Federal

IT Specialist (Policy and Planning), GS-2210-13 FPL 13 (Term Appt NTE 2 Years) (DE)

Federal Student Aid Β· Department of Education
πŸ“ San Francisco, California GS-13 $108,173 - $172,980/yr
Posted: Apr 8, 2026 Deadline: Apr 21, 2026 (Closes in 9 days days left)

About This Position

This position is in the U.S. Department of Education (ED), Federal Student Aid (FSA). As an IT Specialist (Policy & Planning), you will serve as the Information System Owner who is the first-line communications expert, determination, problem solutioning, and recommendations resolving IT systems, security, cybersecurity, and privacy issues.

Qualifications

Selective Placement Factor You must meet the following selective placement factor: This position requires the incumbent to hold a specific certifications at the time of hiring

  1. Federal Acquisition Certification for Contracting Officer's Representatives (FAC-COR), Level III from the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI). Minimum Qualification Requirements You may meet the minimum qualifications for the GS-13, if you possess the specialized experience.

Specialized Experience for the GS-13 One year of experience in either federal or non-federal service that is equivalent to at least a GS-12 performing two (2) out of three (3) of the following duties or work assignments: 1. Experience working independently to manage large and complex technology procurement for a federal agency, handling the entire procurement life cycle from planning to completion to help the agency meet its goals.

  1. Experience serving as a technology acquisition program manager for national or enterprise-level federal technology programs, analyzing financial and operational data and procedures, and recommending improvements to technology management, acquisition programs, and implementation of new technologies or procedures.
  2. Experience monitoring and analyzing complex federal technology program financial data and preparing budgetary and financial documentation, Capitol Planning and Investment Control reports (CPIC), life cycle cost estimates, and Office of Management and Budget (OMB)/Congressional justifications to support program planning and evaluation. 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.
  3. Attention to Detail - Is thorough when performing work and conscientious about attending to detail.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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. Skill in leading and directing people, teams and programs / projects associated with IT application development; the development of mission-critical enterprise class applications, and enterprise-wide IT projects.
  2. Ability to develop and assess complex security, design and architecture artifacts to determine system compliance and to provide recommendations for alternate courses of action, when required.
  3. Ability to review and distill large amounts of complex information into executive level presentations to be consumed by various levels of leadership for decision making.
  4. Skill in applying information systems security principles, methods and network operations and protocols, requirements analysis principles and methods, and IT security products and services.

Major Duties

APPLICATION 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 an IT Specialist (Policy & Planning), GS-2210-13, you will be responsible for: β€’ Leveraging a wide range of qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze FSA's technology portfolio and supporting legal framework and governance structure and provides expert advice and recommendations for innovations and improvements that maximize efficiency and minimize costs to the government. β€’ Serving as the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) to manage FSA's equities in one or more technology acquisitions, holding responsibility for a full array of contract administration duties, across the full acquisition lifecycle, and in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, directives, policies, and publications. β€’ Contributing to Agency goals for cost efficiency and proper payments by monitoring contract and contractor performance and, prior to invoice authorization/payment, ensuring customer requirements are met in agreement with contract terms and that invoices are accurate and otherwise acceptable, per applicable statute/regulations. β€’ Exhibiting responsibility for proactively evaluating technology contracts and related financial information against FSA technology and business/stakeholder needs and rendering expert analyses and recommendations for contract or program action(s) intended to increase efficiency, improve operations, or otherwise facilitate FSA in meeting its strategic goals/objectives.

Conditions 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: β€’ your performance and conduct; β€’ the needs and interests of the agency; β€’ whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and β€’ 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.

Education

Education cannot be substituted for experience for this position and grade level.

How You Will Be Evaluated

We use a multi-step process to review and evaluate applicants: Eligibility and Minimum Qualifications: Once the vacancy announcement closes, we will review your submitted resume and documents to determine if you meet the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements, including any required education, experience, and/or selective placement factors.

You will be rated as ineligible if you are outside of the area of consideration (i.e., who may apply) or your application is missing any required documents.

You will be rated as not qualified if you do not possess the minimum qualification requirements. Rating and Ranking: If you are found to meet both the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements, we will assess the quality of your experience and the extent to which you possess the required KSAs by reviewing your submitted resume and documents.

Your application may be referred to a subject matter expert or panel of subject matter experts for further evaluation. Based on the outcome of this evaluation, you will be placed into one of three categories: Best Qualified, Well Qualified, or Qualified. If your experience is not substantiated by your submitted resume, you may be eliminated from receiving further consideration.

Veterans' Preference: Qualified veterans' preference eligibles will be ranked ahead of qualified non-preference eligibles within each category for which they are qualified. Qualified veterans' preference eligibles with a compensable service-connected disability of 10 percent or more (CPS and CP) will be placed at the top of the Best Qualified category, except in the case of scientific or professional positions at the GS-9 grade level or higher. Under category rating procedures you are placed into one of three categories based on the evaluation results: Best Qualified -Candidates who possess the type and quality of experience that substantially exceeds the position's minimum qualifications, including appropriate quality ranking factors.

Highly Qualified- Candidates who possess the type and quality of experience that exceeds the position's minimum qualifications. Qualified-Candidates who meet the minimum qualifications and are proficient in some but not all of the position's requirements. Referral and Selection: If you are found to be amongst the most highly qualified applicants, you will be referred to the selecting official.

