IT Specialist (Systems Analysis)

What will I do in this position if hired

In this position you will serve as product manager for the FEMA Data Exchange (FEMADex) platform setting product direction evaluating existing and potential solutions and delivering secure accessible user-centered capabilities aligned with FEMA and DHS mission priorities. Typical assignments include:

• Partnering with FEMA programs business owners IT leadership and engineering teams to understand user and business needs identify opportunities for improved products or services and translate requirements into user stories technical specifications and prioritized backlog items.
• Driving the product lifecycle from discovery through delivery including problem definition hypothesis testing user research prototyping agile development launch planning adoption and continuous improvement.
• Using customer listening usability testing feedback loops product data and validation activities to generate actionable insights shape the roadmap prioritize features and ensure products deliver measurable user and mission value.
• Leading cross-functional collaboration across design engineering data cybersecurity compliance and stakeholder teams; resolving or escalating delivery issues; integrating security and compliance early; and communicating product strategy progress risks and recommendations to leadership.

What else do I need to know

At FEMA our mission is to help people before during and after disasters and every employee at FEMA has a role in emergency management. Every FEMA employee has regular and recurring emergency management responsibilities though not every position requires routine deployment to disaster sites. All positions are subject to recall around the clock for emergency management operations which may require irregular work hours work at locations other than the official duty station and may include duties other than those specified in the employees official position description. Travel requirements in support of emergency operations may be extensive in nature (weeks to months) with little advance notice and may require employees to relocate to emergency sites with physically austere and operationally challenging conditions.

To ensure the accomplishment of our mission DHS requires every employee to be reliable and trustworthy. To meet those standards all selected applicants must undergo successfully pass and maintain a background investigation for Public Trust/High Risk as a condition of placement into this position. This may include a credit check after initial job qualifications are determined a review of financial issues such as delinquency in the payment of debts child support and/or tax obligations as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs (please visit: Mythbuster on Federal Hiring Policies for additional information). For more information on background investigations for Federal jobs please visit OPM Investigations.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently or have been within the last 5 years a political Schedule A Schedule C Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office.

Please ensure you meet the qualification requirements described below.

1. You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position.
2. You must successfully pass a background investigation.
3. Selective Service registration required.
4. Current federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements.
5. You must be able to obtain and maintain a Government credit card.
6. You must be able to deploy with little or no advance notice to anywhere in the United States and its territories for an extended period of time.
7. Please review the Additional Information section for additional key requirements.

You 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 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.Decision Making - Makes sound well-informed and objective decisions; perceives the impact and implications of decisions; commits to action even in uncertain situations to accomplish organizational goals; causes change.
4.Information Management - Identifies a need for and knows where or how to gather information; organizes and maintains information or information management systems.
5. Interpersonal Skills - Shows understanding friendliness courtesy tact empathy concern and politeness to others; develops and maintains effective relationships with others; may include effectively dealing with individuals who are difficult hostile or distressed; relates well to people from varied backgrounds and different situations.
6. 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.
7. Problem Solving - Identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives and to make recommendations.
8. Reasoning - Identifies rules principles or relationships that explain facts data or other information; analyzes information and makes correct inferences or draws accurate conclusions.
9. Teamwork - Encourages and facilitates cooperation pride trust and group identity; fosters commitment and team spirit; works with others to achieve goals.
10. Technical Competence - Uses knowledge that is acquired through formal training or on-the-job experience to perform ones job; works with understands and evaluates technical information related to the job; advises others on technical issues.

AND in addition to meeting the above competencies you must also meet the specialized experience and time in grade for the General Schedule (GS) listed below in order to be found qualified for the position.
Current Federal employees must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent grade band in the Federal service. The qualification requirements listed below must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

To qualify for this position at the GS-14 level you must possess one full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-13 level in the Federal government which has equipped you with the skills needed to successfully perform the duties of the position. Experience may be obtained in the federal government a state or local government or private sector and must demonstrate the following:

1. Managing a product roadmap and backlog including prioritizing features user stories or releases for an IT data analytics or digital service product; AND
2. Translating user research customer feedback business needs or operational requirements into product features user stories acceptance criteria or technical requirements; AND
3. Working directly with designers software developers data teams cybersecurity/compliance staff and business stakeholders to deliver iterative product improvements; AND
4. Assessing whether product improvements met user or mission needs using feedback usability performance operational or other outcome-based measures.

Please read the following important information to ensure we have everything we need to consider your application:

• Do not copy and paste the duties specialized experience or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.

• Please limit your resume to two pages. The USAJOBS database will not allow an applicant to submit an application that includes a resume over two pages.
• Your resume serves as the basis for experience related qualification determinations and you must highlight your most relevant and significant work experience and education (if applicable) as it relates to this job opportunity. Please use your own words be clear and specific when describing your work history. We cannot make assumptions regarding your experience.

• Qualifications are based on your ability to demonstrate in your resume that you possess one year of the specialized experience for this announcement at a comparable scope and responsibility. To ensure all of the essential information is in your resume we encourage you to use the USAJOBS online Resume Builder. If you choose to use your own resume it must contain the following information organized by experience/position: (1) job title (2) name of employer (3) start and end dates of each period of employment (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY) (4) detailed description of duties performed accomplishments and related skills and (5) hours worked per week (part-time employment will be prorated in crediting experience). Federal experience/positions must also include the grade level occupational series and dates in which you held each grade level.

• Are you a current or former FEMA Reservist/DAE employee To accurately credit your experience from intermittent positions and Reservist Deployments you must list the dates (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY) of deployments that are relevant to your qualifying experience along with the job title and specific duties you were responsible for during each deployment.

• Determining length of General or Specialized Experience is dependent on the above information. Failure to provide the above information in your resume may result in your application being found not qualified.

• 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). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies knowledge and skills and provides valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience including volunteer experience.

• For additional information on crediting experience and/or education please reference the OPM General Schedule Qualification Standards