IT Specialist

Summary

Join VA's Infrastructure Operations (IO) to deliver and maintain secure, high-availability IT and cloud solutions. Help protect and modernize mission-critical systems and support quality services for Veterans. Work in a dynamic, innovative environment as an Engineering Technician located in Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology (VA). Apply Now!

Duties

Install, configure, update, maintain, customize, and support enterprise operating systems, hardware, system software, and vendor software in production environments. Formulate, maintain, and enforce system maintenance schedules and operational procedures required to sustain reliable production computing services. Manage system and server resources, including performance, capacity, availability, serviceability, and recoverability, and initiate corrective actions when requirements are not met. Troubleshoot, diagnose, and independently resolve complex operating-system, hardware, system-software, vendor-software, and production-application malfunctions. Plan, test, document, coordinate, and implement operating-system and vendor-software changes, patches, fixes, upgrades, and production installations using established change-management controls. Communicate complex technical information clearly and concisely to management, administrators, programmers, analysts, vendors, contractors, and users during planning, implementation, and troubleshooting. This is a Bargaining Unit Position. This position is primarily aligned to the following NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework work roles: NCWF Code: 651 Category. Work in this category includes performing OPM GDS Cybersecurity Category / Specialty Area: Research and Development Specialist [SP-TRD-001] tasks, as defined by the NIST SP 800-181 National Cyber skills Workforce Framework (NCWF). Develops and maintains business, systems, and information processes to support enterprise mission needs; develops information technology (IT) rules and requirements that describe baseline and target architectures. 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 Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8 am-4:30 pm Compressed/Flexible: Available at Supervisors discretion. Telework: ADHOC, as determined by Agency Policy. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: IT Specialist/PD20171A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/09/2026. You must meet the Basic Requirements (Individual Occupational Requirement), Specialized Experience, and the Selective Placement Factor to qualify for this series as described below. Basic Requirements (Individual Occupational Requirement): Applicants must have IT-related experience demonstrating each of the four competencies listed below at a proficiency level equivalent to the next lower grade level in federal service: Attention to Detail - Is thorough when performing work and conscientious about attending to detail. Customer Service - Works with clients and customers (that is, 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. 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. Problem Solving - Identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives, and to make recommendations. -AND- Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade, GS-12, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized Experience is defined as experience serving as a senior systems administrator, infrastructure administrator, technical lead, or subject matter expert responsible for the administration, sustainment, security, performance, and modernization of enterprise Linux operating systems and associated infrastructure in on-premises, hybrid-cloud, or multi-cloud environments. Qualifying experience must include independently installing, configuring, patching, upgrading, securing, troubleshooting, and optimizing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) or equivalent Linux systems; administering Linux workloads and their associated compute, storage, networking, identity, monitoring, backup, and recovery services within AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, or comparable enterprise cloud platforms; managing system performance, capacity, availability, serviceability, and recoverability; planning, testing, implementing, documenting, and validating operating system, software, configuration, and production changes; developing or using automation and configuration-management technologies such as Ansible, Red Hat Satellite, shell scripting, Git-based repositories, or cloud-native automation services; implementing cybersecurity hardening, privileged-access controls, vulnerability remediation, security patching, and configuration compliance; diagnosing and resolving complex operating system, infrastructure, authentication, storage, networking, application-interface, and performance incidents; supporting disaster recovery, contingency, backup, restoration, and continuity-of-operations activities; developing technical standards, operating procedures, implementation plans, run-books, and system documentation; and providing authoritative technical guidance to administrators, engineers, application teams, cybersecurity personnel, contractors, vendors, customers, and management to evaluate complex requirements, mitigate operational and cybersecurity risk, and ensure the availability, security, reliability, performance, and recoverability of mission-critical enterprise Linux and cloud infrastructure. -AND- Selective Placement Factor: In addition to the minimum qualifications described above, you must meet the following requirement(s) to be considered qualified for the position: Direct, hands-on experience performing production-level Linux administration and engineering duties (not including application support, oversight-only, training, or certifications alone), where you independently managed, troubleshot, and maintained complex Linux environments in a business or operational setting and executed independent judgment, immediate operational contribution, and direct coordination with assigned customers and technical stakeholders. PLEASE NOTE: General IT experience, Linux administration, application support, training, certifications, or oversight-only responsibilities are not sufficient substitutes for direct, production-level Linux administration and engineering experience. Applicants must clearly demonstrate qualifying experience in their resume by describing the duties personally performed, level of responsibility and independence, complexity and scale of the supported environment, and measurable results achieved. Merely listing technologies, certifications, training, or ge