18F - Product Manager (IT Specialist)

18F is hiring a GS-15 - Product Manager. This page contains information related to the role as well as a link to submit your application. Check out Join TTS Hiring Process to learn more about the application process. Please note we will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis so we encourage candidates to apply as soon as possible for consideration.

Location: Virtual (100% Remote), Washington, DC; San Francisco, CA; Chicago, IL; New York, NY

Salary Range: The salary range for this position is: GS-15 Step 1 - $128,078 to GS-15 Step 10 $172,500

Salary to be determined upon selection, depending on duty location.

You can find more information about this in the compensation and benefits section on our site.

For specific details on locality pay, please visit OPM’s Salaries & Wages page or for a salary calculator OPM’s 2021 General Schedule (GS) Salary Calculator.

Please note the maximum salary available for the GS pay system is $172,500

Note: You may not be eligible for the maximum salary as it is locality dependent. Please refer to the maximum pay for your locality.

Who May Apply: All United States citizens and nationals (residents of American Samoa and Swains Islands).

Role Summary:

Product Manager - GS-15

As a Product Manager at 18F, you’ll lead cross-functional teams to deliver user-centered products using agile methodologies and modern software development practices while building capacity for product innovation in government. When you build products with a partner agency, you’ll coach them on modern product development practices so they’re set up for success in the long term.

Product managers on our team are:

• Strategic thinkers who are comfortable defining a compelling vision and designing a measurable strategy to achieve that vision
• Decisive leaders who know how to motivate cross-functional teams to build the right thing
• Comfortable working in a consulting capacity as well as running a product directly
• Empathetic coaches, mentors, and advocates who help partner agency staff develop the skills to manage their own products

Key Objectives

Objective #1: Own or steward the product vision and lead end-to-end product development

You are an experienced product manager who can unite vision and execution to lead an interdisciplinary team in delivering the right value to the right people. You’re skilled at defining a meaningful end goal to galvanize your team, whether that means generating a product vision and strategy with your team or helping agency partners articulate and focus their vision and strategy.

Successful product managers at 18F:

• Establish a vision and ensure all members of the 18F and partner teams have a shared understanding of product objectives, goals, and metrics
• Analyze market demand and market fit, do competitive analysis, and guide build vs. buy or reuse approaches
• Create a product strategy and roadmap and develop a communications strategy supporting product goals
• Identify and proactively monitor and address product risks
• Lead a cross-functional team of researchers, designers, and engineers to ensure the right product is delivered to the right audience
• Work with the team to set and meet quality standards for any product you build
• Use evidence (user research, analytics, and other metrics) to make product decisions, ask “why” a lot, and recognize the difference between “we can’t do that because of bureaucracy” and “we can’t do that because of the law”
• Energize and motivate the team by recognizing successes and learning from failures
• Ensure your product complies with federal regulations such as Authority to Operate, the Paperwork Reduction Act, and Section 508

Objective #2: Work with agency partners to make sure they’re set up for success

As a product manager at 18F, your job isn’t to deliver software; your job is to create sustainable outcomes that benefit the public. You’ll help your partners adopt a modern product development mindset and make sure they have the right team to sustain their product once 18F’s engagement with them is done. You’ll also coach and mentor agency staff, helping them develop into capable product managers in their own right.

Successful product managers at 18F:

• Work with partners to establish in-house product ownership
• Help partners understand how to deliver value, rather than features, to their users
• Help partners navigate complex bureaucratic relationships to bring stakeholders together around a common product vision and strategy
• Coach the partner in agile, open source, and user-centered principles so they understand the value these practices bring
• Ensure the partner understands how to do day-to-day product management by coaching and mentoring junior product managers
• Work with partners to ensure they have the right team to continue iterating on the product beyond the engagement
• Work with partners to establish relationships with their security, operations, and IT teams that will help sustain the product in the long term
• Work with partners to develop communications strategies to sustain the product during and beyond the engagement

Objective #3: Build institutional expertise around product management

As a member of 18F, you’ll also be part of the Technology Transformation Services. You’ll share best practices and tools with your peers across the organization. You’ll collaborate and share insights and opinions with other product managers, contributing to our growing culture of product management. You’ll share lessons learned from your work at 18F with peers and leaders to help guide our approach to digital transformation.

