As an Economist/Operations Research Analyst, you will:

• Lead the development, maintenance, and validating of analytical tools, complex models, and datasets used for monitoring risk in the Farm Credit System.
• Create and validate computer code implemented in multiple statistical and computer programming languages.
• Write programs to clean, verify, and analyze large volumes of structured and unstructured data.
• Design, test, and validate analytical dashboards using business intelligence tools.
• Conduct research and prepare various economic analyses of relevance to FCS institutions.
• Monitor developments in the economic, commodity, policy, financial, and operating environment affecting FCA and the FCS.
• Make clear and convincing oral presentations to make recommendations taking into consideration the wide range of factors and requirements which affect the FCA’s mission.

Conditions of employment

• One-year probationary period may be required.
• Submission of a financial disclosure report required.
• U.S. citizenship required.
• Credit worthiness check required.

You must meet all qualification requirements and submit all required supporting documentation by the closing date of this announcement. If you are found to be among the most highly qualified candidates you will be referred to the hiring manager for further consideration and possible interview.

 

Qualifications

You must meet all qualification requirements, including specialized experience and educational (basic) requirements of the position by the closing date of the announcement.

All applicants must meet the basic educational requirement(s):

To qualify for the Economist (0110) series: A bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited college or university with a major in economics that included at least 21 semester hours in economics and 3 semester hours in statistics, accounting, or calculus; or a combination of education and experience including courses equivalent to a major in economics plus appropriate experience or additional education.

To qualify for the Operations Research Analyst (1515) series: Degree: in operations research; or at least 24 semester hours in a combination of operations research, mathematics, probability, statistics, mathematical logic, science, or subject-matter courses requiring substantial competence in college-level mathematics or statistics. At least 3 of the 24 semester hours must have been in calculus.

In addition to the basic requirements above, your application must also demonstrate the specialized experience.

Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the next lower level in the Federal service.

To qualify for the VH-37 (GS-11) level, you must have specialized experience equivalent to the next lower level, VH-35 (GS-09). The experience may have been gained in either the public or private sector. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. Specialized experience for this position includes:

• Experience building research tools (e.g. models, computer programs, etc.) to analyze financial data; or
• Experience analyzing economic data to determine trends, evaluate risk, or evaluate policy.

Education (Master’s degree or higher) may be used as a substitute for specialized experience at the VH-37 grade level; education and experience may be combined at the VH-37 grade level.

To qualify for the VH-38 (GS-12) level, you must have specialized experience equivalent to the next lower level, VH-37 (GS-11). The experience may have been gained in either the public or private sector. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. Specialized experience for this position includes: 

• Experience using and maintaining economic or financial databases to identify and compile data and information used in models for analysis and reports; and 
• Experience evaluating risk to commodity markets or economic issues.

There is no substitute of education for specialized experience for the VH-38 (GS-12) grade level.

To qualify for the VH-39 (GS-13) level, you must have specialized experience equivalent to the next lower level, VH-38 (GS-12). The experience may have been gained in either the public or private sector. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. Specialized experience for this position includes: 

• Experience developing databases and models for performing financial analyses to evaluate emerging risk in the financial sector; and
• Experience researching and producing studies on economic and financial topics that require use of economic or financial databases and models.

There is no substitute of education for specialized experience for the VH-39 (GS-13) grade level.

To qualify for the VH-40 (GS-14) level, you must have specialized experience equivalent to the next lower level, VH-39 (GS-13). The experience may have been gained in either the public or private sector. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. Specialized experience for this position includes:

• Experience leading projects for developing databases and models for economic or financial analyses to evaluate emerging risks in the U.S. financial sector; and 
• Experience serving as a project manager or leading groups that may be multidisciplinary in nature and/or involve multiple agencies or organizations.

There is no substitute of education for specialized experience for the VH-40 (GS-14) grade level.

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. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs) and other characteristics relevant to the duties of this position:

• Quantitative Tools and Analysis
• Research
• Economic Policy, Principles, and Practices
• Oral Communication
• Written Communication

Your resume serves as the basis for the determination of your qualifications and should highlight relevant work experience and education (if applicable) as it relates to this position. Your resume must include the following information:

• Paid and non-paid work experience including your position title, start and end dates (month/year) of employment, average number of hours worked per week and salary;
• Position series and grade for Federal positions;
• Indication of the knowledge, skills and education you have that are pertinent to this position;
• Specific duties you have performed as a regular part of your job with indications of the level of responsibility and complexity of work;
• Names and contact information for your current and/or previous supervisor(s).

You must provide the information specified above in your resume to be considered for this position. Your resume must include enough detail to permit a valid determination that you meet eligibility and specialized experience requirements for each grade for which you are applying. Take a look at this online video for ideas on how to communicate your qualifications.

If review of your resume and your responses to the self-assessment questions demonstrate that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience, a score will be manually determined that reflects your documented experience. This may result in a lower score which may eliminate you from consideration for this position.

Your application will be evaluated and rated under Category Rating and Selection procedures. Eligible candidates will be placed in one of three pre-defined quality categories as described below:

Highly-Qualified Category: In addition to meeting minimum qualifications, applicants must fully demonstrate proficiency in all major aspects of the position.
Well-Qualified Category: In addition to meeting minimum qualifications, applicants must demonstrate proficiency in some but not all of the major aspects of the position.
Qualified Category: In addition to meeting minimum qualifications, applicants must demonstrate a basic level of knowledge, skill and ability of the position.

Under category rating procedures, veterans' preference points and the "rule of three" are not applied. Eligible veterans are placed ahead of non-preference eligibles within each pre-defined quality category. Preference eligibles who meet minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent (i.e., CPS and CP) are listed in the Highly-Qualified category except when the position is being filled is scientific or professional at the VH-35 (GS-09) grade level or higher.

Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) candidates must be rated "Well Qualified" (score of 85 or higher) for the position to receive priority consideration.