This position is located in GAO's Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics (STAA) Team - Innovation Lab. STAA’s mission is to produce technology assessments, technical performance audits, science oversight audits, engineering sciences analyses, and advanced analytics and cybersecurity research to Congress and GAO overall.
Summary
This position is located in GAO's Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics (STAA) Team - Innovation Lab. STAA’s mission is to produce technology assessments, technical performance audits, science oversight audits, engineering sciences analyses, and advanced analytics and cybersecurity research to Congress and GAO overall.
Provide technical leadership on development of prototype use cases for emerging technologies such as digital ledger (blockchain), cloud-based “as-a-service” capabilities (including IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS), Internet of Things, robotic process automatic (RPA) and other machine learning systems, virtual/augmented realities, and 5G technologies.
Leads execution of projects throughout the innovation lifecycle from ideation through deployment to develop next generation emerging technology capabilities in support of current and future audits, investigations, business operations, and other oversight challenges relevant to GAO’s mission. As necessary, the incumbent will work with experts outside GAO to determine relevant leading practices as well as lessons learned.
Identify, develop, test, and evaluate use case prototypes for emerging technologies in areas such as digital ledger (blockchain), cloud-based “as-a-service” capabilities (including IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS), Internet of Things, RPA and other machine learning systems, virtual/augmented realities, and 5G technologies.
Demonstrates mastery level understanding of data quality considerations, including complex data processing, data quality assessment, data imputation, and data governance—including metadata as well as engineered features. The incumbent will lead the development of forensically sound, auditable, flexible, repeatable, and scalable extract transform and load (ETL) capabilities on a variety of structure and unstructured data.
Demonstrates mastery level understanding of cloud-based Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) capabilities. The incumbent will also direct implementations and configurations of tools and other computational resources within established information security boundaries.
Identifies deficiencies in problem statements, proposed approaches, and/or data access issues which are significant to the design, development, execution, and reporting out of emerging technologies pilots of the Innovation Lab.
Supports GAO’s Chief Data Scientist (CDS) and Director of the Innovation Lab in developing, defining, and driving GAO’s strategy with regard to the exploration and deployment of emerging technologies for improved or novel business outcomes.
Supports CDS in operational management of the Innovation Lab, including resource allocation management, budget management, vendor relationship management, stakeholder management, and project management.
Expands GAO’s prototyping capabilities through a rigorous process of problem definition, ideation, review, revision, and execution to determine the most promising solutions and approaches which, if successful, could profoundly change the business of audit, investigations, and program evaluation for the future GAO.
Serves as a Designated Performance Manager (DPM) responsible for supervising, evaluating and documenting work performance of assigned staff. Identifies training and developmental needs and makes provisions for training as required by performance expectations. Coaches staff in skills development, oversees individual development activities, and provides opportunities to develop increased capabilities through a variety of projects and assignments. Hears and resolves employee complaints, recommends disciplinary measures such as warnings and reprimands, and recommends other action in more serious cases. Refers unresolved grievances or more serious complaints to higher-level management.
You may be required to submit a financial disclosure statement.
Employees new to GAO in Analyst and Attorney positions must complete a two year probationary period.
Registered for Selective Service, if applicable. (www.sss.gov)
You must be suitable for federal employment.
Qualifications
In addition to the education requirement, applicants must have 1 year (52 weeks) of specialized experience at the next lower band or level equivalent to the GS-14 in the Federal Service, or comparable private/public sector experience which has equipped the applicant with the skills and knowledge to successfully perform the duties of the position. Specialized experience for this position is defined as practical experience overseeing or leading the development, prototyping, and testing of emerging technical systems including digital ledger (blockchain), cloud-based “as-a-service” capabilities (including IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS), Internet of Things, robotic process automatic (RPA) and other machine learning systems, virtual/augmented realities, and 5G technologies. The incumbent will need to identify relevant use cases, conduct technical evaluations, and support development of audit methodologies on emerging technologies as they related to GAO missions. You must also have experience guiding others to use experimental approaches to effectively develop pilots/prototoypes with emerging technologies.
You must meet all the requirements before the announcements closes.
Education
This position has a positive education requirement. Documentation to verify your education MUST be submitted with your application in order to be considered.
An interdisciplinary, professional position is a position involving duties and responsibilities closely related to more than one professional occupation. As a result, the nature of the work enables people with education and experience in either of two or more professions to be considered equally well qualified to do the work. The final classification of the position is determined by the qualifications of the person selected to fill it. You may qualify for this position based on one of the professional occupations below.
Computer Science Series, 1550:
Basic Requirements:
Bachelor's degree in computer science or bachelor's degree with 30 semester hours in a combination of mathematics, statistics, and computer science. At least 15 of the 30 semester hours must have included any combination of statistics and mathematics that included differential and integral calculus. All academic degrees and course work must be from accredited or pre-accredited institutions.
