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Senior Economist

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
LARGE BUSINESS & INTERNATIONAL (LB&I) DIVISION

Summary

WHAT IS LARGE BUSINESS & INTERNATIONAL (LB&I) DIVISION?
A description of the business units can be found at: https://www.jobs.irs.gov/about/who/business-divisions

  • Position(s) are to be filled in following area(s):
    • Director Treaty and Transfer Pricing Operations (TTPO).

REVIEW THE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BELOW FOR FURTHER DETAILS

Overview

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Accepting applications
Location
3 vacancies in the following locations:
Work site options
Telework eligible
No
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$125,776 - $197,200 per year

The range reflects the minimum locality to maximum locality for locations listed in the announcement. Salary will be based on selected duty location.

Pay scale & grade
GS 14
Promotion potential
None
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time - Tour of Duty: Day Shift, Monday-Friday with start and stop times between 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM; 40 hours per week
Travel Required
Not required
Appointment type
Permanent
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Represented by a union
No
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Financial disclosure required
No
Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.
Announcement number
26-13026622A-LBN-0110-14
Control number
881550700

Duties

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The following are the duties of this position at the full working level. If this vacancy includes more than one grade and you are selected at a lower grade level, you will have the opportunity to learn to perform these duties and receive training to help you grow in this position.

  • Serves as an authoritative technical advisor within TTPO, contributing technical information regarding economic analysis, informed interpretation of observed economic phenomena, and evaluations of economic movements. Performs research and analysis of tax issues involving economics, transfer pricing, and valuation. Tasks include providing economic analysis to Examination Teams in planning, directing, and coordinating the examination of international transfer-pricing issues. The incumbent advises other IRS personnel regarding transfer-pricing issues and the economics of transactions.
  • Responsible for seeing that policy makers and agents are provided with accurate, meaningful, and properly evaluated and understood economic information. Expected to locate and explore the most fruitful areas of research in relation to the Service's program and needs. May function as a national resource in specific technical areas of expertise. Tasks include providing authoritative advice to IRS personnel regarding subject matter areas such as the migration of intangibles, cross-border services, discount rates, inversions, risk shifting, financial analysis, and knowledge of specific industries and business functions. Reviews the work of outside experts and provides feedback on its soundness and efficacy.
  • Responsible for formulating and implementing research projects and assignments. Assumes full technical responsibility for the effective use of resources and for the interpretation and application of findings. Advises superiors of necessary remedial action or changes. Tasks include determination of methodology and preparation of procedures and materials needed for assuring the adequacy of the study's design. Develops and presents support for research plans and findings. Prepares and presents written materials and oral presentations appropriate in style and content for the intended audience. Meets with taxpayers, industry groups, professional associations, and foreign tax authorities to explain new issues and transactions or to seek alternative resolution opportunities.
  • Reviews economic, statistical and subject matter literature for data relevant to the assigned economic issue. Research generally involves the use of multiple resources. Performs in-depth review of external economic material for accuracy and reasonableness. Evaluates the reasonableness of prevailing analytical approaches and formulates the appropriate research methodology. Resolves complex problems using the incumbent's personal in-depth knowledge, originality, and creativity.
  • Collaborates and coordinates with IRS personnel to leverage and expand international issue expertise throughout the IRS and participates in Practice Networks. Participates in strategic initiatives and projects to develop new auditing techniques, work practices, and training programs for IRS personnel.

STANDARD POSITION DESCRIPTIONS (SPD): PD98962
Visit the IRS SPD Library to access the position descriptions.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Probationary Period - A person who is required to go through a probationary period and then is transferred, promoted, demoted, or reassigned before he or she completes such period is required to complete the remainder of the probationary period in the new position.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS SHOWN IN QUALIFICATIONS SECTION

Qualifications

Federal experience is not required. Experience may have been gained in the public sector, private sector or through 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/day/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week, on your resume.

You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

QUALIFICATION REQUIRMENTS: To qualify for this position, you must meet the qualification requirements outlined below:

BASIC REQUIREMENTS All GRADES: A degree in Economics that included at least 21 semester hours in economics and 3 semester hours in statistics, accounting, or calculus.
OR
COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:
A combination of education and experience that includes courses equivalent to a major in economics, as shown above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
Evaluation of Experience
Examples of qualifying experience include:

  1. Individual economic research assignments requiring planning, information assembly, analysis and evaluation, conclusions and report preparation;
  2. Supervisory or project coordination assignments involving a staff of professional economists, and requiring the evaluation and interpretation of economic information; or
  3. Teaching assignments in a college or university that included both class instruction in economics subjects and one of the following (1) personal research that produced evidence of results, (2) direction of graduate theses in economics, or (3) service as a consultant or advisor on technical economics problems.
Experience in related fields that did not involve the use and understanding of economic principles and theories may not be used as qualifying experience for these positions. Special attention on this point should be given to certain types of work that may or may not have provided professional economic experience. The following examples of work require special care in such determinations:
  1. Economic statistics;
  2. Industrial surveys;
  3. Management of individual business enterprises, including farms;
  4. Industrial planning;
  5. Writing or editorial work in economic subjects; and
  6. Financial market analysis.

