Information Technology Specialist (Information Security)

Who May Apply: Only applicants who meet one of the employment authority categories below are eligible to apply for this job. You will be asked to identify which category or categories you meet, and to provide documents which prove you meet the category or categories you selected. See Proof of Eligibility for an extensive list of document requirements for all employment authorities. Current Civilian Employees of the Organization Consideration will also be given to current Army employees with personal competitive status. In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document. Basic Requirement for Information Technology Specialist (Information Security): (1) Attention to Detail - Is thorough when performing work and conscientious about attending to detail. Examples of experience demonstrating this competency include: completing work independently that rarely requires editing or review by others. (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. Examples of experience demonstrating this competency include: resolving simple and routine problems, questions, or complaints and providing support and guidance to customers on non-routine issues; serving as a primary resource for customers, requesting assistance with complex issues when necessary; and participating in meetings and providing advice to customers in own area of expertise. (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. Examples of experience demonstrating this competency include: expressing facts and ideas in a clear, concise, convincing, and organized manner; clearly conveying moderately complex ideas, concepts, and information to customers; exhibiting active listening by demonstrating understanding of audience comments and/or questions. (4) Problem Solving - Identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives, and to make recommendations. Examples of experience demonstrating this competency include: identifying and solving problems by gathering and applying information from a variety of materials or sources that provide several alternatives; recognizing and taking action to address non-routine problems; soliciting feedback from multiple stakeholders to understand an issue or problem and accurately assess its root causes and potential solutions; seeking supervisory review where appropriate. To Qualify for GS 7 Specialized and Other Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes assisting with security for an organization by conducting background checks, maintaining visitor control logs or databases for access to facilities and/or issuing badges or passes for entry to controlled areas. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-05). The specialized experience must include, or be supplemented by, experience (paid or unpaid experience and/or completion of specific, intensive training, as appropriate) which demonstrates each of the four competencies as defined above. (1) Attention to Detail (2) Customer Service (3) Oral Communication (4) Problem Solving OR Education: One full year of graduate level education from an accredited or pre-accredited institution which provided the competencies/knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position. OR Superior Academic Achievement: Successful completion of all the requirements for a bachelor's degree from an accredited or pre-accredited institution which provided the competencies/knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position. Superior Academic Achievement is based on: (1) Class Standing - You must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses; OR (2) Grade-Point Average (G.P.A.) - You must have a grade-point average of either (a) 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on your official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or (b) 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum.; OR (3) Honor Society Membership - You may be considered eligible based on membership in one of the approved national scholastic honor societies listed by the Association of College Honor Societies (https://www.achshonor.org/). To Qualify for GS 9 Specialized and Other Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes includes implementing and maintaining network and systems services, troubleshooting minor network and system performance issues and initiating responses to security problems. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-07). The specialized experience must include, or be supplemented by, information technology related experience (paid or unpaid experience and/or completion of specific, intensive training, as appropriate) which demonstrates each of the four competencies, as defined above: (1) Attention to Detail (2) Customer Service (3) Oral Communication (4) Problem Solving OR Education: Master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree from an accredited or pre-accredited institution in computer science, engineering, information science, information systems management, mathematics, operations research, statistics, or technology management; or, two full years of graduate education from an accredited or pre-accredited institution that provided a minimum of 24 semester hours in one or more of the fields identified above and required the development or adaptation of applications, systems, or networks. Time in Grade Requirement for GS 7: Applicants who have held a General Schedule (GS) position within the last 52 weeks must have 52 weeks of Federal service at the next lower grade or equivalent (GS-05). Time in Grade Requirement for GS 9: Applicants who have held a General Schedule (GS) position within the last 52 weeks must have 52 weeks of Federal service at the next lower grade or equivalent (GS-07). *All applicants must meet applicable time-in-grade and specialized experience requirements within thirty (30) days after the closing date of the announcements.