All Engineering Professional Engineering Positions, 0800:
Basic Requirements. To qualify for this occupational series, you must posses one of the following :
Successful completion of a professional engineering degree. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree (or higher) in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET); or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position. OR Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT), or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration For more information about EI and EIT registration requirements, please visit the National Society of Professional Engineers website at: http://www.nspe.org OR Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico The FE examination is not administered by the U. S. Office of Personnel Management. For more information, please visit: http://www.nspe.org/Licensure/HowtoGetLicensed/index.html. OR Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and in engineering that included the courses specified in the basic requirements under paragraph A (above). The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A (above) OR Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a bachelor's degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least one year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily, there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions.
**YOU MUST SUBMIT A COPY OF YOUR TRANSCRIPT(S) SHOWING THIS COURSEWORK. FAILURE TO DO SO WILL RESULT IN AN INELIGIBLE RATING.**
Additional information
This is not a bargaining unit position.
Based on the staffing needs, additional selections may be made through this vacancy announcement.
Selectee may be required to file a Financial Disclosure Statement.
Travel and relocation expenses will not be paid for by the GAO.
Males born after 12/31/59 and at least 18 years of age must be registered with the Selective Service System. Visit http://www.sss.gov/.
Please be aware that applicants will be required to complete questions contained on the Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306) at the time a tentative job offer is made. If selected, at the time of appointment, selectees will be required to update the OF-306.
If you are selected for this position, you will be subject to a determination of your suitability for Federal employment.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office’s policy is to provide equal employment opportunity for all regardless of race, religion, color, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
The U.S. GAO is part of the Legislative Branch of the Federal government. As such, all positions are in the excepted service. Initial appointments, permanent or indefinite, to the GAO require completion of a one-year or two-year probationary period.
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Individuals selected will be eligible for a full range of federal employment benefits including vacation and sick leave, retirement coverage and Thrift Savings Plan, and health and life insurance. A complete list of benefits is available on the web at http://www.gao.gov/careers/benefits.html
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
How you will be evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
The position(s) advertised in this announcement are covered by a direct hire authority. Traditional rating and ranking of applicants, including category rating, does not apply to this vacancy. Your qualifications will be initially evaluated against the basic qualifications only. Qualified applicants will be referred for consideration in accordance with the Office of Personnel Management Direct Hire guidelines. Veterans' Preference does not apply to positions covered by a direct hire authority.
Please make sure that your responses to the assessment questions are supported in your resume and follow all instructions carefully. If you provide incomplete answers, fail to provide a narrative response to any assessment question(s) that requires further explanation, or if your response to an assessment question is "see resume,” your application may be affected or you may be determined ineligible.
All applicants will be evaluated based on their responses to the assessment questions, in conjunction with the following Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA’s):
Mastery-level experience evaluating options for emerging technologies using the Agile development method, including prototyping, infrastructure and tools, designing comparative tests, and recommending steer build/buy decisions. Examples would include digital ledger (blockchain), cloud-based “as-a-service” capabilities (including IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS), Internet of Things, RPA and other machine learning systems, virtual/augmented realities, and 5G technologies.
Mastery-level experience in a variety of software, computational, and/or electrical engineering disciplines and interrelated advanced concepts, including theories, principles, practices, methods, and techniques related to systems, architectures, software, and cyber security.
Mastery-level experience of peer-to-peer networking architectures and algorithms, cryptographic hashes, public key and asymmetric key cryptographic systems, digital signatures and verification, Merkel trees, consensus algorithms, machine learning algorithms, statistical computing, and information assurance concepts described in the NIST cybersecurity framework.
Mastery-level understanding of potential disparate impacts stemming from outputs of predictive models, including ways to mitigate model biases and errors, while enhancing relevant confidence metrics.
Mastery-level, hands-on experience in processing and staging structured and unstructured data, metadata, and engineered features, including development of forensically sound, auditable, flexible, repeatable, and scalable ETL routines across diverse data processing systems and data warehouses/lakes.
Ability to lead and manage a technically and professionally diverse, yet highly talented workforce.
Ability to collaborate and work effectively and complete projects in a group setting, particularly across organizational boundaries and with those with less technical backgrounds.
Skill in effectively communicating orally and in writing to prepare reports, participates in interviews and meetings, to make presentations. By way of definition, oral communication may include methods used by employees with disabilities such as sign language interpretation, text-to-speech or TTY technology, and amplification devices.
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Individuals selected will be eligible for a full range of federal employment benefits including vacation and sick leave, retirement coverage and Thrift Savings Plan, and health and life insurance. A complete list of benefits is available on the web at http://www.gao.gov/careers/benefits.html
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
You must provide a complete application package which includes:
- Resume: must be created using the USAJOBS resume builder and show relevant work experience.
- If you are using your education to qualify (even partially), you must submit a copy of your transcripts. Transcripts do not need to be official, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you will be required to provide official transcripts. Foreign Education: If you are submitting a transcript from a non-US educational institution, applicants must submit all necessary documents to a private U.S. organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials, commonly called a credential evaluation service.
