IT Specialist (McCain Fellows)
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Job Location:
Alexandria, VA - USA
Yearly Salary:
$ 77001 - 131826
Posted on:
9 hours ago
Vacancies:
1 Vacancy
Job Summary
Summary
The John S. McCain Strategic Defense Fellowship Program is a 1-year Department of War (DoW) development program for recent advanced degree program graduates from across multiple academic disciplines. While these are temporary appointments Fellows that successfully complete this program are eligible to be considered for conversion into permanent positions if vacancies are available.
Find out more about this Program on our website and LinkedIn page.
This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until September 30 2026.
The Department of War is seeking applicants for the John S. McCain Strategic Defense Fellowship Program.
The application period opens on December 1 2025 with an initial cut off date of January 5 2026. Applications received before 11:59pm on January 5 2026 will be evaluated and assessed for current available positions. Subsequent cutoff dates include March 5 2026; May 5 2026; July 6 2026 and September 30 2026. Qualified applicants that apply after the initial cut off date will be considered and referred if initial vacancies are not filled and if future vacancies become available.
This Public Notice is to gather applications which may or may not result in a referral or selection.
This position is being filled under Section 932 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019 and its later amendments Section 1113 of the NDAA Fiscal Year 2024 and Section 1112 of the NDAA Fiscal Year 2025.
NDAA FY25 Sec 1112
NDAA FY24 Sec 1113
NDAA FY19 Sec 932
Please read this Public Notice in its entirety prior to submitting your application for consideration.
Assignments during the Fellows program are to an Excepted Service position either in the Office of the Secretary of War or other Department of War Components.
Typical work assignments may include the following:
- Use AI to find and fix potential problems that could impact weapon systems ensuring theyre always ready for action. This includes finding ways to get parts faster and improve overall supply chain.
- Gather and analyze data from various sources to understand how well weapon systems are performing and identify areas for improvement.
- Build AI models to track and understand important metrics for resource allocations of weapon systems
- Organize data related to supplies inventory and maintenance to streamline these processes for weapon systems
- Assist senior specialists with analyzing IT management and operation problems and develop data-driven recommendations for solutions
Conditions of employment
- U.S. Citizenship U.S. National or lawful permanent residency is required
- Males born aftermust be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see salary varies depending on location of position
- May be required to successfully complete a probationary/trial period
- Must be determined suitable for federal employment
- Required to participate in the direct deposit program
- This position is subject to pre-employment and random drug testing
- The incumbent must adhere to DoD Standards of Conduct
- Position may require occasional travel away from your normal duty station for official business on military or commercial
- The incumbent may be required to work other than normal duty hours which may include evenings weekends and/or holidays and/or overtime
- This position requires the incumbent to obtain and maintain a Secret or Top Secret security clearance depending on organizations needs
Qualifications
In order to qualify for this position you must meet the requirements described below.
BASIC REQUIREMENTS: Applicants must meet the Basic Requirements for GS-2210 Information Technology Management series which includes:
- Major study--computer science information science information systems management mathematics statistics operations research or engineering or course work that required the development or adaptation of computer programs and systems and provided knowledge equivalent to a major in the computer field.
- Applicants resume must show that they meet the required competencies in accordance with the Information Technology (IT) Management Series 2210 Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR). Information Technology (IT) Management Series 2210 (Alternate A) ()
You may qualify at the GS-12 level if you fulfill the following qualification requirement:
One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service (experience may have been gained in the private sector). Applicants must demonstrates 1) Knowledge of approaches techniques and requirements of computer applications and integrative technology like AI; 2) Adapted technology solutions to address specific and unique challenges; and 3) Conducting research and analysis of a variety of issues and formulate solutions.
You may qualify at the GS-11 level if you fulfill the following qualification requirement:
One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the Federal Service (experience may have been gained in the private sector) that demonstrates your ability in: 1) Adapted technology solutions to address specific and unique challenges; and 2) Conduct research and analysis of a variety of issues and formulate solutions.
OR
Have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree.
OR
Have a combination of specialized experience and education.
You may qualify at the GS-10 level if you fulfill the following qualification requirement:
Have a masters degree or equivalent graduate degree or 2 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree.
Education must have been completed in a college or university in the U.S. (Note: You must attach a copy of your transcripts for verification)
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.
All qualifications and education requirements must be met by the cut-off date for which you applied for and clearly documented in your resume.
Your resume may not exceed two (2) pages. For qualifications determinations it is recommended that applicants include their months and hours worked per week for each employment listed on their resume. If a determination is not able to be made about the duration of your creditable experience for qualification requirements you will be removed from consideration.
Read more about what should I include in my federal resume at FELLOWSHIP HAS AN EDUCATION REQUIREMENT.
To be eligible for this Fellowship Program you MUST have a graduate degree (or higher) from an accredited college/university in the United States in any field of study that was earned no earlier than two (2) years prior to the acceptance into the program; OR within six (6) months of acceptance into the program. Acceptance into the program is defined as the Fellows Entry on Duty (EOD) date. Those who apply before the initial cut off date of 1/5/2026 the projected EOD date is in June 2026.
IF YOU ARE RELYING ON EDUCATION TO MEET THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR THIS POSITION: This position has an education requirement. You MUST provide transcripts to support your educational claims. Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution by the the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. See Department of Education Accreditation Search to verify school accreditation.
PASS/FAIL COURSES: If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) were taken on a pass/fail basis your claim of superior academic achievement must be based upon class standing or membership in an honor society.
GRADUATE EDUCATION: One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate schools definition of one year of graduate study 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study
Additional information
Probationary/Trial Periods: As a condition of employment for accepting this position you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public determining if your employment advances the public interest we may consider:
- your performance and conduct;
- the needs and interests of the agency;
- whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
- whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.
This position is in the Excepted Service. A current Federal Career or Career-Conditional employee selected must voluntarily relinquish his or her competitive status prior to appointment to this position.
Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e. physical or mental) covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing an online application you may request an alternative application. Please send an email to the following address for information on how to obtain an alternative application:
Current or Former Political Appointees: Agencies must seek prior approval from OPM before they can appoint a current or recent political appointee to a competitive or non-political excepted service position at any level. If you are currently or have been within the last 5 years a political Schedule A Schedule C or Non-career SES employee in the executive branch you MUST disclose that to the Human Resources Office.
Nepotism: Under the provisions of 5 USC 3110 an individual may not be appointed into a position if the position is under the supervisory chain of command of a relative.
Under this recruitment applicants will be accepted and selections made for vacancies as they occur. There may or may not be actual/projected vacancies at the time you submit your application.
Position may be filled at the GS-10 GS-11 or GS-12 level.
Applicants may meet qualifications for more than one grade level; however referral will only be made for the grade levels a DoW component intends to fill. The selecting official has the right to select at any of the referred grade levels regardless of higher qualifications.
Additional vacancies may be filled by this announcement.
The Fellows EOD date is contingent upon their successful completion of all pre-employment and onboarding requirements.
Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government passionate about the ideals of our American republic and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
Key Skills
- SQL
- Active Directory
- Information Technology
- Access Points
- System Software
- Database
- Infrastructure
- Linux
- Project Management
- Internet
- Troubleshoot
- PC
- Procedures
- Setup
- hardware
