Information Technology Specialist (Computer Specialist-Mainframe) job with USAJobs

Duties

This position is located in the Mainframe Systems Support Section, Network Management Branch, Information, Policy and Public Affairs (IPPA) Division, Bureau of Prisons (BOP).

The mission of this section is to provide Bureau-wide Information Technology (IT) support for IBM-compatible z/OS mainframe computers and systems software; and technical support and assistance for computer operations, System Development programming staff, Office of Research, Institution staff, and other government agencies accessing the BOP mainframe computer.

The section provides technical support for the SENTRY database management system (IBM DB2), telecommunications software (IBM CICS-TS), Applications Servers (IBM WebSphere), fault analysis software (IBM Fault Analyzer, Debug Tool), Auditing and Compliance Software (Bottomline Intellinx/zWatch) and all other z/OS mainframe software utilized by the BOP.

Responsible for assisting in the section’s duties including all aspects of the BOP’s IBM mainframe data processing requirements.

Responsible for the migration of all production applications to the BOP’s mainframe environment requiring involvement with the coordination, planning, monitoring and back-off procedures should problems be encountered.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

U.S. Citizenship is Required.
See Special Conditions of Employment Section.
Selective Service Requirement: http://www.sss.gov

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP). The ICTAP provides eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1)this vacancy is within your ICTAP eligibility; 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement; and 3) you are found well qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and rate equivalent to the Highly Qualified category using established category rating criteria. You must provide proof of eligibility with your application of ICTAP eligibility or a copy of your separation personnel action form. Additional information about ICTAP eligibility is at: Click Here

The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in the Department of Justice with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your Department of Justice component has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility; 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement; and 3) you are found well qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and rate equivalent to the Highly Qualified category using established category rating criteria. You must provide a copy of your written notification of CTAP eligibility with your application. Additional information about CTAP eligibility is at: Click Here

Qualifications

To be considered for the position, you must meet the following qualification requirements.

Education : There is no substitution of education for specialized experience at this grade level.

Experience : You must have Information Technology (IT) related experience demonstrating each of the four competencies listed below.

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 at the next lower GS-grade (or equivalent). Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular qualifications to successfully perform the duties of the position and is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Such experience is typically gained in the IT field or through the performance of work where the primary concern is IT.

Some examples of this qualifying experience are:

Experience with the designing and/or implementing changes to application code that enforces and/or monitors IT security procedures implemented in a large computer network environment.
Experience with installing, configuring and monitoring performance of Application Servers on a distributed or mainframe environment.
Experience with DB2 in an operational 24×7 environment performing DBA functions to include object maintenance, backup, recovery, monitoring and performance tuning on a mainframe environment.

AND

Selective Placement Factor:

Applicants applying for this position, must also possess the following Selective Factor. In the event you do not possess the Selective Factors, you will be found ineligible for the position.

Applicants must have minimum 3-years of experience involving work performing DB2 database administration to include disaster recovery; database design, performance tuning, installation, upgrading, maintenance and monitoring.

NOTE: ALL applicants MUST clearly address the Selective Placement Factor in their resume.

If applicable, credit will be given for paid and unpaid experience. To receive proper credit, you must show the actual time (such as the number of hours worked per week) spent in activities.

**Your eligibility for consideration will be based on your responses to the questions in the application.**

Education

See Qualifications Section for education requirements, if applicable.

ONLY if education is a requirement/substitution for specialized experience, applicant MUST upload legible transcripts as verification of educational requirement. Transcripts MUST be uploaded and electronically linked from USAJOBS at the time you apply and MUST include identifying information to include School Name, Student Name, Degree and Date Awarded (if applicable). All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at a college or university that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, Click Here .

Foreign Education: For information regarding foreign education requirements, please see Foreign Diploma and Credit Recognition at the U.S. Department of Education website: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications .

If you are selected for this position and qualified based on education (i.e. basic education requirement and/or substitution of education), you will be required to provide an OFFICIAL transcript prior to your first day on duty.

Additional information

Special Conditions of Employment Section:

Appointment is subject to satisfactory completion of a pre-employment and panel interview, urinalysis, physical, and background investigation. All applicants are subject to, and must satisfactorily pass all screening requirements in relation to National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and credit check.

Additional selections may be made if vacancies occur within the life of the certificate.

Current Federal Law Enforcement Employees:

Individuals selected who are under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) or Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and who have not had three years “primary” law enforcement retirement coverage, will not be covered by law enforcement retirement while in this position. To regain coverage, individuals must return to a position with “primary” coverage.

As required by Executive Order 14043, Federal employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 regardless of the employee’s duty location or work arrangement (e.g., telework, remote work, etc.), subject to such exceptions as required by law. If selected, you will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination by November 22, 2021 or before appointment or onboarding with the agency, if after November 22. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request of the agency a legally required exception from this requirement.