OPM has authorized agencies to use excepted service “Schedule A” hiring to address the need for hiring digital services staff to support the President”s Management Agenda”s smarter information technology delivery initiative.
In a memo, OPM said that digital services teams working on that initiative “will need staff with skills in modern digital product design, software engineering, product management, creating and maintaining flexible infrastructure, and designing and implementing agile governance structures.”
Specific skills required are of the type that the government has had trouble recruiting through regular hiring, in part because of how long that process takes. These include “in-depth knowledge of and experience in creating modern digital services, gap analysis expertise in understanding where shortfalls exist in capacity to design, develop, deploy, and operate customer-facing services, specialized knowledge in digital service consolidation and migration, cloud service utilization, and business process standardization to support a wide variety of mission requirements.”
Agencies may use the authority to fill positions on a temporary basis for up to one year at the GS-11 through -15 levels, and may extend those assignments in increments of up to one year, through fiscal 2017.
The memo added: “Agencies must apply veterans” preference when filling positions under this authority and have procedures in place for acceptance of applications. Although public notice is not required when filling jobs in the excepted service, OPM strongly encourages agencies to conduct appropriate recruiting and notice to meet agencies’ technical needs” under the initiative.
