Summary
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is a federal Cabinet department of the U.S. government concerned with transportation. The principal responsibility of this position is participation in the development and application of statistical methodology for DOT studies, analysis, statistics and data programs. The assignments require careful planning, efficient coordination of effort among DOT staff, the application of mature practical and scientific judgment, and a high degree of originality.
Clarification from the agency
Applications will be accepted from any U.S. citizen.
Direct Hire Authority will be used to fill this position. The 'Rule of Three', Veterans Preference and traditional rating and ranking of applicants does not apply to this vacancy.
Bargaining unit participation varies by agency and position.
Duties
As a Mathematical Statistician, you will:
- Work with economists, transportation specialists, analysts, and other statisticians in conducting analysis in transportation and in broad social, economic, safety, environmental, technological, or national security areas related to transportation.
- Participate in developing statistical methodologies for projects that meets OMB and international standards.
- Participate in agency programs for mathematical statistical review and analysis of transportation data, products, and information.
- Conduct comprehensive quality assessments of statistical information products within the DOT.
- Participate in review of the sources of data and reliability of the statistics proposed by the agency to generate outputs and outcomes as required by the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 and Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 and review information on the sources and reliability of other data collected by the DOT.
- Participate in establishing project goals, statistical standards, data quality measurement guidelines, and procedures for maintaining the highest information quality possible for DOT.
- Provide technical support for examination, evaluation, and improvement in data quality from surveys, administrative records, metadata, auxiliary data and other data sources.
The ideal candidate for this position is a highly motivated, skilled professional who can work collaboratively with all levels of project staff, key internal and external stakeholders, and others to explore innovative methods of data collection related to transportation statistics. The Mathematical Statistician is responsible for the design and operation of the statistical research. The ideal candidate is familiar with a full range of mathematical statistical data, especially transportation related data. The ability to work cooperatively and communicate well is also critical to this position.
Conditions of Employment
- You must be a U.S. citizen & meet specialized experience to qualify
- Submit application and resume online by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date
- Required documents must be submitted by the closing date.
- Direct Hire Authority will be used to fill this position
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:
- SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for the Selective Service.
- BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: You will be required to complete a background/security investigation and meet preliminary requirements prior to onboarding.
- POSITION SENSITIVITY AND RISK: Varies by position and will be based on the position to which appointed.
- SECURITY CLEARANCE: Varies by position. If applicable, you must be able to obtain and maintain the appropriate security clearance of the position to which appointed.
- PCS/RELOCATION/RECRUITMENT: Permanent Change of Station (PCS), Relocation, and Recruitment Incentive authorization varies by position/selection and a service agreement may be required.
- PROBATIONARY PERIOD: You must complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed).
- GOVERNMENT TRAVEL CARD: Travel will vary by position. If the position requires travel, a government contractor-issued travel card will be issued and must be retained for official business only.
- REMOTE WORK: This position may be eligible for remote work, which does not require reporting to the agency worksite location on a regular basis. If selected for a remote work location, you will be required to sign a remote work agreement detailing agency remote work policy requirements, working conditions, and expectations for the position.
- TELEWORK ELIGIBILITY: If selected for a non-remote position, you may be eligible for occasional and/or regularly scheduled telework. The number of telework days approved will be determined by your immediate supervisor or manager following the agency’s telework policy and guidance. If participating in the telework program, you will be required to sign a telework agreement detailing agency telework policy requirements, working conditions, and expectations for the position.
Qualifications
To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must (1) meet the Individual Occupational Requirement for the series, (2) provide a copy of transcripts for verification, AND (3) meet the additional grade level requirements.
(1) All applicants must meet the basic requirements under A or B to qualify for applying to a position under series 1529:
A. Successful completion of a degree that included 24 semester hours of mathematics and statistics, of which at least 12 semester hours were in mathematics and 6 semester hours were in statistics;
OR
B. Combination of education and experience -- at least 24 semester hours of mathematics and statistics, including at least 12 hours in mathematics and 6 hours in statistics, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
Evaluation of Education: Courses acceptable toward meeting the mathematics course requirement of paragraphs A or B above must have included at least four of the following: differential calculus, integral calculus, advanced calculus, theory of equations, vector analysis, advanced algebra, linear algebra, mathematical logic, differential equations, or any other advanced course in mathematics for which one of these was a prerequisite. Courses in mathematical statistics or probability theory with a prerequisite of elementary calculus or more advanced courses will be accepted toward meeting the mathematics requirements, with the provision that the same course cannot be counted toward both the mathematics and the statistics requirement.
Evaluation of Experience: The experience offered in combination with educational courses to meet the requirements in paragraph B above should include evidence of statistical work such as (a) sampling, (b) collecting, computing, and analyzing statistical data, and (c) applying known statistical techniques to data such as measurement of central tendency, dispersion, skewness, sampling error, simple and multiple correlation, analysis of variance, and tests of significance.
Without other indications of statistical experience, work required in the processing of numerical or quantified information by other than statistical methods is not considered appropriate qualifying experience. Examples of such nonqualifying work include statistical clerical work; statistical drafting; calculation of totals, averages, percentages, or other arithmetic summations; preparation of simple tables or charts; or verification of data by simple comparison or proofreading.
For additional information, please refer to the OPM qualifications standard for GS-1529: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/1500/mathematical-statistics-series-1529/
(2) Upload the appropriate document(s) to your application for verification purposes.
(3) Specialized Experience: To further determine eligibility, review the following grade specific details. You will be asked a few questions as part of your application but make sure to verify how you meet these grade levels in your resume.
