Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

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The major duties of the Statistician include, but are not limited to:

• Participates in a research study and ensures that the research design is properly followed.
• Prepares the research instruments to collect quantitative data.
• Selects subjects according to criteria for inclusion and obtaining informed consents.
• Collects data and ensures that instruments are consistently and properly administered. Ensures reliability and validity of the data. Responsible for the adequacy of methods selected and the accuracy of the results obtained.
• Conducts and records interviews with subjects as required by the research design. Categorizes and analyzes qualitative data obtained from interviews. Determines which facts may be validly expressed quantitatively.
• Carries out project proposal with extreme precision. Recognizes variations in statistical findings which demand prompt action in connection with adjusting or changing procedures.
• Develops and modifies methods used in research studies.
• Compiles data from existing Medical Center records; abstracts existing documents and categorizes quantitative/qualitative data obtained from documents.
• Develops data management; organizes data entry, produces and edits computer datasets, applies appropriate statistical techniques and performs statistical calculations in analysis and description of the data and interpretation of results. Adapts established statistical methods to specific problems.
• Writes reports and presents findings in the most pertinent form such as tables, overheads and slides.
• Drafts a proposal for a subsequent study based on the baseline data and a thorough review of the professional literature.
• Reviews the quality of data to assure that the data collection instrument is being consistently and properly administered by testing for interviewer reliability and for problems or variations in the data.
• Participates in meetings with the principal investigator (PI) and the research assistants to develop the details of public health studies.
• Develops data management details, organizes data entry, produce and edit computer datasets, develop and update data screening programs in appropriate programming languages.
• Selects appropriate statistical techniques and perform complex statistical calculations in preliminary, intermediate and final analysis, in description of the data and in interpretation of results. Recommends types of further analysis to be done.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Telework: Not available.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description #: 06943T
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year 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 trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.

Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience may include: Conducting statistical analysis within a healthcare setting to include creation of research studies, drafting proposals, and writing reports on findings; interpreting scientific results, literature reviews, graphs, and proposals; and experience presenting data within a team setting.

AND

You must provide a transcript showing you have met the basic education requirement listed in the 1530 Individual Occupational Series Requirement as described below.

Individual Occupational Requirements:

Basic Requirements:

1. 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

1. 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.

Per Office of Personnel Management General Schedule Qualification Policies, federal employees are assumed to have gained experience by performing duties and responsibilities appropriate for their official series and grade level as described in their position description. Experience that would not normally be part of the employee's position is creditable when documented by satisfactory evidence (e.g., a memorandum from the manager, human resources director, or official documentation such as SF-52, SF-50 documenting an official detail/assignments, or other comparable documentation). The documentation must indicate whether the employee performed the duties full time or, if part-time, the percentage of times the employee performed the additional duties. To receive credit for experience in your resume that is not within the official series and grade level of your position, you must provide official documentation of such experience as indicated above. 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; religions; 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.
You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:
Mathematical Reasoning
Problem Solving
Project Management

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; religions; 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.

Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/

Physical Requirements: The work is usually performed in an office environment, meeting rooms, or similar settings. Travel between two campuses (Sepulveda and West Los Angeles) may be required and involves the normal risks and discomforts of automobile, bus, or rail transportation.

How you will be evaluated

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

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

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; religions; 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.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.