Statistician

About the role

This position is located in the Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development, Office of Budget Service, Cost Estimation and Analysis Division (CEAD), in Washington, DC. CEAD is responsible for developing full-cost estimates for multiple educational programs, as well as aiding in administrative cost estimates for Federal student financial assistance programs.

What you will do

• This vacancy announcement is limited to the first 200 applications received and will close at 11:59PM Eastern Time on the day that we receive the 200th application, or at 11:59PM Eastern Time on the listed closing date, whichever occurs first.
• We encourage you to read this entire vacancy announcement prior to submitting your application.
• As a Statistician, GS-1530-11, you will be responsible for: Assisting in identifying problems of data quality and completeness and working to develop statistically sound solutions to statistical problems Incumbent coordinates security, communications, transportation, and logistics requirement for the Secretary of Education.
• With supervisory guidance, carries out analytical projects requiring statistical methods.
• Providing statistical support for both policy development and program management initiatives within the program office and advising other principal offices within the agency on the collection and use of data.
• Assisting in implementing improved methods and techniques for assembling, evaluating, analyzing, and representing data.
• Supporting implementation of changes in analytical practices and procedures.
• This work supports the work of other principal offices within the agency and supports policy development within the program office.
• As a Statistician, GS-1530-12, you will be responsible for: Planning analytical projects requiring statistical methods.
• Assembling, evaluating, analyzing, and representing data.
• Preparing quantitative analyses from Federal Student Aid, National Center for Education Statistics, Census, and other sources to estimate the costs of the federal student aid programs (e.g. Federal Pell Grant, FDSL), drawing upon a range of statistical software, including SAS and other statistical applications Providing advice about problems of data quality and completeness and working to develop statistically sound solutions to statistical problems.
• Initiating improved methods and techniques for assembling, evaluating, analyzing, and representing data.
• Proposing and assisting in implementing changes in analytic practices and procedures.
• This work supports the work of other principal offices within the agency and supports policy development within other program offices.
• Writing a variety of statistical, technical, and general information memos and reports for agency and external audiences, including Executive Office of the President, other federal agencies, states, and professional organizations.
• Presenting findings that are both rigorous and accessible and does so orally and in writing.

Requirements

• The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has interagency agreements (IAAs) with other agencies to ensure efficient delivery of funded programs and activities and move closer to fulfilling the President's promise to return education to the states.
• Employees may receive detail assignments to these agencies in support of the IAAs.
• Condition of Employment: As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a probationary or trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest.
• In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: - your performance and conduct; - the needs and interests of the agency; - whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and - whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.
• Upon completion of your probationary period OR trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.
• You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement.
• If you are a current federal employee, you must meet all time-in-grade and time-after competitive appointment qualifications within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement.
• To verify that you meet these requirements, we will review your responses to the core eligibility questions on the occupational questionnaire, as well as your submitted resume and required documents.
• To make an accurate determination, you will need to include on your resume your federal position title, pay plan, occupational series, grade level, agency, dates for which you held the grade level (stated as MM/YYYY to MM/YYYY, OR MM/YYYY to PRESENT), and total hours worked per week.
• 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).
• Key Requirements Relocation expenses will not be paid.
• Males 18 and over must be registered with the Selective Service.
• You may be subject to serve a one-year probationary period.
• Must complete a Background Investigation and Fingerprint check.

Education

Individual Occupational Requirements Basic Requirements: A.

Degree: that included 15 semester hours in statistics (or in mathematics and statistics, provided at least 6 semester hours were in statistics), and 9 additional semester hours in one or more of the following: physical or biological sciences, medicine, education, or engineering; or in the social sciences including demography, history, economics, social welfare, geography, international relations, social or cultural anthropology, health sociology, political science, public administration, psychology, etc. Credit toward meeting statistical course requirements should be given for courses in which 50 percent of the course content appears to be statistical methods, e.g., courses that included studies in research methods in psychology or economics such as tests and measurements or business cycles, or courses in methods of processing mass statistical data such as tabulating methods or electronic data processing.

Or B. Combination of education and experience -- courses as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

The experience should have included a full range of professional statistical work such as (a) sampling, (b) collecting, computing, and analyzing statistical data, and (c) applying statistical techniques such as measurement of central tendency, dispersion, skewness, sampling error, simple and multiple correlation, analysis of variance, and tests of significance.