Successful product managers at 18F:

• Keep abreast of product management best practices and bring them back into the organization
• Stay on top of new technologies and how they could help solve government problems
• Speak at conferences to talk about 18F’s work and share our mission
• Contribute to 18F’s culture of transparency by publishing accounts of your successes and failures
• Continually seek out new product management tools that could improve the way we work
• Pay attention to well-supported open source product offerings that can be reused in a government context to solve common problems (so that we help agencies not build custom tools if not needed)

Basic Information

Location: Virtual (100% Remote), Washington, DC; San Francisco, CA; Chicago, IL; New York, NY

Salary Range: Base salary GS-15 - $128,078 to $172,500

If you are a new federal employee, your starting salary will likely be set at the Step 1 of the grade for which you are selected. Total compensation may include locality pay based on the individual’s duty location. For more salary information including locality pay details, please visit OPM’s Salaries & Wages page.

Who May Apply: All United States citizens and nationals (residents of American Samoa and Swains Islands)

Job announcement number: 20FASC168SVGOTR

Opening and closing period for this job application: Tuesday, June 16, 2020 to 11:59pm on Friday, June 11, 2021 EDT

Job Title: IT Specialist (PLCYPLAN)

Series & Grade: 2210 - 15

Promotion Potential: GS-15

Number of vacancies: 1 (Additional vacancies may be filled from this announcement as needed)

Supervisory status: No

Travel requirement: Occasional travel may be required up to 10%-20% per year

Security clearance: Public trust. Background investigation required.

Work Schedule: Full time

Appointment Type: Initial appointments to last longer than 1 year, but NTE 4 years. GSA, may extend appt up to 4 additional years. No individual hired under this DHA can serve in excess of 8 years with GSA.

Job Summary

This Notice is issued under direct-hire authority to recruit new talent to occupations for which there is a severe shortage of candidates. We have a severe shortage of qualified applicants for our Information Technology Specialist positions. To help us fill these jobs, we have been granted “Direct Hire Authority” or DHA for IT Specialist by Executive Order 13833. This means that when we have a vacant job, we can hire any qualified candidate, either from this notice or from any source. The benefit of applying to this notice is that your application may be shared with a hiring manager if they request resumes from this notice.

Initial appointments are made lasting longer than 1 year, but not to exceed 4 years. GSA, may extend an appointment up to 4 additional years. No individual hired under this DHA can serve in excess of 8 years with GSA, and cannot be transferred to positions that are not IT positions.

Key facts about this DHA notice:

• TTS is seeking to fill multiple TERM appointments at the GS-15 level.
• Positions may be located in Washington, DC; San Francisco, CA; Chicago, IL; New York, NY or Full-time Telework.
• Salary to be determined upon selection, depending on duty location.
• Full Time telework is negotiable after the selection (i.e., official worksite/duty location is the residence of the selectee).
• Current civil service employees will receive new appointments if selected under this Direct Hire Authority.
• Current GSA employees on competitive service appointments will not be considered.
• You must perform the following Major Duties utilizing expert level skill, mastery knowledge and significant IT experience:

Expert IT Policy and Planning Consultant: Serves as a senior IT expert and authoritative technical consultant within 18F. Engages with the larger and more complex customer agencies to develop and revise highly complex and intricate IT policies, practices, products, services, and strategies based on laws, regulations, business needs, and user needs. Applies innovative IT theories to problems not susceptible to treatment by standard methods and makes decisions or recommendations significantly changing, interpreting, or developing important IT policies, programs, or initiatives.

Expert IT Project Leadership: Provides sound direction and vision during the entire IT project. Ensures the IT project is led in a manner consistent with the goals of engagement and with the right team members. Engages leadership in the creation process and the project vision. Establishes a shared understanding across team members and stakeholders.

Provides Leadership to Ad Hoc Teams: Leads cross functional teams to develop innovative IT services. Plans, develops, and executes highly complex and intricate IT projects that transform the manner in which work is accomplished within the federal government.

