Duties

Summary

This vacancy is located in the Infrastructure Operations Division.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

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As an IT Specialist (Network Services), you will:

• Provide network administration/configuration support; develop, maintain, and monitor the operations of a Infrastructure Operations Center; serve as a technical specialist for the local area and wide area networks within the Department of Agriculture's SCA-IT organization and operations.
  
• Maintain the components and network interfaces that make up the Service Center Agencies' network (both Data and Voice) including servers, routers, switches, wireless access points, wan optimizers, gateways, circuits, VOIP, and firewalls; analyze, define, and implement network requirements.
  
• Establish and manage vendor agreements; monitor vendor performance under maintenance agreements and other contractual obligations and informally arbitrate with vendors.
  
• Collaborate with customer service engineers to determine causes of equipment malfunctions and to devise acceptable methods to prevent downtime occurrences; use appropriate test equipment to isolate and correct hardware/software telecommunication problems.
  

Travel Required

Occasional travel - Occasional travel may be required

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
13

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Click "Print Preview" to review the entire announcement before applying.
• Please refer to "Conditions of Employment."
• CEC offers alternative/flexible/telework schedules for eligible positions.
• Must be a U.S. Citizen or U.S. National

The experience may have been gained in either the public, private sector or volunteer service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/day/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week on your résumé.

Qualifications

You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Specialized Experience for GS-13: To qualify at GS-13, you must have one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the next lower grade/band (GS-12 or equivalent) in the Federal service. For this position specialized experience is defined as experience:

• Administrating and maintaining local and wide area networks and/or data centers; AND
• Analyzing business requirements and resolving problems related to services provided; AND
• Analyzing operational issues to develop policies.

In addition to meeting specialized experience, individuals must have IT-related experience demonstrating each of the four competencies listed below.

Attention to Detail- Is thorough when performing work and conscientious about attending to detail.

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.

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.

Problem Solving- Identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives, and to make recommendations.

Education

Additional information

- We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:
- A one year probationary period may be required.
- Pass a pre-employment security investigation.
- Must successfully complete a background investigation.
- Complete a Declaration for Federal Employment to determine your suitability for Federal employment, at the time requested by the agency.
- If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System or are exempt from having to do so.
- Have your salary sent to a financial institution of your choice by Direct Deposit/Electronic Funds Transfer.
- Go through a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) process that requires two forms of identification from the Form I-9 . Federal law requires verification of the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires in the U.S.
- Obtain and use a Government-issued charge card for business-related travel.
- File a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report within 30 days of appointment and annually from then on.
- Obtain and maintain a Public Trust background investigation clearance.
- Public Trust background investigation may be required.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Your application includes your résumé, responses to the online questions, and required supporting documents. Please be sure that your résumé includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position; failure to provide sufficient evidence in your resume may result in a "not qualified" determination.

Rating: Your application will be evaluated in the following areas:

• Technical
• Analytical
• Communication

Category rating will be used to rank and select eligible candidates. If qualified, you will be assigned to one of three quality level categories, Best Qualified, Well-Qualified or Qualified depending on your responses to the online questions, regarding your experience, education, and training related to this position. Your rating may be lowered if your responses to the online questions are not supported by the education and/or experience described in your application.

Veterans' preference is applied after applicants are assessed. Preference-eligibles will be listed at the top of their assigned category and considered before non-preference-eligibles in that category. Qualified preference-eligibles with a compensable service-connected disability of 10% or more will be listed at the top of the highest category.

Referral: If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application may be referred to a selecting official for consideration.

If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee (eligible for the Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)/Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP )) you must be assigned the middle category or better to be rated as "well qualified" to receive special selection priority.

To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Not Required

Drug test required
No

Required Documents

A complete application includes 1. A résumé, 2. Vacancy question responses, and 3. Submission of any required documents. Please note that if you do not provide all required information, as specified in this announcement, you may not be considered for this position (or may not receive the special consideration for which you may be eligible).

All applicants are required to submit a résumé either by creating one in USAJOBS or uploading one of their own choosing. (Cover letters are optional.) To receive full credit for relevant experience, please list the month/date/year and number of hours worked for experience listed on your résumé. We suggest that you preview the online questions, as you may need to customize your résumé to ensure that it supports your responses to these questions. Please view résumé tips .

VETERANS' PREFERENCE DOCUMENTATION: If you are claiming veterans preference, please see applicant guide for required documentation . In order to be considered for veterans preference, you must submit all required documentation as outlined in the applicant guide.

CAREER TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PLAN (CTAP) OR INTERAGENCY CAREER TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PLAN (ICTAP) DOCUMENTATION: If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee, click CTAP/ICTAP for eligibility and a detailed list of required documents.

EDUCATION DOCUMENTATION: For positions with an education requirement, or if you are qualifying for this position by substituting education or training for experience, submit a copy of your transcripts or equivalent. An official transcript will be required if you are selected.

A college or university degree generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools which meet these criteria, please refer to Department of Education Accreditation page .

If you are qualifying based on foreign education, you must submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. Refer to the OPM instructions .

Recommended Documents:
In addition, we recommend that you submit copies of the following:
- Performance Appraisal A copy of your most recent completed annual performance appraisal, dated within the 18 months, that includes the final rating.

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.