As part of the assessment and selection process, the selecting official may invite you to participate in a structured interview, check your references, and/or request that you submit a writing sample or complete a written assessment or exercise to further evaluate your qualifications for this position. If you require reasonable accommodation for any part of the interview process or written assessment or exercise, please inform the selecting official at the time of scheduling.

You may preview questions for this vacancy.

Additional Information

Veterans' Career Counseling: If you are a veteran interested in receiving tips on preparing a Federal resume and/or how to prepare for an interview, you may email [email protected] to schedule a session with a career counselor (β€œVeterans Counseling Session” should be placed in the subject line of the email). Student Loan Default: If selected for this position, we will verify that you have not defaulted on any loan funded or guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Education.

If you are found to be in default, we will contact you to make arrangements for repayment prior to making an official offer of employment. Suitability and Investigation: If selected for this position, you will be required to complete the Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306) to determine your suitability for federal employment and successfully complete a pre-appointment investigation/background check. Essential/Non-Essential: This position is considered essential for purposes of reporting to work during federal government closures.

Financial Disclosure: This position does not require financial disclosure. Bargaining Unit: This position is not included in the bargaining unit. Selections: Agencies have broad authority under law to hire from any appropriate source of eligibles and may fill a vacancy in the competitive service by any method authorized.

We may make additional selections from this vacancy announcement within 90 days from the date the selection certificates are issued, should vacancies occur. We may also share selection certificates amongst program offices across the agency.

How to Apply

How to Apply: Step 1: Create a USAJOBS account (if you do not already have one) at www.usajobs.gov. Step 2: Create a resume using the USAJOBS resume builder or upload a resume into your USAJOBS account. Ensure that your resume demonstrates your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiates your responses to the occupational questionnaire.

Step 3: Upload any required documents into your USAJOBS account (must be less than 3MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, or Word (DOC or DOCX)). Step 4: Click "Apply Online" and follow the prompts to complete the occupational questionnaire and attach any required documents. Verify that uploaded documents from USAJOBS transfer into the agency's hiring system.

You will have the opportunity to upload any additional required documents in the agency's hiring system.

Click β€œFinish” to submit your application.

NOTE: You may update your application or required documents at any time while the announcement is open by logging into your USAJOBS account, clicking on "Application Status," clicking on the position title, clicking "Update Application,” and following the prompts. In order to receive consideration for this position, you must submit your complete application, including all required documents, by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on the closing date of the vacancy announcement. If the vacancy announcement has an application limit, we recommend that you submit your complete application at the time of initial application.

We will not accept any required documentation after the closing date of the vacancy announcement. If you have any questions regarding submitting your application, please contact the HR Specialist listed under the Agency Contact Information.

Required Documents

You must submit (REQUIRED FOR ALL APPLICANTS): A resume demonstrating your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiating your responses to the occupational questionnaire. Please limit your resume to 2 pages with the font size no smaller than 10 points. If your resume is more than 2 pages, only the first 2 pages will be reviewed and considered for the qualifications determination.

If you are claiming Veteran's Preference, you must submit: A copy of your DD-214 that shows active service and character of discharge (Separated Members only); OR A certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions within 120 days from the date of application (Current Active Duty Members only); AND/OR The Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference (SF-15) AND all documents indicated on the form as proof of type of preference; AND/OR Proof of Sole Survivorship Preference (e.g., certificate of death or 100% disability as a result of serving in the armed forces). Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): Visit the https://www2.ed.gov/about/jobs/open/edhires/ictap.html or https://www2.ed.gov/about/jobs/open/edhires/ctap.html for information on how to apply as a CTAP, or ICTAP eligible. To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors.

CTAP/ICTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section. When assessed through a score-based category rating method, CTAP/ICTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the salary for the IT Specialist (Policy and Planning), GS-2210-13 FPL 13 (Term Appt NTE 2 Years) (DE) position at Federal Student Aid?
The salary range for this position is $108,173 - $172,980/yr. This is a GS-13 position on the General Schedule pay scale. Actual pay may vary based on locality adjustments.
Where is the IT Specialist (Policy and Planning), GS-2210-13 FPL 13 (Term Appt NTE 2 Years) (DE) job located?
This position is located in San Francisco, California. This is an on-site position.
What qualifications do I need?
Selective Placement Factor You must meet the following selective placement factor: This position requires the incumbent to hold a specific certifications at the time of hiring 1. Federal Acquisition Certification for Contracting Officer's Representatives (FAC-COR), Level III from the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI). Minimum Qualification Req...
How do I apply for this position?
Apply through USAJobs.gov by clicking the 'Apply on USAJobs' button. You'll need a USAJobs account, a federal-style resume, and supporting documents. The deadline is Apr 21, 2026.
Is a security clearance required?
No security clearance is required for this position.
What does GS-13 mean?
GS-13 refers to the General Schedule grade level. Higher grades require more experience and offer higher pay. Visit our GS Pay Scale page for full salary tables by grade and locality.
What benefits do federal employees receive?
Federal employees receive comprehensive benefits including health insurance (FEHB), retirement through FERS, Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) with government matching, paid annual and sick leave, paid parental leave, life insurance, and student loan repayment programs.