Information Technology Specialist - Transportation Security Administration - Annapolis Junction, Maryland - EXPIRED

This Information Technology (IT) Specialist position is in the Secure Flight Performance Engineering Branch, of the Technology Solutions Division, within the Office of Information Technology (OIT), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS). If selected for this position, you will serve as a technical specialist providing critical insight and technical advice to system users, developers, and other stakeholders regarding the technical and operational impacts of proposed system and process changes. You will provide support to the Secure Flight Program Office as well as other customers and stakeholders in other TSA offices as needed. Typical assignments include but are not limited to:

• Providing technical advice and recommending solutions or alternative approaches to solve difficult problems or answer questions requiring an understanding of relevant information and data sets. Formulating recommendations and plans to solve problems or interpret conditions. Using technical IT and problem solving skills to perform critical functions including, Matching Engine Analysis and Improvements, Data Forecasting, What-If-Analysis, and Predictive Modeling, Trend Analysis, Data Anomaly Root Cause Analysis, Secure Flight Reporting, and System/rule Change Impact Prediction.
• Performing code reviews to ensure industry standards and best practices are met with a focus on defensive programming. Performing technical reviews of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and wiki articles before they are introduced into the production environment.
• Participating in reviews of testing procedures and practices to ensure documented procedures and policies are followed or are modified as needed; Collecting system performance data and supporting execution of program best practices, continuous process improvement and implementation of quality principles; Participating in an advisory capacity, in review boards for change requests related to production systems or the production environment.
• Developing and/or supporting the development of complex reports including assessing requirements, identifying criteria, designing report formats, prototyping, testing, and production deployment; Performing data analysis including customer requirements assessment, data gathering, custom tool development, data mining, query optimization, aggregation, categorization, summarization, and presentation.
• Providing Tier-2 technical support for customer related problems, production system outages, and web applications; Participating in on-call rotation providing after-hours support for production systems.
• Developing tools to aid in data analysis, problem investigations, and task automation.

The major duties described above reflect the full performance level of this position. Typically, the lower pay band (H Band) performs the same duties but will receive more guidance and training; and/or projects/work assignments may be less complex.

FOR ALL IT POSITIONS: To qualify, you must have IT-related experience 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 (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.
3. 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.
4. Problem Solving - Identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives and to make recommendations.

In addition to the requirements For All IT Positions, to qualify for the SV-H Pay Band (equivalent to GS-11/12), you must have one year of specialized experience at the SV-G Pay Band or GS-9 in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private sector. Specialized experience is defined as experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position, and is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Such experience includes basic experience designing/modeling, coding, testing, or debugging software scripts and applications using industry-standard programming languages such as Java, Perl, Python, PHP, Ruby, C#, ASP.NET, JavaScript, Objective-C, or C++; experience using integrated development environment (IDE) tools (e.g., Eclipse or Visual Studio) and other application development and application lifecycle management tools (e.g., source code repository, configuration management, requirements tracking, automated testing, trouble ticket, defect tracking) such as IBM Rational ClearCase and ClearQuest, Remedy IT Service Management Suite, CVS, GitHub, Stash, SourceForge, Subversion, or Test Director.

In addition to the requirements For All IT Positions, to qualify for the SV-I Pay Band (equivalent to GS-13), you must have one year of specialized experience at the SV-H Pay Band or GS-12 in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private sector. Specialized experience is defined as experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position, and is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Such experience includes basic experience designing/modeling, coding, testing, or debugging software scripts and applications using industry-standard programming languages such as Java, Perl, Python, PHP, Ruby, C#, ASP.NET, JavaScript, Objective-C, or C++; experience using integrated development environment (IDE) tools (e.g., Eclipse or Visual Studio) and other application development and application lifecycle management tools (e.g., source code repository, configuration management, requirements tracking, automated testing, trouble ticket, defect tracking) such as IBM Rational ClearCase and ClearQuest, Remedy IT Service Management Suite, CVS, GitHub, Stash, SourceForge, Subversion, or Test Director; developing complex database queries using Structured Query language (SQL); and developing solutions using Oracle, IBM DB2, and other industry leading relational database management systems (RDBMS).

National Service Experience (i.e., volunteer experience): 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. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

NOTE: Credit for experience is given based on a 40-hour workweek. Part-time experience is credited on a part-time ratio, i.e., working 20 hours per week for two months equals one month of experience. No additional credit is given for overtime.

You must meet the qualification requirements for this position no later than the closing date of the vacancy announcement.

HOW YOU WILL BE EVALUATED:

You will be evaluated based on a comparison of the position requirements against the quality and extent of the experience and/or related education as reflected in your resume and supporting documentation. You are encouraged to ensure work experiences clearly show possession of the competencies required for this position. We will compare your resume and supporting documentation to your responses on the assessment questionnaire. If, after reviewing your resume and any supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your application materials, your category placement may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job.

When completing the assessment questionnaire for this position, you will be prompted to elect if you wish for your application to be considered as External (where Veterans’ Preference applies), as Status (current or former Federal Employees), and/or Internal to TSA as a current permanent or competitive temporary employee. At that time, please select the answer(s) that apply to you and your application to this position.

Candidates will be rated and ranked using Category Grouping procedures. Under Category Grouping, candidates will be rated and ranked into one of three categories:

Best Qualified - applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are highly proficient in all requirements of the job and can perform effectively in the position;

Well Qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceed the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in most of the requirements of the job; and

Qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in some, but not all of the requirements of the job.
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