AND
SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE GS-14: In addition to meeting basic requirements, to be eligible for this position at this grade level, you must have one (1) year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-13 grade level in the Federal service.
Specialized experience for this position includes:
  • Experience applying economic methods and transfer-pricing principles to analyze transactions involving tangible property, intangible property, services, risk allocations, and transactions between domestic and foreign related parties.
  • Experience collecting, organizing, and analyzing transfer-pricing, financial, and operational data; conducting comparability analyses; identifying factors affecting pricing or financial results; resolving analytical issues; and documenting economic conclusions in written reports.
  • Experience applying section 482 of the Internal Revenue Code, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Transfer Pricing Guidelines, and related Treasury regulations to evaluate tax-return, financial-statement, accounting-system, or other financial data associated with transfer-pricing cases or projects.
  • Experience preparing written analyses and delivering oral presentations that explain and support transfer-pricing findings; conducting conferences with taxpayers, representatives, technical personnel, or other stakeholders; responding to questions regarding analytical methods and conclusions; and presenting technical findings in administrative or litigation-related proceedings.


AND
You must also meet the following requirement(s):

  • TIME AFTER COMPETITIVE APPOINTMENT (TACA): Current civilian employees must have completed at least 90 days of federal civilian service since their latest non-temporary appointment from a competitive referral certificate, known as time after competitive appointment. For this requirement, a competitive appointment is one where you applied to and were appointed from an announcement open to "All US Citizens".
  • TIME IN GRADE (TIG):For positions above the GS-05,applicants must meet applicable time-in-­grade requirements to be considered eligible. One year (52 weeks) at the next lower grade level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the grade you are applying for. For positions at the GS-5, you cannot advance to the GS-05 if you have held a GS-02 in the past 52 weeks. There is no TIG restriction for GS-02, 03, or 04 positions.

For more information on qualifications please refer to OPM's Qualifications Standards.

Education

A college or university degree generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools which meet these criteria, please refer to Department of Education Accreditation page.

FOREIGN EDUCATION: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the requirements. You must show proof the education credentials have been deemed to be at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education program. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. Click here (Section 3, Explanation of Terms) or here for Foreign Education Credentialing instructions.

We recommend choosing an evaluator from a member organization of one of the following national associations of credential evaluation services: National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) or Association of International Credentials Evaluators (AICE).

Additional information

  • Consider each location carefully when applying. If you are selected for a location, that location will become your official post of duty.
  • In the event that a building is closed due to rent management, new hires may be placed in a local commuting location.
  • Additional jobs may be filled from this announcement or any other source to fill these vacancies.
  • Alternative work schedule, staggered work hours may be available.
  • Salary: General Schedule (GS) Locality Pay tables may be found under Salaries & Wages.
  • Cost-of-Living Allowances (COLA): Alaksa, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands, include COLA. See COLA Rates 2026.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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 based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. Applicants who disqualify themselves will not be evaluated further.

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

  • Attention to Detail
  • Customer Service
  • Decision Making
  • Flexibility
  • Influencing/Negotiating
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Learning
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Teamwork


The USA Hire Assessments includes a cut score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

Rating: Your application will be evaluated in accordance with the Service's Merit Promotion Plan. A quality group rating will be used to rank and select eligible candidates. If qualified, you will be assigned to one of three quality level groups, Superior/Best Qualified, Highly Qualified and Qualified Referral: Eligible applicants rated in the highest quality group, may be referred to a selecting official for consideration. Candidates, if required to participate in a selection interview (telephonic and/or in person at the discretion of the Selecting Official in accordance with hiring practices), will be interviewed in quality group order. We will not reimburse costs related to the interview such as travel to and from the interview site.

Performance Appraisal and Awards- Will not be used in determining your overall rating. Any performance appraisal/evaluation and award documentation you provide will be forwarded to the selecting official. The selecting official will review this documentation and give it due weight consideration during the overall selection process. IRS employees may obtain their most recent awards listing at https://persinfo.web.irs.gov/.

If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee (eligible for the Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), you must receive a score of Highly Qualified orbetter to be rated as "well qualified" to receive special selection priority.

Internal Revenue Service

WHY IS THE IRS A GREAT PLACE TO WORK? As an IRS employee, you will feel proud knowing you helped make America stronger while working at one of the world's biggest financial institutions. You will be part of an organization that collects over $2 trillion in revenue and processes over 200 million tax returns annually. We are proud of how we apply the tax law with integrity and fairness to all. The IRS hires talented and dedicated individuals from many backgrounds, including accounting, business, finance, law enforcement and information technology. You will be challenged & supported on a daily basis. Whether you are just starting out or looking for a new opportunity, consider an IRS career.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has a distinguished history dating back to the founding of our nation. As the steward of U.S. economic and financial systems, Treasury is a major and influential leader in today's global economy. We have employees across the country and around the world. Come Join the Department of the Treasury and Invest in Tomorrow.

WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OTHER IRS CAREERS? Visit us on the web at www.jobs.irs.gov

Agency contact information

(ERC) Employee Resource Center
Phone
866-743-5748
Website
https://irsgov.sharepoint.com/sites/EmployeeResources/SitePages/ERC-Help-Desk.aspx
Address
LBI - Director Treaty and Trans Pric Ops
1111 Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20224
US

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