- Current or former federal employees may submit their most recent Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50 or equivalent), showing tenure, type of service (competitive/excepted) and the highest grade held.
Failure to submit any of the above mentioned required documents will result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted.
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
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.
1. To apply on-line, you must complete and submit an application by accessing the USAJOBS website at http://www.usajobs.gov. To begin, click the Apply Online button near the bottom of this screen and follow the prompts to register into your USAJOBS account, answer the questions, and submit all required documents. Follow the prompts to begin the application process.
2. You will be redirected to the Career Connector website to complete the application process.
3. Click on "Submit" to transmit your complete application package to GAO.
Can I send my application package documents to the agency point-of-contact via email or mail?
Your application package must be submitted online through Career Connector. We are unable to accept mailed or emailed documents.
What is a complete application package?
1. Your resume. This must be created using the USAJOBS resume builder. Resumes created outside USAJOBS (e.g., uploaded resumes) will not be accepted.
2. The assessment questionnaire.
3. The documentation listed in the Required Documents section. You only need to submit the documents listed.
When is the application package due?
It must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of the announcement. It is your responsibility to ensure all the documents are received and the information is readable. Your application may not be considered if it doesn't meet the criteria. Requests for extensions will not be granted.
1. Sign into your USAJOBS account.
2. If your application package was successfully transmitted, you will see "Received" beside the position title. Keep in mind, this may take a couple hours because your documents undergo a virus scan.
3. To view your documents or the complete application package received by GAO, select "Application Status." The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application.
If you have questions about: • The vacancy announcement or the position: The agency contact is listed at the bottom of the announcement. • Technical issues with USAJOBS: Please refer to the USAJOBS Help page. • Technical issues with Career Connector: Please contact CareerConnectorHelp@do.treas.gov.
GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
441 G Street NW
Room 1157
Washington, District of Columbia 20548
United States
Next steps
After the closing date of this announcement, GAO's Human Capital Office will conduct an evaluation of your qualifications by reviewing your assessment questionnaire and resume to complete an analysis. Please be as complete and thorough as possible. If your application is rated "best-qualified," your name will be referred to the selecting official for consideration. At this point you may be contacted for an interview.
If you do not meet the key requirements, and/or basic qualifications or you fail to submit all required application materials, your application will not be considered.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
You must provide a complete application package which includes:
- Resume: must be created using the USAJOBS resume builder and show relevant work experience.
- If you are using your education to qualify (even partially), you must submit a copy of your transcripts. Transcripts do not need to be official, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you will be required to provide official transcripts. Foreign Education: If you are submitting a transcript from a non-US educational institution, applicants must submit all necessary documents to a private U.S. organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials, commonly called a credential evaluation service.
- Current or former federal employees may submit their most recent Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50 or equivalent), showing tenure, type of service (competitive/excepted) and the highest grade held.
Failure to submit any of the above mentioned required documents will result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted.
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
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.
1. To apply on-line, you must complete and submit an application by accessing the USAJOBS website at http://www.usajobs.gov. To begin, click the Apply Online button near the bottom of this screen and follow the prompts to register into your USAJOBS account, answer the questions, and submit all required documents. Follow the prompts to begin the application process.
2. You will be redirected to the Career Connector website to complete the application process.
3. Click on "Submit" to transmit your complete application package to GAO.
Can I send my application package documents to the agency point-of-contact via email or mail?
Your application package must be submitted online through Career Connector. We are unable to accept mailed or emailed documents.
What is a complete application package?
1. Your resume. This must be created using the USAJOBS resume builder. Resumes created outside USAJOBS (e.g., uploaded resumes) will not be accepted.
2. The assessment questionnaire.
3. The documentation listed in the Required Documents section. You only need to submit the documents listed.
When is the application package due?
It must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of the announcement. It is your responsibility to ensure all the documents are received and the information is readable. Your application may not be considered if it doesn't meet the criteria. Requests for extensions will not be granted.
1. Sign into your USAJOBS account.
2. If your application package was successfully transmitted, you will see "Received" beside the position title. Keep in mind, this may take a couple hours because your documents undergo a virus scan.
3. To view your documents or the complete application package received by GAO, select "Application Status." The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application.
If you have questions about: • The vacancy announcement or the position: The agency contact is listed at the bottom of the announcement. • Technical issues with USAJOBS: Please refer to the USAJOBS Help page. • Technical issues with Career Connector: Please contact CareerConnectorHelp@do.treas.gov.
GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
441 G Street NW
Room 1157
Washington, District of Columbia 20548
United States
Next steps
After the closing date of this announcement, GAO's Human Capital Office will conduct an evaluation of your qualifications by reviewing your assessment questionnaire and resume to complete an analysis. Please be as complete and thorough as possible. If your application is rated "best-qualified," your name will be referred to the selecting official for consideration. At this point you may be contacted for an interview.
If you do not meet the key requirements, and/or basic qualifications or you fail to submit all required application materials, your application will not be considered.
Fair and transparent
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
