IT Specialist (Policy and Planning)

This IT Specialist (Policy and Planning) position is with Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology (Department of Veterans Affairs) in Phoenix, AZ. Join the Connectivity and Collaboration Service (CCS) under OIT and be part of VA's digital transformation. CCS designs and maintains world-class connectivity, collaboration, and support services with secure, redundant, and reliable connections across the enterprise. We deliver a delightful user experience, empowering internal and external VA customers, with robust offerings for video and web conferencing, telephony, secure messaging, and more, built on a resilient network infrastructure. Key duties: • Maintain mastery technical knowledge of IT infrastructure engineering policies processes, best practices and requirements as they relate to networking technologies and an integrated healthcare and benefits delivery systems environment. Possess a comprehensive knowledge of IT infrastructure, including hardware, software, operating systems and peripherals in the VA IT environment and in industry. Possess mastery of the principles and methods of capital investment analysis or business case analysis, including return on investment analysis; the business value of information; and capital planning regulations and policies as applied to VA's business requirements. Possess knowledge enabling the use of judgment and discretion in interpreting legislation and interpreting and/or revising existing policy, regulatory guidelines or requirements related to infrastructure engineering and specifically networking technologies. Demonstrate mastery of, and skill in applying pertinent VA policies, operating procedures, and information flow; and of prevailing IT practices in government agencies and the private sector sufficient to evaluate and recommend adoption of new or enhanced approached to deliver IT services; and mastery knowledge of and skill in applying VA enterprise architecture, including applications, databases, and platforms sufficient to work with other departments to establish priorities for IT investments and build business cases. Position is not bargaining unit eligible. This position is primarily aligned to the following NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework work roles: 651 - Research and Development Specialist 752 - Cyber Policy & Strategy Planner For more information about these work roles, where they fit within the larger Cyber Workforce, and how they can support your unique career journey, please visit the Cyber Career Pathways tool on the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies website: https://niccs.us-cert.gov/workforce-development/cyber-career-pathways Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; Tour of duty will be determined based on organizational needs. Compressed/Flexible: As determined by the Agency Policy Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: IT Specialist (Policy and Planning)/PD02562A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not authorized Qualifications: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/02/2026. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-13 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Experienced in network engineering, implementation, and support of network infrastructure architecture, policies, and procedures to ensure the reliable and secure operation of enterprise applications, systems, and networks, including cloud-based environments. Proficient in configuring and supporting firewalls, routing, switching, wireless, VXLAN, IPv6, and IPv4 technologies, applying zero trust security principles to strengthen network protection. Conducts security risk and vulnerability assessments, builds, tests, and recommends improvements to network design based on zero trust concepts, and develops and documents security baselines and configuration standards. Advises colleagues and management on emerging IT security and privacy network technologies, and assists in developing threat models and security requirements for zero trust network architectures. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. View the full announcement and apply on USAJOBS.gov.