IT Specialist (ENTARCH) "AI Solutions Architect" FPL GS-15 (DH)

Summary

These positions located in the Federal Student Aid (FSA), Chief Technology Office Technology Operations Division. FSA is modernizing the systems that serve over 17 million students and power more than $120 billion in financial aid each year. We are building a team of senior platform and reliability engineers to strengthen the technical foundation of one of the federal government's highest-impact digital ecosystems.

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Duties

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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 a IT Specialist (ENTARCH) "AI Solutions Architect" GS-2210-15, you will be responsible for:

• Designing and leading endtoend Artificial Intelligence (AI) solution architectures that translate complex mission requirements into secure, scalable, and compliant technical designs.

• Developing and governing enterprisewide AI architectural patterns, standards, and reference models aligned with FSA's enterprise architecture.

• Leading the evaluation, selection, and integration of AI technologies, platforms, and tools to ensure interoperability and compliance with federal security and privacy frameworks.

• Providing authoritative technical oversight throughout the system development life-cycle to ensure AI solutions deliver maximum business value against documented business requirements and remain aligned with approved architectures and non-functional requirements.

• Advising senior leadership and acquisition officials on AI-related technical requirements, solution strategies, and risk trade-offs as FSA's principal AI architecture authority.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• Relocation will not be paid.
• Males 18 and over must be registered with the Selective Service.
• You may be subject to serve a one-year probationary period.
• Must be a US Citizen
• Must complete a Background Investigation and Fingerprint check.

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.

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. Salary range listed is for Rest of US locality. Actual salary will be based on location of selectee. Locality pay tables available at .

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.

Qualifications

Specialized Experience for the IT Specialist (ENTARCH) "AI Solutions Architect" GS-2210-15,

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 in designing and implementing endtoend AI solution architectures that integrate data pipelines, model workflows, cloudnative infrastructure, and embedded security and privacy controls aligned with widely recognized industry and governmental standards (e.g., NIST, ISO 27001, SOC 2, FISMA, Privacy Act, or equivalent frameworks) to meet complex mission and compliance requirements.

2. Experience in developing and applying enterprise AI architectural standards, governance processes, and technical review mechanisms by interpreting broad widely recognized federal/state/local laws and emerging AI industry policies to create compliant, scalable, and agency-aligned solution designs.

3. Experience in providing authoritative technical guidance and lifecycle oversight for complex AI systems, including identifying architectural gaps, advancing modernization strategies, and advising senior leadership and acquisition officials on highimpact technology decisions, risk tradeoffs, and procurement requirements.

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.

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

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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. Knowledge of systems and solution architecture principles-specifically AI, cloud-native platforms, and federal security frameworks-to design secure, resilient, and scalable endtoend AI solutions.

2. Ability to develop new architectural standards and governance processes by interpreting federal/state/local laws and AI industry policies technology, and especially emerging AI technologies.

3. Skill in evaluating and making recommendations for Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms, AIOps tools, and cloud technologies for mission needs while ensuring compliance with NIST, FISMA, Privacy Act, and AI Risk Management Frame work (RMF) requirements.

4. Ability to document and understand business requirements, identify architectural gaps, security vulnerabilities, and modernization opportunities across complex AI systems through oversight and review.

5. Skill in interpreting, presenting, defending, and negotiating architectural decisions with senior executives, program officials, and stakeholders.

Education

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

Foreign Education:

Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must submit a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, please click Foreign Education.

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 View email address on click.appcast.io to schedule a session with a career counselor ("Veterans 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.

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.

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.