You may meet the minimum qualifications of this position by meeting the following education options.

GS-11 Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related or A combination of specialized experience and education that when taken as a percentage of the required education and experience total 100% or more.

GS-12 - Education cannot be substituted for experience for this position and grade level.

How you will be evaluated

We use a multi-step process to review and evaluate applicants:1. Eligibility and Minimum QualificationsOnce the vacancy announcement closes, we will review your resume and documents to determine if you meet the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements, including any required education, experience, and/or selective placement factors.

You will be rated as ineligible if your application is missing any required documents. You will be rated as not qualified if you do not possess the minimum qualification requirements. 2.

Rating and RankingIf you are found to meet both the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements, we will assess the quality of your experience and the extent to which you possess the required KSAs by comparing your submitted resume and documents. You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications and competencies listed in this vacancy announcement.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials, and the result of the USA Hire Assessment(s) required for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies.

Non-Supervisory: Attention to Detail, Customer Service, Decision Making, Flexibility, Integrity/Honesty, Interpersonal Skills, Learning, Reasoning, Self-Management, Stress Tolerance, and Teamwork Based on the outcome of this evaluation candidates will be placed into one of three categories.

Under category rating procedures you are placed into one of three categories based on the evaluation results:Best Qualified -Candidates who possess the type and quality of experience that substantially exceeds the position's minimum qualifications, including appropriate quality ranking factors.Highly Qualified- Candidates who possess the type and quality of experience that exceeds the position's minimum qualifications.Qualified-Candidates who meet the minimum qualifications and are proficient in some but not all of the position's requirements.

Based on the outcome of this evaluation, your application data may be further assessed by a Subject Matter Expert (SME) panel. If your qualifications are not substantiated by your submitted resume, you may be eliminated from receiving further consideration.

Veterans' Preference: Veterans' preference eligibles will be ranked ahead of qualified non-preference eligibles within each category for which they are qualified.

Qualified veterans' preference eligibles with a compensable service-connected disability of 10 percent or more (CPS and CP) will be placed at the top of the Best Qualified category, except in the case of scientific or professional positions at the GS-9 grade level or higher. 3.

Referral and SelectionIf you are found to be amongst the best qualified applicants, you will be referred to the selecting official.

As part of the assessment and selection process, the selecting official may invite you to participate in a structured interview, check your references, and/or request a writing sample or complete a written assessment or exercise to further evaluate your qualifications for this position.

Documents you must provide

• You must submit (REQUIRED FOR ALL APPLICANTS):- A resume demonstrating your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiating your responses to the occupational questionnaire.
• Please limit your resume to 2 pages with the font size no smaller than 10 points.
• If your resume is more than 2 pages, only the first 2 pages will be reviewed and considered for the qualifications determination.
• Transcript: This position has a positive education requirement and requires proof of education for eligibility.
• You must submit an unofficial transcript that includes the following information: name of accredited institution, major(s), grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned.
• If any required coursework is not easily recognizable on transcripts, or if you believe a portion of a particular course can be credited toward meeting an educational requirement, you must also provide a memorandum on letterhead from the institution's registrar, dean, or other appropriate official stating the percentage of the course that should be considered to meet the requirement and the equivalent number of units.
• Unofficial transcripts are acceptable; however, if you are selected for the position, you will be required to produce the original official transcripts.
• This also applies to ED employees.
• If you are a current or former federal employee (including current U.S. Department of Education employees), you must also submit: - A Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50), which demonstrates your competitive status eligibility.
• To verify your eligibility, we will review your SF-50 to determine your tenure (block 24) and position occupied (block 34).
• Examples of sufficient SF-50s include appointments, promotions, within-grade increases, and pay adjustments.
• If you currently hold or previously held a federal position at or above the highest grade of this position or you have/had promotion potential at or above the highest grade of this position, you must also submit an SF-50 documenting your highest grade level held or promotion potential.
• Examples of sufficient SF-50s include appointments and promotions. - A Copy of your most recent Performance Appraisal and Awards, as applicable.
• Your performance appraisal and awards are requested to further assess the quality of your experience should your application be referred to the selecting official.
• If you are claiming eligibility under the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA), you must submit: - A copy of your DD-214 that shows active service and character of discharge, member copy 4 (Separated Members only); OR - A certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions within 120 days from the date of application (Current Active Duty Members only); AND/OR - The Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference (SF-15) AND all documents indicated on the form as proof of type of preference.
• If you are claiming eligibility under any Special Hiring Authority, you must submit: - Adequate proof of your eligibility (e.g., Documentation of noncompetitive eligibility as a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, Documentation of noncompetitive eligibility for employment under Schedule A as a person with severe physical disabilities, psychiatric disabilities, and intellectual disabilities.) Are you claiming special priority selection rights under the Interagency/Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP/CTAP)?
• If you are a current or former Federal employee who was displaced (for example, due to a Reduction-in-Force) and want priority consideration, you must submit the documents listed below.
• Required documents for Interagency/Career Transition Assistance Plan consideration (All are required): 1.
• Proof that you were displaced, such as Reduction-in-Force (RIF) notice or notice of proposed removal.
• SF-50s (Notification of Personnel Action) showing: RIF as the Nature of Action (Box 5B) Career or career-conditional status (Box 24 must be 1 or 2) Competitive status (Box 34 must be 1) Promotion potential or full performance level of the position from which you were or are being displaced.
• This is likely your appointment SF-50 for that position.
• Duty location Your most recent performance appraisal showing a rating of Fully Successful or higher.
• Your Federal position at the time you were displaced must be within the local commuting area for a location listed in this announcement.
• The definition of local commuting area varies based on duty location and hiring agency policy.
• To receive priority consideration, you must also be found well-qualified, which means you score 75 or higher based on this announcement's assessment rating criteria.

