IT Program Manager (Service Designer), GS-2210-15, FPL GS-15 (DH) (TERM)

This position is located in the U.S. Department of Education (ED), Federal Student Aid (FSA), Technology Directorate (TD). The Technology Directorate provides information technology services for all FSA systems, promoting the effective and secure use of technology to achieve FSA's strategic objectives through sound planning, investments, integrated technology architectures and standards, effective systems development, production support, and cybersecurity services.

This is a term position with a Not to exceed 13 months which can be extended up to ten years with a possibility of being converted to permanent. Note: There is a full time permanent competitive position being announced at the same time for another position under FSA-26-13058136-DHA, if you would like to be considered for both. Applicants must apply for both announcements as they are two different appointment lengths. 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. 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. Actual salary will be based on location of selectee. Locality pay tables available at www.opm.gov . We encourage you to read this entire vacancy announcement prior to submitting your application. As an IT Program Manager (Service Designer), GS-2210-15, you will be responsible for: Leading discovery and design efforts rooted in empathy for students, families, and financial aid administrators. Ensuring FSA services are intuitive and accessible to users of all backgrounds, and that every interaction builds trust and confidence in the program. Looking beyond the screen to understand and improve the end-to-end journey of applying for and receiving aid, mapping processes, policies, and touchpoints across agencies and partners, identifying pain points and opportunities for more seamless, equitable services. Designing solutions that account for the full ecosystem, not just individual transactions. Leading usability testing with diverse users, incorporating feedback into design iterations. Ensuring that final solutions can scale to millions of FSA users while maintaining clarity, accessibility, and reliability. Championing design to drive organizational change, challenging outdated processes and building alignment across stakeholders. Proactively pushing through barriers to user-focused innovation and modeling a bias for action to unlock better outcomes for students and families within a complex federal environment. Working hand-in-hand with product managers, engineers, policy experts, and contractors to ensure design decisions are fully integrated into development. Mentoring others in human-centered and service design practices, elevating the organization's overall design maturity and building a culture that values design as essential to delivering public services that work for everyone.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has interagency agreements (IAAs) with other agencies to ensure efficient delivery of funded programs and activities, and move closer to fulfilling the President's promise to return education to the states. Employees may receive detail assignments to these agencies in support of the IAAs). 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. Key Requirements: Must be a US Citizen. Males 18 and over must be registered with the Selective Service. Must complete a Background Investigation and Fingerprint check. Must be determined suitable for federal employment. Relocation expenses will not be paid. You may be subject to serve a one-year managerial probationary period. You may be subject to serve a one-year probationary period. 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.