Summary

The position is located in the Department of Education, Federal Student Aid. Join us to transform how millions of students and partners access financial aid, innovate how borrowers repay their student loans, and play a leading role in implementing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). As Service Designers , you'll orchestrate human-centered end-to-end experiences that bridge policy, people, and process across the student aid lifecycle.

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 Management Program Analyst GS-0343-13, you will be responsible for:

Leading human centered design practices such as user experience (UX) research and interaction design (IxD) to help improve products on FSA's customer-facing site, StudentAid.ed.gov. The site provides customers with a personalized and self-service experience across multiple channels that covers the federal student aid journey which includes learning about financial aid, applying for financial aid, and managing aid including loans. Applying qualitative and quantitative methods when assessing the program's efficiency and effectiveness, program guidelines, practices, procedures and program-level administrative operations, processes, and mechanisms. Utilizing qualitative and quantitative methods assessing progress toward program goals and objectives. Prepares reports and briefs for program management. Implementing and promoting best practices in organizational change management Leading and working independently to conduct and oversee UX research to understand the needs of students, parents and borrowers and develop reports and recommendations to FSA stakeholders. Overseeing user research activities, including the development of detailed customer journeys. Analyzing FSA and servicer legacy websites to understand their functionality and gather requirements. Elicits requirements from customers, subject matter experts, and product owners. Assists vendor and FSA staff with documenting UX research epics, user stories, and personas. Leading the development interactive prototypes as part of the design process and stakeholder reviews. Leading and communicating requirements to vendors and provides feedback to vendors on deliverables. Collaborating with vendor and FSA staff to design the digital experience for students, parents, borrowers, schools, and partners. Working with the development team to understand technical constraints and communicating the desired functionality for the digital platform. Answering user interface design questions for the development team. Participates in user acceptance testing. Requirements

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

You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement.

If you are a current federal employee, you must meet all time-in-grade and time-after competitive appointment qualifications within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement. To verify that you meet these requirements, we will review your responses to the core eligibility questions on the occupational questionnaire, as well as your submitted resume and required documents. To make an accurate determination, you will need to include on your resume your federal position title, pay plan, occupational series, grade level, agency, dates for which you held the grade level (stated as MM/YYYY to MM/YYYY, OR MM/YYYY to PRESENT), and total hours worked per week. 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).

Qualifications

Specialized Experience for the GS-13

One year of experience in either federal or non-federal service that is equivalent to at least a GS-12 performing two (2) out of three (3) of the following duties or work assignments:

1. Experience supporting a multi-disciplinary project involving the design, development, and implementation of a new system or a major enhancement to an existing IT system.

2. Experience serving as a design contributor overseeing adoption of new functionalities or technologies for users.

3. Experience communicating technical Information Technology concepts or business practices to non-technical audiences.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) - Management Program Analyst GS-0343-13

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 User Experience (UX) research and interaction design principles and methods.

2. Knowledge of qualitative and quantitative analytical and evaluative methods and techniques for measuring effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity of assigned programs and projects.

3. Ability to work directly with developers and documenting design work for them.

4. Ability to communicate verbally and in writing recommendations and policy guidance to a variety of audiences.

Education

Education cannot be substituted for this position.

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 sro_recruiting@ed.gov 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 included in the bargaining unit (American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 252).

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.