Duties

Summary

You will serve as an Information Technology Specialist (AppSw) for the Small Business Administration (SBA), Office of Disaster Assistance (ODA), Disaster Credit Management System - DCMS in Herndon, Virginia. This position is responsible for implementing and performing Functional Testing, Regression Testing and Automation Testing on the Disaster Loan Processing Application software that supports the disaster loan program and the ODA mission.
Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

As an Information Technology Specialist (AppSw) at the GS-2210-13, some of your typical work assignments may include:

• Serves as the testing lead and ensures the development of comprehensive test plans and scripts using Agile or Waterfall methodologies.
• Implements system and functional tests for verification of the functionality of the application.
• Reviews and evaluates software products and systems to ensure adherence to organization and customer quality standards.
• Troubleshoots and diagnoses testing failures to isolate the source of problems between equipment, system software, and application programs.
• Collaborates with system functional analysts to understand, confirm and ensure the business objectives for the test scripts.
• Builds scalable testing capabilities using automated testing tools and assess and learns new automated testing tools.
• Creates and utilizes Structured Query Language (SQL) for building queries used for data analysis and the building of automated test scripts.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• This is a Cadre position, which is a competitive service status position with a full-time seasonal work schedule.
• Mandatory Overtime: In order to respond quickly and efficiently to disaster survivors, substantial compensated overtime hours may be required.
• The DCMS position is located in the business area of Herndon, VA. It is conveniently located near various eateries and shops and is accessible via public transportation.
• This position is also being announced under Merit Promotion Procedures, Announcement # MP-19-049-DCMS-10591675.
• Additional selections may be made from this announcement if identical vacancies occur within 180 days from the closing date.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - During times of substantial disaster activity, you may be required to work overtime and/or travel with little or no advance notice.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
13

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• U.S. citizenship is required.
• You must be able to obtain and maintain a Government travel credit card.
• Favorable background investigation and credit check are required.
• Credit Score must be at least 500.
• You may be required to complete a one-year probationary period.

Qualifications

Generally, time in Non-Pay status is not creditable towards the specialized experience requirement listed below.
You must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
You may qualify based on experience, education or a combination of both.

Experience:
To receive credit, you must indicate the month and year as well as the average hours worked per week for each employer. Average work hours must be stated on the resume to quantify each period of work experience or that experience will not be credited toward meeting the specialized experience requirement.
You must address the specific specialized experience required for each grade level of this position on your resume or application or you will be rated "Ineligible" for that grade level.

For all positions individuals 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.

GS-13: To qualify you must have at least 1 full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the GS-12 level in the Federal service that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skill, and ability to perform successfully in this position. This experience may have been gained in a Non-Federal service position. In addition, this Specialized Experience must demonstrate the following:

• Utilizing Agile testing such as test driven development, test automation scripting, and user acceptance testing to design, develop and implement application software best practices.
• Automating test scripts in performance testing tools, such as Provar, Unified Functional Testing, and Load Runner.
• Creating and utilizing back-end structured query language (SQL) scripts in technology frameworks such as Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce and systems.

Education

GS-13: There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Additional information

If selected for this position, you will be eligible for benefits. The above link is provided for your reference to explore the major benefits offered to most Federal employees.

Qualification Standards: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/2200/information-technology-it-management-series-2210-alternative-a/

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

The Small Business Administration is committed to building a high-performing, 21st century workforce that possesses the following core attributes: cultural astuteness, technological proficiency, articulate, strong writing capabilities, superior conflict resolution skills, and exceptional presentation skills. Candidates should be prepared as they may be further evaluated on these attributes throughout the application and selection process.

For this vacancy, the Office of Disaster Personnel will use a Category Rating system to refer qualified applicants for consideration. This is a three-step process. First, your resume or other application is evaluated to determine if you meet the Qualifications, including the Specialized Experience described above, for the grade level(s) that you are applying for. Secondly, if you meet the minimum qualifications requirements, your responses to the questionnaire, including narrative responses, if applicable, will be compared to your resume or other application. If your resume does not support the answers you gave on the questionnaire, you may be rated "Ineligible," or you may be placed in a lower category. Third, your name will be placed in one of the three following categories:

• Best-Qualified - highly proficient with an overall comprehensive level of knowledge, skills and abilities related to this position.
• Well-Qualified - competent in the position with an overall accomplished level of knowledge, skills and abilities related to this position.
• Qualified - an overall basic level of knowledge, skills and abilities related to this position.

Application of Veterans' Preference: The Category Rating process protects the rights of veterans by placing them ahead of non-veterans within each quality category. All the veterans must be selected before any non-veterans within each category.

For this position, disabled veterans who meet minimum qualifications for this position and have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10% (CPS & CP) are placed at the top of the Best-Qualified category regardless of which category they would otherwise be assigned to.

Preference eligibles who do not have a service-connected disability of 10% or more (XP or TP) are placed at the top of their quality category.

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies:
Configuration Management, Quality Management, Requirements Analysis, Software Testing and Evaluation, and Systems Testing and Evaluation

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Not Required

Drug test required
No

Position sensitivity and risk
Noncritical-Sensitive (NCS)/Moderate Risk

Trust determination process
Suitability/Fitness

Required Documents

Required DocumentsTo apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:1. Your Resume showing hours worked per week, dates of employment, and duties performed.2. Completed Questionnaire

• Preview at: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/10592929

3. Other supporting documents, such as:

• Veterans' Preference documentation, if applicable (e.g. DD-214 Member Copy 4 or other Member copy showing type of discharge/character of service, SF-15 Form and related documentation, VA letter, etc.)
• Career Transition Assistance Program/Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program documentation, if applicable (e.g. Certification of Expected Separation, Reduction-In-Force Separation Notice, or Notice of Proposed Removal; SF-50 that documents the RIF separation action; and most recent performance appraisal.)

DO NOT SEND YOUR RESUME OR ANY APPLICATION DOCUMENTS TO THE AGENCY CONTACT.

Your latest resume submitted for this position will be used to determine qualification determinations and supersedes previous submissions.

ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION:

1. Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) or Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP):If you are claiming CTAP/ICTAP eligibility, provide a copy of your most recent annual performance appraisal (which must show at least a "fully successful" rating or equivalent), and proof of eligibility, i.e., a RIF separation notice or Certification of Expected Separation, and SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location. In addition to meeting all qualification requirements and selective placement factors (if applicable), CTAP/ICTAP eligibles must meet the Well-Qualified criteria with a score of 85 or above based on the competencies listed above for the position in order to be given priority consideration. Information about CTAP and ICTAP eligibility is also on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at: CTAP/ICTAP. http://www.opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.asp .
2. If you are a veteran applying under the Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) Appointing Authority or for any other Appointment based on your military service, you must submit a copy of your DD-214 or other proof of creditable service.
3. If you are a male applicant who was born after 12/31/59 and are required to register under the Military Selective Service Act, the Defense Authorization Act of 1986 requires that you be registered or you are not eligible for appointment in this agency.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education .

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.