Information Technology Specialist (APPSW), AI Software Engineer, GS-2210-15, FPL 15 (Direct Hire)

This position is located in the U.S. Department of Education (ED) Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA). FSA is a 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.

Qualifications:

Minimum Qualification Requirements

You may meet the minimum qualifications for the GS-15, if you possess the specialize experience, education, or a combination of the two.

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 in architecting, developing, and operationalizing enterprise‑scale Gen AI systems where responsibilities include directing the full AI software lifecycle, including leading requirements analysis, testing, validation, deployment, AIOps monitoring, and continuous improvement for high‑availability, mission‑critical environments. 
2. Experience in integrating AI services into large, distributed, enterprise information systems, including translating complex mission/business requirements into secure, scalable architectures; performing high‑impact system design reviews; and coordinating cross‑functional teams to deliver AI software and system capabilities. 
3. Experience in developing, implementing, or overseeing AI governance frameworks, including defining policies, ethical standards, training staff, assessing model risk controls, and compliance requirements that ensure the safe, secure, and responsible deployment of AI systems across an organization

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 software engineering best practices and systems integration to build and operate large‑scale, mission‑critical AI systems.
2.    Skill in applying cloud‑native services and software engineering practices to ensure operational reliability of AI capabilities.
3.    Ability to document and interpret business requirements and convert them into secure, scalable technical designs especially with AI technologies. 
4.    Knowledge of federal or comparable IT governance and security standards such as National Institute of Standards and Technology and Federal Information Security Modernization Act (NIST, FISMA) to ensure compliant, resilient integration and performance engineering for AI systems at scale.
5.    Skill to provide expert technical advice, guidance, and recommendations to senior leadership on critical,  and often complex AI & Software Engineering issues.

Responsibilities:

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 an Information Technology Specialist (APPSW), AI Software Engineer, GS-2210-15 you will be responsible for:
• Providing senior technical consulting, architectural leadership, and expert direction across the full Artificial Intelligence (AI) development lifecycle.      
• Implementing and operating enterprise AIOps pipelines (automated testing, deployment, monitoring), and maintain tools for data lineage, version control, CI/CD, and model validation to ensure repeatable production delivery.     
• Leading software development and integration efforts; coordinate internal and contractor teams; translate functional/user requirements into secure technical design specifications and system architectures.     
• Providing expert consultations to integrate AI services into enterprise, high‑availability, mission‑critical financial aid systems; ensuring interoperability, resiliency, and performance at scale.     
• Communicating complex AI concepts, architectures, and strategic recommendations to technical and non‑technical stakeholders, including senior leadership.

Salary : $147,945