IT Specialist (APPSW)

Federal Emergency Management Agency•Washington, DC

About The Position

This position is in the Resilience Federal Insurance Directorate, Insurance Acquisition & Technology Division. The IT Specialist supports automation and AI-enabled workflow improvements across NFIP operations and services. The role researches emerging technologies and prototypes low-code tools, AI workflows, dashboards, and scripts to help modernize program operations. The position supports the development and testing of automation, AI agents, dashboards, forms, lightweight applications, and scripts using approved enterprise platforms. It helps translate business and user requirements into technical implementations, documents prototypes, and supports handoffs to engineering, security, and operational teams. It also researches trends in automation, artificial intelligence, digital services, geospatial technology, insurance technology, and AI governance, and evaluates prototypes for usability, accuracy, operational fit, feasibility, and governance alignment. FEMA employees have recurring emergency-management responsibilities and may be recalled at any time. This position may require irregular hours, work outside the official duty station, and extensive travel or temporary relocation to emergency sites, potentially with little advance notice and for weeks to months. Selected candidates must attend a three-week, in-person training course in Emmitsburg, Maryland within six months of onboarding; FEMA covers travel expenses.

Requirements

U.S. citizenship.
Successfully pass and maintain a high-risk background investigation; this may include a credit check and review of financial issues and certain criminal offenses or drug-related conduct.
Register for Selective Service, if applicable.
Current federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements.
Obtain and maintain a government credit card.
Be able to deploy with little or no advance notice anywhere in the United States and its territories for an extended period.
Have IT-related experience, which may be demonstrated through paid or unpaid experience and/or specific intensive training, such as IT certification.
Demonstrate attention to detail, customer service, decision making, information management, interpersonal skills, oral communication, problem solving, teamwork, and technical competence.
For GS-13 qualification, have one full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-13 level in the Federal government, obtained in government or the private sector, demonstrating experience configuring, prototyping, and testing technical solutions using approved technology platforms; developing workflow automations, AI-enabled workflows, or scripts to support business processes; and translating business or user needs into technical requirements, workflow logic, data inputs and outputs, or implementation documentation.
There is no educational substitution for the experience requirements.
If selected, complete a three-week, in-person training course in Emmitsburg, Maryland within six months of onboarding.

Responsibilities

Identify and analyze opportunities for automation and AI-enabled workflow improvements across NFIP business operations, customer-facing services, map modernization support, underwriting, and other program areas, coordinating with business SMEs, analysts, UX, engineering, and data stakeholders.
Configure, prototype, and test low-code/no-code solutions, AI agents, workflow automations, dashboards, forms, lightweight applications, scripts, and utilities using approved enterprise platforms.
Use tools such as Power Platform, GCP-enabled tools, DHSChat, Python libraries, or similar technologies to query, transform, create, or validate data and workflow outputs.
Translate approved business and user requirements into technical implementations, including workflow logic, automation and AI-agent configuration, data input and output definitions, integration analysis, prototype documentation, and technical handoff materials.
Research emerging trends in automation, artificial intelligence, digital services, geospatial technology, insurance technology, and AI governance.
Evaluate prototypes and AI-enabled workflows for feasibility, usability, accuracy, operational fit, and governance alignment through testing, user feedback, AI output review, exception testing, and human-in-the-loop validation.
Coordinate with engineering, cybersecurity, data, UX, geospatial, and business teams.
Fulfill recurring emergency-management responsibilities and be available for recall and deployment as required.
Attend a three-week, in-person training course in Emmitsburg, Maryland within six months of onboarding.