It Specialist (Network)
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology — Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Job description
Join the Connectivity and Collaboration Service (CCS) under OIT and be part of VA's digital transformation. CCS designs and maintains world-class connectivity, collaboration, and support services with connections across the enterprise.This position is within the Core Network Services (CNS) team. The incumbent serves as a specialist responsible for a full range of IT duties with Campus Networking and the isolation of special purpose systems through access control lists and firewall policies.
Duties:
Plans, implements, and operates network services/systems, including hardware and virtual environments. Provides technical expertise and management on implementation of assigned programs and projects. Reviews directives, policies, enterprise-wide user requirements, and acquisition strategies to determine system impacts. Implements new system design procedures, test procedures, and quality standards. Conducts hands-on testing of products in controlled environments and applies results to production systems. Develops or guides solutions for difficult/unprecedented information-management problems. This position is bargaining unit eligible. This position is primarily aligned to the following NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework work roles: 441 - Technical Support Specialist For more information about these work roles, where they fit within the larger Cyber Workforce, and how they can support your unique career journey, please visit the Cyber Career Pathways tool on the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies website: https://niccs.us-cert.gov/workforce-development/cyber-career-pathways Position Description/PD#: It Specialist (Network)/PD19646A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Travel Required: Occasional travel may be required as needed for this position. Work Schedule: 8am - 4:30pm Monday - Friday; Tour of duty will be determined based on organizational needs. Compressed/Flexible: As determined by the Agency Policy Virtual: This is NOT a virtual position. Remote: This is NOT a remote position. Physical Demands: The work is sedentary, but may involve intermediate periods of walking, bending, stooping, lifting, carrying, moving (up to 50 pounds) computer components and supplies, reaching, pulling, and working at a keyboard and monitor. Subject to call back outside tour of duty. Working Conditions: The work area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated. The work environment involves everyday risks or discomforts that require normal safety precautions. Promotion Potential: Position is a at full grade level
Location: Location Negotiable After Selection (and 19 other locations)
Education:
No education substitution
How you will be evaluated:
You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): The USA Hire Assessment includes a cut score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process.
Other information:
This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. This is not a remote position. OIT has multiple worksites at various duty locations, and the individual(s) selected may be assigned to any federal government work site. This announcement will NOT be used for changing duty locations. If selected, and you are a current VA employee, and not on an approved exemption, you will continue to report to your current duty location. If selected you will be required to report to one of the following locations: Oakland, CA, Washington, DC, Hines, IL, Eatontown, NJ, Albany, NY, Philadelphia, PA, Austin, TX, Salt Lake City, UT. Martinsburg, WV, Shepherdstown, WV., Little Rock, AR, North Little Rock, AR, Phoenix, AZ, Long Beach, CA, Los Angeles, CA, San Francisco, CA, Long Beach, CA, Anaheim, CA, Denver, CO, Aurora, CO, Miami, FL, Orlando, FL, St. Petersburg, FL, Tampa, FL, St. Petersburg, FL, Atlanta, GA, Chicago, IL, North Chicago, IL, Bedford, MA, Boston, MA, Baltimore, MD, Detroit, MI, Minneapolis, MN, St. Louis, MO, Cleveland, OH, Pittsburgh, PA, Nashville, TN, Davidson, TN, Murfreesboro, TN, Arlington, TX, Dallas, TX, Houston, TX, San Antonio, TX, SeaTac, WA, Seattle, WA If space is not immediately available a temporary exception to telework may be granted. If/when workspace is identified, the employee is expected to report to their assigned duty location.? A selectee receiving a first appointment to the Federal Government (Civil Service) is entitled only to the lowest step of the grade for which selected. The display of a salary range on this vacancy shall not be construed as granting an entitlement to a higher rate of pay. Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.
How to apply:
Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. The application process is as follows: To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date, 09/04/2026. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Assessment Update Policy: Please be advised that once your application is submitted, the assessment responses cannot be revised or updated. The numerical rating (score) from your initial submission will be final and used for all rating purposes. You may, however, update your eligibility information and submit additional supporting documents (e.g., SF-50s) for this vacancy after your initial submission but before the closing date of the announcement. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at: https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at: https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit and https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/merit-hiring-plan-resources/applicant-guidance-on-the-two-page-resume-limit/