solutions, including network architecture, tools, and software that serve as the technical infrastructure.
• Experience leading the leading the testing of IT infrastructure, tools, platforms, and capabilities for use by an office in collecting, curating, storing, exploiting, and disseminating data of interest to an organization.
• Experience utilizing database management concepts, systems, and techniques (including, data storage, mining, warehousing; and data modeling)

NOTE: In order to qualify for this position, your 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.

There is no substitute of education for specialized experience for the GS-14 position.

Education

See the qualifications section of this vacancy announcement for education requirements, if applicable.

Additional information

• For reasonable accommodation at the U.S. Department of State, please contact the Office of Accessibility and Accommodations at (202) 663-3474 or [email protected].
• If eligible, telework agreements may be permitted with supervisory approval.
• Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement. If eligible, applicants to this announcement may be referred to other similar positions in other Bureaus/Offices in the Department for up to 240 days. Telework eligibility and security clearance requirements may vary for such similar positions.

• Benefits
  
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How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Once the application process is complete, a review of your resume will be conducted and compared against your responses to the assessment questions to determine if you are qualified for this job. Note: Responses to questions that are not fully supported by the information in your resume may result in adjustments to your rating.

Applicants who meet the minimum qualification requirements, as described in the "Qualifications" section of this announcement, will be assigned to one of three quality categories:

1. Qualified - In addition to meeting minimum qualifications, applicants must demonstrate a basic level of the required competencies (knowledge, skills and abilities) for the position.
2. Well Qualified - In addition to meeting minimum qualifications, applicants must demonstrate proficiency in some but not all of the required competencies (knowledge, skills, and abilities) for the position.
3. Highly Qualified - In addition to meeting minimum qualifications, applicants must fully demonstrate proficiency in all of the required competencies (knowledge, skills and abilities) for the position.

Highly Qualified applicants may be referred to the hiring manager for further consideration and possible interview. The category assignment is a measure of the degree in which your background matches the competencies (knowledge, skills, and abilities) required for this position. Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies:

• Knowledge of the operational and performance characteristics of information technology software.
• Knowledge of custom software and technology development initiatives.
• Ability to lead multiple, concurrent projects.
• Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.

Veterans: Qualified veterans who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10% are listed in the Highly Qualified category. Other 10-point preference eligible and veterans with 5-point preference who meet the eligibility and qualification requirements are placed above non-preference eligible applicants within the category in which they qualify. View information on veterans' preference on OPM's Fed Hire Vets website.

Agency and Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP and ICTAP) Eligibles: If you have never been a Federal employee, you are not CTAP or ICTAP eligible. View information about CTAP and ICTAP eligibility on OPM's Career Transition Resources website. You must be rated in the Well-Qualified category for this position and submit the supporting documents listed under the required documents section of this job announcement to receive consideration for selection priority.

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