For the GS-11: You qualify for this grade level if you meet one of the following:
On Experience, at least one year of specialized experience, equal or equivalent to the GS-09 grade level, which included:
- Experience conducting studies and developing mathematical methods and techniques;
- Experience developing mathematical/statistical techniques, approaches, and methodologies; and
- Experience reviewing data operations to assure compliance with specifications, agreements and laws in the use of supply and demand data collection programs.
On Education, you must have:
- 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree.
- Or, you can also qualify based on a combination of higher level graduate education and experience. This must be fully supported by your resume and transcripts, provided with your application.
For the GS-12: You qualify for this grade level if you have at least one year of specialized experience, equal or equivalent to the GS-11 grade level, which included:
- Experience applying advanced statistical techniques to experimental or survey design, data analysis, sampling, forecasting, quality control, and operations research;
- Experience developing and/or presenting professional papers or reports on statistical studies or surveys;
- Experience conducting complex statistical analyses and serving as a technical advisor on various statistical analyses;
- Experience planning and executing a variety of projects and developing recommendations requiring technical and administrative judgment;
- Experience developing listing and mapping applications, and developing collection methodology; and/or experience writing procedures for automated or computer-assisted statistical operations.
For the GS-13:You qualify for this grade level if you have at least one year of specialized experience, equal or equivalent to the GS-12 grade level, which included:
- Experience designing complex statistical analyses;
- Experience planning and executing a variety of complex projects and developing recommendations requiring technical and administrative judgment;
- Experience auditing procedures for automated or computer-assisted statistical operations.
Although you must meet the mandatory education requirement for the series, you cannot qualify for GS-12 and above grades based solely on education, you must meet the specialized experience for grades 12 and 13, which is cited above.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas:
- Mathematical Reasoning - Solves practical problems by choosing appropriately from a variety of mathematical and statistical techniques.
- Statistical Theory and Models – Applies mathematical statistical theory, measures and models for developing and implementing projects.
- Data Fluency - Analyzes and evaluates the quality, accuracy and validity of data.
For all types of consideration, 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
Students enrolled in a qualifying degree program can apply to the GS-11 if the anticipated graduation date is within six months of closing date of the announcement. Graduation transcript must be received before start date. Other applicants must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
Education
See the Qualifications section for Mandatory Individual Occupational Requirements.
Benefits
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.
TELEWORK INFO: https://www.telework.gov/guidance-legislation
Review our benefits
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 will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Given our continuing need for professionals in this field, we will routinely review applications and refer candidates for potential interviews multiple times during the open period of the announcement.
When an applicant list is requested, all applications received by that request date will be reviewed to determine if the basic qualifications for this position, and grades applied to, are met. Applications that are verified to meet the basic qualifications will be referred to the selecting official(s) for further review and consideration. From that point on the selecting official determines all aspects of the hiring process. If they wish to contact you for an interview or for selection, they will do so directly. Equal consideration will be given to all applications received.
Note that applications received under a direct hire public notice may or may not result in a referral or selection. Also, management has the prerogative to select at any grade level.
Applicants will not be rated or ranked. Veteran’s Preference does NOT apply.
DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE: PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. All answers provided in the on-line process must be substantiated by a resume. Please ensure that your work history provides enough details to support the noted grade specific specialized experience and your answers. If, upon review, it is determined that your resume and/or supporting documents do not support your answer choices, your application may be removed from consideration. You may preview questions for this vacancy.
ALL Applicants must provide a resume that fully supports the required specialized experience and was created within USA Jobs Resume Builder and respond to the vacancy questions by the closing date of the vacancy.
TRANSCRIPTS - Transcripts are REQUIRED as proof of meeting the basic requirements for the series, and also if you are applying for the grade 11 using education. The transcripts need not be official, but must show that you meet the stated education requirements, including specific major or class requirements.
- Official transcript(s) will still be required if you are selected for the position.
- Foreign education must be reviewed by an organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. You must show proof the education credentials have been deemed to be at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education program. For special instructions pertaining to foreign education and a list of organizations that can evaluate foreign education, see the Department of Education website.
DISPLACED EMPLOYEES: Displaced employees may be eligible for ICTAP or CTAP priority consideration. For more information, please review the OPM Employee's Guide to Career Transition. If requesting consideration under the Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or Interagency CTAP program (ICTAP), you must meet the well qualified standards for this vacancy (meeting minimum requirements for position and scoring at least an 85 or falling in the Gold Category) and provide all of the following documents:
- your most recent performance appraisal,
- the proof of eligibility letter from the Agency, and
- your most current SF-50, displaying current series and grade.
Failure to submit any of the required documents by the closing date of the vacancy will result in your removal from consideration for this position. Please review your application prior to final submission and ensure you have submitted all appropriate documents. Uploading documents to USAJobs does NOT ensure inclusion with your application to our system. You must verify that the documents are in the system with your application prior to final submission.
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from
schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
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.
You must submit a complete application package (including resume, vacancy questions and supporting documents) no later than midnight Eastern Time on the closing date of the announcement.
- To begin, click the "Apply Online" button on the job announcement posting.
- Follow the directions to register, submit all required documents and complete the assessment questionnaire.
- You may review your saved application(s) at https://my.usajobs.gov.
If you are having difficulty applying online, please contact the DOT Automated Staffing Office via email at: Transjobs@dot.gov
Next steps
Your application status will be updated online when applicable and you will be notified by email.
A final email will be generated when the vacancy closes. Note that there is no guarantee that your application will be reviewed under this vacancy, it depends on when and how often the selecting official(s) request to use this public notice.
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