This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/517644100. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
This position is located in the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development (OPEPD), Budget Service, Cost Estimation and Analysis Division (CEAD). CEAD is responsible for developing full-cost estimates for the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL), and Ford Direct Student Loan (FDSL) programs. The Division serves as a resource for developing cost estimates and other technical analyses for existing or proposed programs.
Learn more about this agency11/23/2018 to 12/07/2018
$56,233 - $88,450 per year
GS 09 - 11
1 vacancy in the following location:
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Not required
No
Permanent
Full-time
Competitive
12
No
No
OPEPD-2019-0004
517644100
GS-09 With supervisory guidance, carries out analytical projects requiring statistical methods. Assembles, evaluates, analyzes, and represents data. Uses statistical data from Federal Student Aid, National Center for Education Statistics, Census, and other sources to prepare quantitative analyses to be used 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. Assists in identifying problems of data quality and completeness, and helps develop statistically sound solutions to statistical problems. Provides statistical support for both policy development and program management initiatives within OPEPD, and advises other principal offices within ED on the collection and use of data. Drawing upon knowledge of program and issue areas, and with supervisory guidance, writes a variety of statistical, technical, and general information memos and reports for ED and external audience, including Executive Office of the President, other federal agencies, states, and professional organizations. Presents findings that are both rigorous and accessible, and does so orally and in writing.
GS-11 With supervisory guidance, carries out analytical projects requiring statistical methods. Assembles, evaluates, analyzes, and represents data. Uses statistical data from Federal Student Aid, National Center for Education Statistics, Census, and other sources to prepare quantitative analyses to be used 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. Assists in identifying problems of data quality and completeness, and works to develop statistically sound solutions to statistical problems. Provides statistical support for both policy development and program management initiatives within OPEPD, and advises other principal offices within ED on the collection and use of data. Assists in implementing improved methods and techniques for assembling, evaluating, analyzing, and representing data. Supports implementation of changes in analytic practices and procedures. This work supports the work of other principal offices within ED and supports policy development within OPEPD. Drawing upon knowledge of program and issue areas, and with supervisory guidance, writes a variety of statistical, technical, and general information memos and reports for ED and external audience, including Executive Office of the President, other federal agencies, states, and professional organizations. Presents findings that are both rigorous and accessible, and does so orally and in writing.
You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement.
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). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills, and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. We will consider all qualifying experience, including any volunteer experience.
Positive Education 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 s (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.
Minimum Qualification Requirements
You may meet the minimum qualifications for the GS-9 if you possess:
Two years of graduate education.
OR
A master's degree or equivalent degree.
OR
One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in federal service that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position (see description below).
OR
A combination of specialized experience and education that when taken as a percentage of the required education and experience total 100% or more.
Specialized Experience for the GS-9
One year of experience equivalent to the GS-7 performing all three (3) of the following duties or work assignments:
1. Experience applying statistical techniques and methods in performing project-related activities.
2. Experience assisting in writing procedural instructions.
3. Experience assisting in the preparation of documentation on procedures and problems encountered and making preliminary recommendations.
You may meet the minimum qualifications for the GS-11 if you possess:
Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree
OR
3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree
OR
One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in federal service that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position (see description below).
OR
A combination of specialized experience and education that when taken as a percentage of the required education and experience total 100% or more.
Specialized Experience for the GS-11
One year of experience equivalent to the GS-9 performing all three (3) of the following duties or work assignments:
1. Experience performing defined units or parts of major projects involving numerous or unpredictable factors and requiring setting up and carrying out of integrated procedures.
2. Experience assisting in the evaluation of alternatives used to determine the appropriate methodology and procedures for efficiency, reliability and feasibility.
3. Experience preparing documentation of procedures, findings and problems encountered.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs)
The quality of your experience will be measured by the extent to which you possess the following knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs). You do not need to provide separate narrative responses to these KSAs, as they will be measured by your responses to the occupational questionnaire (you may preview the occupational questionnaire by clicking the link at the end of the Evaluations section of this vacancy announcement).
GS-09
1. Skill in analyzing factual information and evaluating significant factors, and solving complex problems based on statistical data.
2. Knowledge of statistical theories, methodologies in order to coordinate simultaneous projects and apply knowledge of a particular statistical specialty.
3. Skill in preparing comprehensive reports and documentation.
GS-11
1. Skill in analyzing factual information and evaluating significant factors, and solving complex problems based on statistical data.
2. Knowledge of statistical theories, methodologies in order to coordinate simultaneous projects and apply knowledge of a particular statistical specialty.
3. Skill in preparing comprehensive reports and documentation.
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 Iwork@ed.gov 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.
Telework: This position is telework eligible.
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.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
We use a multi-step process to review and evaluate applicants:
1. Eligibility and Minimum Qualifications
Once the vacancy announcement closes, we will review your submitted 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 you do not meet U.S. Citizenship requirements or 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 Ranking
If 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 against your responses to the occupational questionnaire. (The occupational questionnaire is the list of questions in the automated system that you will have an opportunity to answer once you apply for the position).
Based on the outcome of this evaluation, you will be placed into one of three categories: Best Qualified, Well Qualified, or Qualified.
If your responses to the occupational questionnaire 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 Selection
If you are found to be amongst the most highly 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 that you submit a writing sample or complete a written assessment or exercise to further evaluate your qualifications for this position.
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.
If you are qualifying based on education, you must submit:
• Transcripts showing course titles, number of credits, and dates of completion. You may submit unofficial transcripts as part of your application; however, if you are selected, you will be required to submit official transcripts prior to appointment.
If you are claiming Veterans’ Preference, 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; AND/OR
• Proof of Sole Survivorship Preference (e.g., certificate of death or 100% disability as a result of serving in the armed forces).
If you are claiming selection priority under Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), please visit:
CTAP: http://www.ed.gov/about/jobs/open/edhires/ctap.html
ICTAP: http://www.ed.gov/about/jobs/open/edhires/ictap.html
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
Step 1: Create a USAJOBS account (if you do not already have one) at www.usajobs.gov.
Step 2: Create a resume using the USAJOBS resume builder or upload a resume into your USAJOBS account. Ensure that your resume demonstrates your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiates your responses to the occupational questionnaire.
Step 3: Upload any required documents into your USAJOBS account (must be less than 3MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, or Word (DOC or DOCX)).
Step 4: Click "Apply Online" and follow the prompts to complete the occupational questionnaire and attach any required documents. Verify that uploaded documents from USAJOBS transfer into the agency's hiring system. You will have the opportunity to upload any additional required documents in the agency's hiring system. Click “Finish” to submit your application.
NOTE: You may update your application or required documents at any time while the announcement is open by logging into your USAJOBS account, clicking on "Application Status," clicking on the position title, clicking "Update Application,” and following the prompts.
In order to receive consideration for this position, you must submit your complete application, including all required documents, by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on the closing date of the vacancy announcement. If the vacancy announcement has an application limit, we recommend that you submit your complete application at the time of initial application. We will not accept any required documentation after the closing date of the vacancy announcement.
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).
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/517644100. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
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