IT Specialist (Data Center Operations Specialist)

Configure, manage, monitor, program, and troubleshoot a wide range of network and application server hardware and operating system software. This responsibility spans both classified and unclassified networks within the data center.

Create, adapt, and implement technical guides and administrative controls for network, system, and communications programs to support seamless daily mission operations.

Recommend, develop, and maintain standardized procedures and policies for system operations, product assembly, physical hardware installations, and network configurations.

Architect, manage, and implement comprehensive Continuity of Operations (COOP) protocols and disaster recovery plans designed to minimize data center downtime.

Conduct routine testing using remote management terminals to verify the overall operability, efficiency, and compliance of fallback systems against existing DoD and agency standards.

Partner with internal and external agencies for collaborative network designs, ongoing operations, and addressing/address-resolution strategies. Establish and manage IP address allocations, communication paths, and network access rights.

Determine overall personnel and system access limits to IT equipment and logical environments.

Coordinate with requesting agencies and tenant units for the physical and logical ingress and egress of hardware. Ensure all newly installed devices are structurally compatible with the physical data center space and power profiles.

Analyze equipment and software reliability and utilization rates to proactively identify, isolate, and correct hardware and software performance bottlenecks.

Apply performance benchmarks, measurement data, modeling, and simulation techniques to evaluate the real-time health of data center resources.

Forecast future utilization trends and plan for increased processing, storage, and throughput capacities to support incoming mission workloads.

Conduct in-depth analysis of existing systems in response to proposals for technical change, ensuring modified information systems fully meet tactical network user requirements.

Gather facts regarding the user's specific application area, overall workflow, processing sequences, and final work products to determine the feasibility of established methodologies.

Provide direct, expert technical advice and system troubleshooting guidance to end-users and tenants.

Author, compile, and maintain formal risk analyses, system accreditations, and security certification packages in strict accordance with agency policies.

Partner with Information Assurance (IA) personnel to execute comprehensive risk analyses, security tests, and technical vulnerability evaluations.

Collaborate with security officers, users, network staff, and support teams to ensure absolute compliance with all governing security regulations.

Execute proper documentation workflows and follow strict reporting procedures for physical and logical security incidents.

Who May Apply: US Citizens In order to qualify, you must meet the experience requirements described below.

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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document.

Basic Requirement for IT Specialist (Data Center Operations Specialist): Specialized and Other Experience: One year of specialized experience includes resolving hardware/software interface and interoperability problems; planning or scheduling the installation of hardware, operating systems or applications software; implementing security protocols according to policy and procedure; and mitigating security vulnerabilities and risks based on Risk Management Framework (RMF) standards.

This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade level in the federal service (GS-11).

The specialized experience must include, or be supplemented by, information technology related experience (paid or unpaid experience and/or completion of specific, intensive training, as appropriate) which demonstrates each of the four competencies, as defined: (1) Attention to Detail - Is thorough when performing work and conscientious about attending to detail.

Examples of IT-related experience demonstrating this competency include: completing thorough and accurate work independently, even in the most difficult or stressful situations; occasionally reviewing work completed by others.

(2) 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.

Examples of IT-related experience demonstrating this competency include: resolving routine and non-routine problems, questions, or complaints; developing and maintaining strong, mutually supportive working relationships with customers; conducting evaluation of support to determine quality of services and customer satisfaction, and recommending procedural changes based on customer need or changes in policy and/or regulation.

(3) 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.

Examples of IT-related experience demonstrating this competency include: convincingly conveying complex information to customers; presenting thoughts that are well-organized and demonstrating confidence in the facts and ideas; adjusting style when working with individuals with different levels of understanding; using various methods to explain and convey information.

(4) Problem Solving - Identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives, and to make recommendations.

Examples of IT-related experience demonstrating this competency include: solving complex or sensitive problems by developing and proposing strategic alternatives; identifying possible conflicts and shared benefits; helping team anticipate problems and identifying and evaluating potential sources of information; providing feedback and coaching to others to help solve problems; engaging appropriate stakeholders when developing solutions in order to understand and incorporate multiple perspectives and needs; evaluating the effectiveness of decisions and adjusting future decisions as appropriate.

Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify. For this job, you must meet the qualification requirement using experience alone--no substitution of education for experience is permitted.