Relationship Management: Serves as a liaison to program personnel within the agency to convey information regarding Agile Technology Program activities, policies and goals; to clarify procedures; and to interpret directives as needed. Utilizes interpersonal skills to develop cooperative relationships. Works closely with customer agencies in a leadership role and navigates and works through conflicting priorities from stakeholders. Uses empathy, creativity, coalition building, situational awareness and tact to problem solve and manage stakeholders.

GSA has been repeatedly named as one of the ‘Best Places to Work’ in the federal government. You will have access to many benefits including:

• Health insurance (choose from a wide range of plans)
• Life insurance coverage with several options
• Sick leave and vacation time, including 10 paid holidays per year
• Thrift Savings Plan (similar to a 401(k) plan)
• Flexible work schedules and telework
• Transit and child care subsidies
• Training and development
• Flexible spending accounts
• Long-term care insurance
• Training and development

Key Requirements

1. You must be a U.S. Citizen or National (residents of American Samoa and Swains Islands)
2. Suitable for federal employment, determined by a background investigation
3. You may be required to serve a trial period
4. Direct Deposit of salary check to financial organization required
5. Register with Selective Service, if you are required by https://www.sss.gov/Registration-Info/Who-Registration

Employment Requirements

• Serve a one year trial period, if required
• Undergo and pass a background investigation. You must be granted this clearance before you can start the job
• Have your identity and work status eligibility verified if you are not a GSA employee. We will use the Department of Homeland Security’s e-Verify system for this
• Any discrepancies must be resolved as a condition of continued employment
• Complete a financial disclosure report to verify that no conflict, or an appearance of conflict, exists between your financial interest and this position

Evaluation

We will use a method called Category Rating to assess your application.

Here’s how it will work:

You will be scored based on a review of your application materials, measuring your possession of each of the following competencies

• Communication: Ability to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences to establish a shared vision and understanding of the project’s objectives and goals
• Product Experience: Ability to deliver the right digital product using user-centered and agile-based methodologies
• Leadership: Ability to effectively lead a cross-functional team to meet digital project/product objectives
• Innovation: Ability to apply innovative tools and technologies and to help partners make strategic & tactical decisions toward innovation
• 18F Core Values Alignment: The ability to work with integrity, transparency and resiliency in civic minded or high impact environment

If found to be eligible and at least minimally qualified for the position, your score will be used to place you in a category (Best Qualified, Well Qualified, or Qualified).

If your resume does not support your possession of the competencies listed above, we may lower your score, which could place you in a lower category.

Qualifications

BASIC REQUIREMENTS: Have IT-related experience demonstrating EACH of the four competencies listed below:

Attention to Detail - This skill is generally demonstrated by assignments where the applicant keeps abreast of latest technology, information, research, etc., to maintain knowledge in field of expertise (for example, reads trade journals, participates in professional/technical associations, maintains credentials).

Customer Service - skill is generally demonstrated by assignments where the applicant promotes or develops and maintains good working relationships with key individuals or groups.

Oral Communication - This skill is generally demonstrated by assignments where the applicant serves on panels, committees, or task forces as a representative for the organization on technical or professional issues.

Problem Solving - This skill is generally demonstrated by assignments where the applicant monitors current trends or events (for example, technological, economic, political, social, educational, or employment trends or events) and applies the information as appropriate; AND

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS: In addition to the Basic Requirements listed above, you must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-14 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as:

• Experience leading the development, delivery or integration of highly complex digital products or services;
• Experience applying leading industry practices in the design, development and delivery of digital products or services. This experience may include experimentation based frameworks, iterative development methodologies, user-centered design, planning tools or continuous delivery methodologies;
• Experience crafting or creating product vision, strategy or road maps;
• Experience working with cross-functional teams.

Qualification determinations cannot be made when resumes do not include the required information, so failure to provide this information may result in disqualification.

For each job on your resume, provide:

• the exact dates you held each job (from month/year to month/year or “present”)
• number of hours per week you worked (if part time)