MEMORANDUM FOR BUREAU PERSONNEL OFFICERS

FROM:        Joanne W. Simms
             Director, Personnel Staff
             Justice Management Division

SUBJECT:     List of Re-Titled and Re-Described Information Technology
             Positions in the Department of Justice

At the request of the Personnel Staff, a work group consisting of position classification specialists and information technology (IT) specialists from throughout the Department met from March through September this year to review IT occupations in the Department. Participants were from components where eighty percent of the Department's IT positions are found. The work group's goal was to re-describe and re-title IT occupations in a manner consistent with the private sector's representation of such jobs in advertised vacancies. We envision providing a recruitment tool for IT managers and human resources specialists to use in advertising IT vacancies in a way that is more likely to attract well-qualified applicants. The resulting list of occupations is attached for your review and comment.

Occupations reviewed by the work group currently are classified in the following occupational series: GS-334, Computer Specialist Series; GS-391, Telecommunications Series; GS-854, Computer Engineering Series; GS-855, Electronics Engineering Series; and GS-1550, Computer Science Series. The titles and descriptions of DOJ occupations identified for each of these series are brief and specific, to mirror the way such jobs are titled and described in recruitment notices from private companies. The current practice of describing the duties and responsibilities of our IT vacancies using authorized titles and language from the position description is not an effective means of attracting the attention of qualified applicants, when they are accustomed to seeing more succinct descriptions of job openings from the private sector. We recommend prominently using the titles and descriptions in the list in vacancy announcements and other advertisements. While you must continue to use the current authorized position titles found in the position classification standards, you may use the titles in this list as parenthetical titles to supplement them. In addition, we provide guidance at the end of the list on using selective placement factors, as another method to further target recruitment efforts. However, no one will be required to use the new titles and descriptions; they are simply offered as a tool.

While OPM recently provided agencies a draft list of parenthetical titles for positions in the GS-334 and GS-391 series, the proposed titles are still very general. We believe that the titles on the list compiled by our work group will be more useful in IT recruitments for the Department. You may use the titles from our list parenthetically with the current authorized titles until OPM publishes revised classification criteria for these occupations. Based on the comments and feedback we receive, we will continue to update and tailor the list to meet our needs. We are especially interested in ensuring that the list continues to reflect current occupations in the IT industry, and that it provides examples of successful selective placement factors with which you have experience.

Please provide comments or suggestions concerning this document to Margaret Foskey, of the Personnel Staff's Policy Group. Ms. Foskey can be reached on (202) 514-6778, or via e-mail at Margaret.Foskey2@usdoj.gov.