IT Program Manager (Service Designer), GS-2210-15, FPL GS-15 (DH)

This position is located in the Federal Student Aid (FSA). FSA is the Principal Office of the United States Department of Education responsible for awarding billions of dollars in federal student aid funds. Our vision is to be the most trusted and reliable source of student financial aid, information and services in the nation. Our core values include integrity, customer service, excellence, respect, stewardship and teamwork., * Leading discovery and design efforts rooted in empathy for students, families, and financial aid administrators.

• Ensuring FSA services are intuitive and accessible to users of all backgrounds, and that every interaction builds trust and confidence in the program.
• Looking beyond the screen to understand and improve the end-to-end journey of applying for and receiving aid, mapping processes, policies, and touchpoints across agencies and partners, identifying pain points and opportunities for more seamless, equitable services.
• Designing solutions that account for the full ecosystem, not just individual transactions.
• Leading usability testing with diverse users, incorporating feedback into design iterations.
• Ensuring that final solutions can scale to millions of FSA users while maintaining clarity, accessibility, and reliability.
• Championing design to drive organizational change, challenging outdated processes and building alignment across stakeholders.
• Proactively pushing through barriers to user-focused innovation and modeling a bias for action to unlock better outcomes for students and families within a complex federal environment.
• Working hand-in-hand with product managers, engineers, policy experts, and contractors to ensure design decisions are fully integrated into development.
• Mentoring others in human-centered and service design practices, elevating the organization’s overall design maturity and building a culture that values design as essential to delivering public services that work for everyone., The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has interagency agreements (IAAs) with other agencies to ensure efficient delivery of funded programs and activities, and move closer to fulfilling the President’s promise to return education to the states. Employees may receive detail assignments to these agencies in support of the IAAs).

Condition 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., Reasonable Accommodation Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments. (https://appsupport-usastaffing.opm.gov/hc/en-us/sections/45063131363475-Reasonable-Accommodation-Information)

If you are unable to apply online and would like to request information about the Alternate Application process, please use the contact information at the bottom of this announcement.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution., * If you are claiming Veteran’s Preference, you must submit: A copy of your DD-214 that shows active service and character of discharge, 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).

• Are you claiming special priority selection rights under the Interagency/Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP/CTAP)?
• If you are a current or former Federal employee who was displaced (for example, due to a Reduction-in-Force) and want priority consideration, you must submit the documents listed below.

• Required documents for Interagency/Career Transition Assistance Plan consideration (All are required), * 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.

For more general information, system requirements, reasonable accommodation information, and to request assistance regarding the USA Hire Assessments, review the following resources: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=USA_Hire_Assessments

Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us., Work site options Telework eligible Yes-as determined by the agency policy. Remote job No Relocation expenses reimbursed No

• Must be a US Citizen.

• Males 18 and over must be registered with the Selective Service.

• Must complete a Background Investigation and Fingerprint check.

• Must be determined suitable for federal employment., 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., Minimum Qualification Requirements

You may meet the minimum qualifications for the GS-15, if you possess the specialize experience.

Specialized Experience for the GS-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 leading or serving in a senior role of a multi-disciplinary project involving the design, development, and implementation of a new system or a major enhancement to an existing IT system.
2. Experience serving as a design lead, overseeing adoption of new functionalities and/or technologies for users.
3. Experience communicating technical concepts to non-technical audiences and translating business requirements into technical user stories.

Basic Experience Requirements: Applicants may qualify by meeting or exceeding the minimum proficiency level established for each of the required competencies, in addition to meeting the specialized experience requirement as demonstrated through the assessment of skills. 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 nine competencies listed below.

• Attention to Detail - Is thorough when performing work and conscientious about attending to detail.

• 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.

• Decision Making - Makes sound, well-informed, and objective decisions; perceives the impact and implications of decisions; commits to action, even in uncertain situations, to accomplish organizational goals; causes change.

• Information Management - Identifies a need for and knows where or how to gather information; organizes and maintains information or information management systems.

• Interpersonal Skills- Shows understanding, friendliness, courtesy, tact, empathy, concern, and politeness to others; develops and maintains effective relationships with others; may include effectively dealing with individuals who are difficult, hostile, or distressed; relates well to people from varied backgrounds and different situations.

• 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.

• Teamwork- Encourages and facilitates cooperation, pride, trust, and group identity; fosters commitment and team spirit; works with others to achieve goals.

• Technical Competence- Uses knowledge that is acquired through formal training or on-the-job experience to perform one’s job; works with, understands, and evaluates technical information related to the job; advises others on technical issues.

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).

• Skill human-centered design and user experience methods.

• Skill in service design and systems thinking.

• Skill in prototyping, testing, and iterating solutions at scale.

• Skill in navigating bureaucracy and driving design-led change.

• Ability to collaborate across disciplines and build a culture of design., Non-Supervisory: Oral Communications, Writing, Interpersonal Skills, Problem Solving, Teamwork, Technology Orientation, Customer Service, Attention to Detail and Self-Management

You will be evaluated to determine if you meet qualifications required, and on the extent to which your application shows that you possess the knowledge, skills and abilities associated with this position as defined in the Qualifications section. Please be sure to give examples in your resume and explain how often you used these skills, the complexity of the knowledge you possessed, the level of people you interacted with, and the complexity and sensitivity of the issues you handled., Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

This position is eligible for Remote/Virtual work. However, this position may fall under the Presidential Memorandum titled “Return to In-Person Work” which will require you to go into the office if you are located within 50 miles of a Department of Education facility in these locations: Washington, DC, Dallas, TX, San Francisco, CA, Seattle, WA, Kansas City, MO, Chicago, Il, Atlanta, GA, Philadelphia, PA, New York City, NY, and location is negotiable. Actual salary will be based on location of selectee. Locality pay tables available at www.opm.gov ., A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

As an ED employee, you will also benefit from our family-friendly work environment. As part of our commitment to maintain a work life balance, we offer excused leave for Parent/Teacher Conferences (3 hours); excused leave for annual health screenings (4 hours); and matching leave for community volunteer service. Other flexibilities that may be available to you include alternative work schedules. You may be eligible to receive a recruitment incentive for this position. To receive this incentive payment, you will be required to sign a service agreement obligating you to remain with the U.S. Department of Education for a specified period as agreed upon. You may be eligible to receive a relocation incentive for this position. To receive this incentive payment, you will be required to sign a service agreement obligating you to remain with the U.S. Department of Education for a specified period as agreed upon. You may be eligible to participate in the Student Loan Repayment Program as a recruitment incentive for this position. To receive student loan repayments, you will be required to sign a service agreement obligating you to remain with the U.S. Department of Education for a specified period as agreed upon.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered., $147,945 - $197,200 per year Pay scale & grade GS 15 Promotion potential 15 Learn more about pay scale and grade Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job. Work schedule Full-time Travel Required Not required Appointment type Permanent Occupations and job series

• 2210 Information Technology Management

Supervisory status No Federal service type This job is in the Competitive Service Represented by a union No Drug test No Security clearance Other Position sensitivity and risk High Risk (HR) Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job. Background check type

• Credentialing *, Suitability/Fitness