Benefits

As an ED employee, you will also benefit from our family-friendly work environment. As part of our commitment to maintain a work life balance, we offer excused leave for Parent/Teacher Conferences (3 hours); excused leave for annual health screenings (4 hours); and matching leave for community volunteer service.

Other flexibilities that may be available to you include alternative work schedules. You may be eligible to receive a recruitment incentive for this position. To receive this incentive payment, you will be required to sign a service agreement obligating you to remain with the U.S. Department of Education for a specified period as agreed upon.

You may be eligible to receive a relocation incentive for this position. To receive this incentive payment, you will be required to sign a service agreement obligating you to remain with the U.S. Department of Education for a specified period as agreed upon. You may be eligible to participate in the Student Loan Repayment Program as a recruitment incentive for this position.

To receive student loan repayments, you will be required to sign a service agreement obligating you to remain with the U.S. Department of Education for a specified period as agreed upon.

What to expect next

As an applicant, you may check your application status through your USAJOBS account at any time. We will also notify you via email of your application status at three key stages in the recruitment process.1. Once the vacancy announcement closes, we will inform you that your application has been received.2.

After we review your submitted resume and supporting documentation, we will inform you if you are eligible and qualified, if your application was referred to a subject matter expert or panel of subject matter experts for further evaluation, and if you were amongst the most highly qualified candidates referred to the selecting official.3.

Finally, we will inform you of your final disposition for this announcement (e.g., if/when a selection is made, if/when the announcement is cancelled).

Additional information

Veterans' Career Counseling: If you are a veteran interested in receiving tips on preparing a Federal resume and/or how to prepare for an interview, you may email *** to schedule a session with a career counselor ("Veterans Counseling Session" should be placed in the subject line of the email).

Student Loan Default: If selected for this position, we will verify that you have not defaulted on any loan funded or guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Education. If you are found to be in default, we will contact you to make arrangements for repayment prior to making an official offer of employment.

Suitability and Investigation: If selected for this position, you will be required to complete the Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306) to determine your suitability for federal employment and successfully complete a pre-appointment investigation/background check.

Essential/Non-Essential: This position is considered non essential for purposes of reporting to work during federal government closures. Financial Disclosure: This position does not require financial disclosure. Bargaining Unit: This position is included in the bargaining unit.

Selections: Agencies have broad authority under law to hire from any appropriate source of eligibles and may fill a vacancy in the competitive service by any method authorized. We may make additional selections from this vacancy announcement within 90 days from the date the selection certificates are issued, should vacancies occur.

We may also share selection certificates amongst program offices across the agency.

Reasonable Accommodation Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application.

Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis.

If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision.

You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement.

To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments. (***)