Clarification from the agency

All U.S. Citizens who have graduated from an accredited educational institute or certificate program within the last two years or six years for Veterans. No Prior Federal Experience is Required.

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This position is located in the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Office of Evaluation and Inspections.

• Assists the project lead to identify potential evaluation assignments related to Medicare, Medicaid, and public health and human services programs.
• Assists in conducting pre-inspection research of laws and regulations; GAO reports; OIG audits, investigations, and evaluation reports; other studies conducted within or outside the Department; and pending or recently enacted regulations or legislation related to the assigned evaluations on Medicare, Medicaid, and public health and human service programs.
• Engages in a variety of research, evaluation, and analysis assignments in the Medicare and Medicaid and public health and human service programs to gain broader knowledge of the programs and experience in the evaluation process.
• Gathers and organizes narrative and statistical information using established methods and techniques such as questionnaires, interviews, standard computer software applications, and data trends.
• Assists in developing data driven findings and recommendations for program evaluations and reporting of results to officials and stakeholders. Incumbent is actively engaged in environmental research involving Medicare programs, Medicaid services, and public health and human service programs to identify potential areas for future studies and evaluations.
• Analyzes and prepares program evaluations for review of all levels.
• Reviews internal HHS processes and procedures, making recommendations for improvements to promote efficiency and cost savings.
• Researches and evaluates processes and makes recommendations for effective organizational changes.
• Applies statistical methods for assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of health care programs or a segment of a program; program policies; practices; and procedures. Uses a variety of methods to evaluate programs relative to program goals and objectives.
• Participates in strategic planning, evaluation design, data collection and analysis, synthesis, drawing conclusions, and report generation to support multiple recommendations on improvements to HHS programs and policies.
• Analyzes and evaluates the effectiveness of Medicare, Medicaid, and public health and human service programs to identify program vulnerabilities and potential waste, fraud, and abuse.
• Develops draft findings and recommendations for modifying, revising, or implementing procedures to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the programs under review.
• Extracts and compiles data from a variety of sources and uses statistical applications in the evaluation process. Prepares reports and briefs for program management.
• Participates in discussions, meetings, conferences, and conference calls with administrative, senior subject matter, and technical personnel, and other federal agency officials to secure and provide information; to evaluate and synthesize facts; to present conclusions, recommendations, and alternatives; and to obtain concurrence and prepares alternate courses of actions.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Conditions of employment

• U.S Citizenship is required.
• Registration with the Selective Service (if applicable).
• Suitability for Federal employment determined by background investigation.
• Pathways Program Participant Agreement
• One-year probationary period may be required.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all the qualification requirements, including education, and any selective placement factors described below by the closing date of this announcement. Education used as part of an application package will only be considered if complete transcripts are submitted and must be from an accredited institution as recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. To see if your institution is accredited, please follow this link: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/Search.aspx

Positive Education Requirement: This position has a position education requirement, as indicated below. A complete transcript showing relevant coursework and degrees must be submitted with your application package. A list of completed courses or incomplete transcripts will not be accepted.

Recent Graduate Requirements: Applicants must have completed within the previous two years a qualifying associate, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution; OR must be a veteran, as defined in 5 U.S.C.2108, who due to military service obligation, was precluded from applying to the Recent Graduate Program during any portion of the 2-year eligibility period. Veterans who were not able to apply during the two-year eligibility period due to service obligation shave a two-year eligibility period upon release or discharge from active duty HOWEVER the eligibility period may not extend beyond six years from the date on which the academic requirements were completed.

Basic Requirements:

• Applicants must have completed a 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in a behavioral or social science; or related discipline appropriate to this position (must submit copy of unofficial transcripts) OR;
• Must have 4 years of appropriate experience that demonstrates you have acquired knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in the field OR;
• Must have a combination of the education and experience described above (must submit a copy of unofficial transcripts).

Specialized Experience: In addition to meeting the basic requirements above all applicants must meet the additional requirements for the GS -9 grade level applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service which provided the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the duties of the position. Examples of specialized experience include:

• Conducting program evaluations or social science research;
• Developing written and/or oral presentations of the results; and
• Conducting quantitative and/or qualitative analysis of data.

Applicants may substitute 2 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree for the required specialized experience at the GS-9 grade level. (must submit a copy of unofficial transcripts).

Applicants may substitute a combination of the specialized experience and education above to qualify for the GS-9 grade level Only graduate education in excess of the first year may be substituted for specialized experience (must submit a copy of unofficial transcripts).

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. Your resume should include the dates of all qualifying experience (from month/year to month/year) and the number of hours worked/volunteered per week. Federal experience is not required. The experience may have been gained in the public sector, private sector or Volunteer Service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-timework is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week, on your resume.

How you will be evaluated

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

We will review your resume and supporting documentation to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. If you meet the minimum qualifications, your experience, education, and training will be rated by a Subject Matter Expert panel. You will be evaluated on the following competencies:

• Collaboration With Others
• Communication
• Critical Thinking
• Data Collection and Analysis
• Research

This agency uses Category Rating Procedures. Under Delegated Examining (All U.S. Citizens), we will use your SME panel rating to place you in one of three categories. If you meet the minimum qualifications, you will be placed in one of the following categories:

• Best Qualified: Applicants possessing a background that demonstrates a superior level of all evaluation criteria.
• Well Qualified: Applicants possessing a background that demonstrates a satisfactory level of evaluation criteria.
• Qualified: Applicants possessing the basic qualifications, with general knowledge, skills, and abilities.

The Category Rating Process does not add veterans' preference points or apply the "rule of three" but protects the rights of Veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each quality category. Veterans' preference eligibles who meet the minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent will be listed in the highest quality category (except in the case of scientific or professional positions at the GS-09 level or higher).

Your resume must document specialized experience and support your responses to the vacancy questions.

To view the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12558073