Information Technology Specialist (Applications Software)
What you'd do
WHAT IS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY? A description of the business units can be found at: https://www.jobs.irs.gov/about/who/business-divisions Position(s) are to be filled in following area(s): IT - Taxpayer Services and Online Accounts Consider each location carefully when applying. You will be limited to 3 location choices. If you are selected for a location, that location will become your official post of duty. REVIEW THE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BELOW FOR FURTHER DETAILS
Major duties
The following are the duties of this position at the full working level. If this vacancy includes more than one grade and you are selected at a lower grade level, you will have the opportunity to learn to perform these duties and receive training to help you grow in this position. Drafting project plans for a multifunctional development project in software analysis, design, development, and implementation. Identifying resource requirements and assigning tasks to project members, reporting progress, and ensuring customer and management involvement throughout the software development process. Revolving critical issues affecting the configuration of the IT infrastructure and coordinating the demonstration of new and enhanced applications to customers and management. Identifying and correcting weaknesses in critical performance parameters and variances in achieving cost, schedule, and performance goals. Investigating, evaluating, and selecting tools and methods for improving productivity and software quality throughout the life cycle.
What you need to qualify
Federal experience is not required. Experience may have been gained in the public sector, private sector or through Volunteer Service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-timework 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 resume. QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: To qualify for this position, you must meet the qualification requirements outlined below: Minimum requirements for Grade 12 and up (GS or Equivalent) Applicants must have Information Technology related experience demonstrating each of the following nine competencies: 1) Attention to Detail, 2) Customer Service, 3) Decision Making, 4) Information Management, 5) Interpersonal Skills, 6) Oral Communication, 7) Problem Solving, 8) Team Work and 9) Technical Competence. Specialized Experience GS-13 Level: You must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position includes: Independently applying IT principles, concepts, methods, and practices to plan, analyze, implement, maintain, troubleshoot, or enhance IT systems, services, hardware, software, applications, interfaces, scripts, or related technology environments. Performing computer projects, operational, or application-related assignments involving IT requirements and techniques, including resolving technical issues; validating system, application, or code testing and configuration; preparing technical documentation; and applying federal cybersecurity, privacy, or regulatory requirements. Working directly with customers, stakeholders, users, and technical teams to define business or technical requirements, advising on feasible IT approaches, and implementing secure, reliable, scalable IT solutions, including application enhancements where applicable. Assessing system, service, or application performance, availability, reliability, usability, and operational effectiveness; identifying risks, recurring issues, or defects; and recommending or implementing corrective actions consistent with established policies and procedures. Analyzing multiple technical alternatives and advising management or IT specialists on the selection, configuration, implementation, or improvement of IT solutions, including application components where applicable, to support mission and operational requirements. Leading teams that design and develop agency-wide applications which included review and approval of technical requirements for projects; developing project plans. Providing guidance to team members and serving as primary liaison between customers and vendors and IT management throughout the development process. Independently designing, developing, integrating, testing, deploying, maintaining, or enhancing modern enterprise applications using current software engineering practices, tools, and frameworks. Developing or supporting APIs, web services, microservices, application integrations, database interactions, automated unit/integration testing, CI/CD pipelines, containerized or cloud-based deployments, observability/logging, code quality tools, vulnerability remediation, and secure coding practices. Using modern software engineering tools, including approved AI-assisted development tools where appropriate, to improve efficiency, documentation, testing, analysis, code quality, or maintainability while ensuring compliance with organizational security, privacy, accessibility, and quality standards. Advising stakeholders on technical feasibility, identifying recurring defects or technical risks, and recommending improvements to application architecture, performance, reliability, scalability, or maintainability. AND You must also meet the following requirement(s): PERFORMANCE RATING: Current federal employees must have at least a fully successful or equivalent performance rating to receive consideration. TIME AFTER COMPETITIVE APPOINTMENT (TACA): By the closing date (or if this is an open continuous announcement, by the cut-off date) specified in this job announcement, current civilian employees must have completed at least 90 days of federal civilian service since their latest non-temporary appointment from a competitive referral certificate, known as time after competitive appointment. For this requirement, a competitive appointment is one where you applied to and were appointed from an announcement open to "All US Citizens" TIME IN GRADE (TIG): Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements. For positions above the GS-05, applicants must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements to be considered eligible. One year (52 weeks) at the next lower grade level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the grade you are applying for. For positions at the GS-05, you cannot advance to the GS-05 if you have held a GS-02 in the past 52 weeks. There is no TIG restriction for GS-02, 03, or 04 positions. For more information on qualifications please refer to OPM's Qualifications Standards.
Before you apply
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