About this role
Job SummaryThese positions located in the Federal Student Aid (FSA), Chief Technology Office Technology Operations Division. FSA is modernizing the systems that serve over 17 million students and power more than $120 billion in financial aid each year. We are building a team of senior platform and reliability engineers to strengthen the technical foundation of one of the federal government's highest-impact digital ecosystems.
QualificationsSpecialized Experience for the Supervisory IT Spec (System Anal) "Cloud Infastructure Engineer", GS-2210-15 One year of experience in either federal or non-federal service that is equivalent to at least a GS-14 performing two (2) out of three (3) of the following duties or work assignments: 1. Experience employing expertise in advanced quantitative and qualitative analytic strategies/methods and cloud operations data to assess Enterprise cloud technology operations and emerging technologies and engineering methods, then formulate and successfully advocate for relevant or necessary changes to architectures, operations, or governance procedures. 2. Experience leading Enterprise/nationwide-level or multi-agency cloud technology modernization teams and initiatives (e.g. data unifications, enhancements to cybersecurity frameworks, improving programmatic outcomes for customer interactions, etc.) for large-scale/national-level programs. 3. Experience leading the design-architecture/engineering and operation of Enterprise-level cloud ecosystems, including experience in creating reusable infrastructure patterns for various Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) services, and reference architectures for system, data, and security system/environment integrations. Basic Experience Requirements You must possess IT related experience (paid or unpaid experience and/or completion of specific, intensive training (e.g., IT certification), as appropriate) 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 (i.e., 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. 3. Oral Communication - Expresses information (e.g., ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (e.g., technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing oral presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately. 4. Problem Solving - Identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives, and to make recommendations. Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) The quality of your experience will be measured by the extent to which you possess the following knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs). You do not need to provide separate narrative responses to these KSAs, as they will be measured by your responses to the occupational questionnaire (you may preview the occupational questionnaire by clicking the link at the end of the Evaluations section of this vacancy announcement). 1. Ability to assess Enterprise (multi-system) cloud production and test environments by analyzing system information (e.g., metrics, logs, and incident data) using common technology/tools (e.g., CloudWatch, Azure Monitor, Splunk) to identify root-cause performance, availability, or integration issues, and implement corrective actions (such as modifications to configurations, deployment pipelines, or integration patterns). 2. Ability to lead enterprise cloud modernization efforts in large/nation wide organizations delivering secure, scalable cloud ecosystems through implementation of Infrastructure-as-Code (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation, Bicep), designing high-availability and multi-region architectures, and establishing governance aligned to relevant legal/regulatory/policy requirements (e.g., NIST, FedRAMP). 3. Skill in formally evaluating cloud technologies, platforms, and tools using a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods (e.g., technical comparisons, cost analyses, and limited pilot designs and implementations), formulating expert written recommendations, and successfully advocating to leadership for their adoption/implementation. 4. Skill in designing, building, and maintaining cloud infrastructure using best-practice, modern engineering practices/methods. Such methods include leveraging Infrastructure-as-Code and CI/CD pipelines, configuration of networking using VPC/VNet or subnet, establishing enterprise-level identity and access management (IAM) and other security controls, and establishing enterprise-level monitoring/logging and incident response processes. 5. Skill in designing, building, and maintaining cloud infrastructure using best-practice, modern engineering practices/methods. Such methods include leveraging Infrastructure-as-Code and CI/CD pipelines, configuration of networking using VPC/VNet or subnet, establishing enterprise-level identity and access management (IAM) and other security controls, and establishing enterprise-level monitoring/logging and incident response processes.
Major DutiesAPPLICATION LIMIT: This vacancy announcement is limited to the first 200 applications received and will close at 11:59PM Eastern Time on the day that we receive the 200th application, or at 11:59PM Eastern Time on the listed closing date, whichever occurs first. We encourage you to read this entire vacancy announcement prior to submitting your application. As a Supervisory IT Spec (System Anal) "Cloud Infastructure Engineer", GS-2210-15, you will be responsible for: • The incumbent leverages expert knowledge and experience in technology engineering and in employing multiple quantitative and qualitative analytic techniques to assess FSA technology production and test environments; identify root-cause of issues, and direct FSA staff and contracted service-providers to implement heavy-technical, policy, and/ or governance changes as resolutions. • The incumbent leads/directs and oversees internal and cross-functional teams of Federal engineers and contracted vendors that analyze the operation, optimization, and governance of FSA technology assets, modernize cloud ecosystem operations, and enforce relevant legal, regulatory, policy, and Agency architecture standards to ensure FSA's technology ecosystem is compliant, cost-effective, and meeting established strategic and operational requirements. • The incumbent proactively evaluates new or cutting-edge technologies and methods related to cloud infrastructure, cloud orchestration, and cloud automation visualization, and makes expert recommendations to FSA leadership and technical teams, on cost-benefit and feasibility of adopting such technologies to improve policies or operations of FSA's enterprise cloud technology ecosystem. • The incumbent leverages expert knowledge of best-practices in cloud platform and DEVSECOPS engineering, Lean Management methods, Agile development practices, and open architecture frameworks to design, test, automate/build, and release cloud and data platform environments that accelerate value-delivery of system/application teams, and enable the Agency to achieve its strategic goals/ objectives. • In accordance with applicable acquisition/contract, and Federal personnel law, regulation, and policy, the incumbent supervises and directs/oversees the work of a hybrid team (Federal and contracted vendor staff) who are responsible for delivering heavy-technical engineering and governance solutions across the full technology lifecycle of FSA's cloud infrastructure ecosystem.RequirementsCondition of Employment: As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a probationary period or trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In 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. Upon completion of your probationary period OR trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement. 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 can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. We will consider all qualifying experience, including any volunteer experience.