Instructional Systems Specialist

About the Position: This is a permanent position with the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Learning Center, Education Design and Development Branch at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.

Major duties

• Evaluate new policies, training products, regulations, and doctrine for applicability and effectiveness in improving the Proponent Sponsored Engineer Corps Training (PROSPECT) program.
• Function as the Program of Instruction (POI) Project Delivery Team Lead responsible for the development, coordination, and delivery of training.
• Participate in technical evaluation of contractor’s proposal to determine if it will satisfy educational and training requirements, as well as targeted accreditation standards.
• Maintain and/or update PROSPECT training directory, to include the evaluation and incorporation of government and commercially produced training courses.
• Lead the coordination and development effort for new PROSPECT courses based on needs analyses and new requirements throughout the agency.
• Research training available outside the agency to determine if a new course is required and if the development and execution of the new course will be cost effective.
• Create all training products in the Training Development Capability (TDC) database, the Army’s training product repository.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: Only applicants who meet one of the employment authority categories below are eligible to apply for this job. You will be asked to identify which category or categories you meet, and to provide documents which prove you meet the category or categories you selected. See Proof of Eligibility for an extensive list of document requirements for all employment authorities.

• Current Department of Army Civilian Employees
• Current Department of Defense (DOD) Civilian Employee (non-Army)
• Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan
• Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act
• Military Spouses, under Executive Order (E.O.) 13473
• Non-Department of Defense (DoD) Transfer Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Reserve (MR) and National Guard (NG) Technician Eligible Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Spouse Preference (MSP) Eligible Priority Placement Program, DoD MR and NG Preference Eligible Tech Receiving Disability Retirement Priority Placement Program, DoD Retained Grade Preference Eligible Reinstatement Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) of 1998

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and experience requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document.

Basic Requirement for Instructional Systems Specialist: Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) that included or was supplemented by at least 24 semester hours appropriate to the work of the position to be filled. The course work must have included study in at least four of the following five areas:

1. Learning theory, psychology of learning, educational psychology: Study of learning theories as they relate to the systematic design, development, and validation of instructional material.
2. Instructional design practices: Study of the principles and techniques used in designing training programs, developing design strategy and models, and applying design methods to the improvement of instructional effectiveness.
3. Educational evaluation: Study of the techniques for evaluating the effectiveness of instructional/educational programs, including developing written and performance tests and survey instruments, and determining reliability and validity of evaluation instruments.
4. Instructional product development: Study of the techniques appropriate for developing training materials, including identifying learner characteristics, specifying objectives, applying training strategy, validating training materials, and evaluating training.

OR

1. Computers in education and training: Study of the application of computers in education and training, including selecting appropriate computer software.

(Note: You must attach a copy of your transcripts.)

In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below:

Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes: 1) Developing courses supporting the agencies plan, mission, vision, and values; 2) Determining learning objectives, developing test items, organizing course content, and developing instructional design plans; 3) Evaluating all aspects of the education and training program to include administrative policies and procedures, curricula, instructional methods, and techniques; 4) Reviewing and revising existing course materials to ensure compliance with current directives; and 5) Developing finished products to include lesson plans, training text, video programs, or computer-assisted instruction.

You will be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency in the following areas:

• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Decision Making
• Flexibility
• Influencing/Negotiating
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Reading Comprehension
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork

Time in Grade Requirement: Applicants who have held a General Schedule (GS) position within the last 52 weeks must have 52 weeks of Federal service at the next lower grade or equivalent (GS-11).

Education

FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.