Appears In
Our employees cite the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) mission as the reason they choose to work in VA’s Office of Information and Technology (OIT). Over half of VA’s workforce are Veterans, with the other half directly connected to one. This unwavering support for VA’s mission fuels OIT staff’s passion to build digital solutions to deliver high-quality care and services to our nation’s Veterans and beneficiaries. “We don’t worry about motivating our IT workforce because we’re already so deeply aligned to our mission,” says OIT Deputy CIO Dominic Cussatt.
VA’s Mission
“To fulfill President Lincoln’s promise ‘To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan’ by serving and honoring the men and women who are America’s veterans.”
VA employees also report high levels of job satisfaction. Forbes magazine recently named VA as a top employer for new graduates and one of the nation’s best employers in 17 states. Forbes’ survey of more than 20,000 young professionals cites high rankings for VA’s culture, diversity, learning, and career advancement opportunities.
VA is considered one of the best agencies to work for in the Federal Government. For the last two years, the Department has ranked sixth out of a list of 17 large federal agencies identified by the Partnership for Public Service as one of the best places to work in the Federal Government. VA offers staff flexible work arrangements, internships, telework options, mentoring, and a diverse workforce. Training is also paramount to VA’s culture—to expand career development, VA’s Pathways Program offers federal internship and employment opportunities for current students, recent graduates, and those with advanced degrees in the Pathways Internship Program, Pathways Recent Graduate Program, and the Presidential Management Fellows Program. OIT’s own IT Workforce Development team also prepares OIT employees to better serve Veterans while achieving personal career goals through strategic learning events, instructor-led and industry-recognized IT certification courses, live training broadcasts, on-demand recordings, and leadership development programs.
Competition for IT talent is fierce, but OIT works diligently to recruit and retain the best through its Office of Human Capital Management (HCM). Led by Valman Cummins, HCM pinpoints its success using data analytics, staffing models, and surveys says HCM Executive Officer Sarah Porter. By focusing on the entire employee lifecycle from recruitment to retirement, the HCM team blends data, technology, and employee feedback to enhance staff’s job satisfaction. “While workers can potentially make more money in private industry, our mission is incredible and our emphasis on work-life balance makes VA very attractive to workers,” Ms. Porter says.
Guiding HCM’s talent acquisition and retention efforts are HCM’s Operations Director Angie Weldon and HCM’s Workforce Planning Director Joe Angelo. Using data analytics and customer feedback, they manage teams across the nation to help meet OIT’s staffing needs. This year’s focus will be guiding managers through OIT’s move from staffing by budget to staffing by position to avoid expensive hiring mistakes in estimating demand. Mr. Angelo says this new approach will help OIT better project its true staffing needs as it continues to expand its capabilities throughout VA.
While thousands of OIT jobs are available across the nation, these skill sets are currently in highest demand:
- Artificial intelligence
- Data modeling
- Cybersecurity
- Cloud migration
- Infrastructure
“OIT is at the forefront of IT breakthroughs that benefit the entire nation,” Ms. Weldon says. “We compete against some of the savviest companies in the world but by nurturing VA’s culture of inclusion and support and focusing on the entire employee lifecycle from hire to retire we’re recruiting and keeping some of the finest IT workers in the world.”
OIT helps VA simplify operations, empower employees, and improve access to care and benefits for Veterans and families. Join us. Help us modernize and transform VA IT to the delight of those we serve and their loved ones.
Contact VA’s Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer at 512-326-6600, Monday-Friday, 7:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Central Standard Time, or by submitting a resume to VACareers@va.gov. For openings due to COVID-19, please submit a resume to HCMCOVIDRESUMES@va.gov.
