Information Technology Specialist

Summary

The United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania's mission is to investigate, prosecute and deter violations of federal statutes, enforce and represent the interests of the United States in civil litigation, uphold civil, constitutional and victims' rights, and foster partnerships with other federal, state and local government agencies and community groups.

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Duties

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This Information Technology Specialist provides technical and analytical assistance.

If selected for this position, you will join a well-respected team that is responsible for providing Information Technology Specialist support in the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, focusing in the areas of litigation support and two or more information technology specialty areas.

Typical work assignments will include:

• Provides customer support services, training, and assistance on a variety of routine applications in response to user requirements.
• Supports and manages a litigative case throughout the case file lifecycle from the investigative stage through the appeals process.
• Performs essential Litigation Support tasks associated with day-to-day operations of utilizing specialty litigation support hardware and software network capability systems.
• Implements programs to ensure users understand and adhere to government standards of systems security policies, procedures, and promote awareness of security issues among management and employees.
• Utilizes Information Technology to develop data and graphic representation of evidence in a courtroom setting.
• Aids litigation teams on legal automation requirements and systems capabilities to facilitate litigation decisions, case preparation, and trial presentation.

Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a United States Citizen or National to apply for this position.
• Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory pre-employment adjudication. This includes fingerprint, credit and tax checks, and drug testing. Continued employment is subject to a favorable adjudication of a background investigation.
• Selective Service: Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see
• A probationary period may be required.
• All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.
• As needed, additional selections may be made using this announcement.
• If you receive a conditional offer of employment for this position, you will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application.
• Must provide resume and supporting documents (See required documents).
• Time-in-Grade: Current or former Federal employees applying under merit promotion considerations must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements for consideration within 30 days after the closing date of this announcement.
• You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days after the closing date of this announcement and before placement in the position.

Qualifications

Basic Requirement:

Competencies:

1) Attention to Detail - Is thorough when performing work or data and reviews own work to ensure accuracy, completeness, and consistency with standards.

2) Customer Service - Developing and maintaining relationships with customers, anticipating and assessing the current and future information technology needs of customers, and developing or identifying information technology products or services that are tailored to meet customer needs.

3) 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.

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

5) 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.

6) 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.

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

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

9) 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.

Applicants must meet or exceed the minimum proficiency levels for the required competencies listed above and experience for the grade level(s) for which they are applying. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular competencies/knowledge, skills, and abilities 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.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you have the required specialized experience and/or education for the respective grade level in which you are applying:

To qualify at the GS-12 level, you must possess:

Specialized Experience: At least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 level in the Federal service performing (obtained in either the public or private sectors) at least (4) of the (6) duties listed below:

1) Develops, plans, and coordinates litigation support and eDiscovery services;

2) Creates, defines, prepares, and analyzes case or trial databases and litigation support specifications;

3) Performs testing, quality assurance, configuration, installation, implementation, maintenance, and management of litigation support resources;

4) Implements and maintains information systems security policies, procedures, and tools;

5) Manages electronically stored information (ESI) and other litigation materials;

6) Provides technical customer support for litigation support hardware and software.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

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

If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). For more information on the qualifications for this position, click here.

TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENTS: Merit promotion applicants must meet applicable time-in-grade requirements to be considered eligible. One year at the GS-11 is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the GS-12 level.

• You must submit your SF-50 that shows Time-in-Grade eligibility and reflects your title, series, and grade. No award SF-50 will be accepted; recommended SF-50s include promotions and step increases (within grade increases).

All applicants will be reviewed to ensure they meet minimum qualification and eligibility requirements before carrying out the rating and ranking process. Applicants will not be further considered who will not meet within 30 days after the closing date of the vacancy announcement all qualification and eligibility requirements.

Education

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

Payment of relocation expenses will not be authorized.

Background Investigation: To ensure the accomplishment of its mission, the Department of Justice requires each and every employee to be reliable and trustworthy. To meet those standards, all selected applicants must undergo and successfully complete a background investigation for a clearance as a condition of placement in this Special Sensitive, High Risk position. This review includes financial issues such as delinquency in the payment of debts, child support and/or tax obligations, as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs.

Current or Former Political Appointees : The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office.

The Career Transition Assistance Plan ( CTAP ) provides eligible surplus and displaced 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 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 or better category using established category rating criteria. Additional information about CTAP eligibility, click here.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) 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: Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

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.

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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.

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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.