Clarification from the agency

Applications will be accepted only from current permanent USDA Office of Inspector General employees with competitive status; and CTAP/RPL eligible candidates.

• Provides expert design and development of data models and statistical analyses to visualize the impact of alternative strategies and methods.
• Designs and implements custom layouts, algorithms, workflow processes, software, and computer programs for analyzing complex, enterprise-scale data sets used for modeling, data mining, and research purposes.
• Provides expert and authoritative advice to the OAI team, it's customers, and invested stakeholders internal and external to Office of Inspector General.
• As a project lead, ensures status updates and issues are communicated to the team and project manager.
• Writing code (e.g., SQL, R, or Python) that can be used by others to create models, dashboards, and user apps.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a US Citizen or US National.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
• Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
• Successful completion of one year probationary period, unless previously served. Refer to Next Steps section for more information.
• Direct Deposit: Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including time-in-grade restrictions, specialized experience and/or education, as defined below.

BASIC REQUIREMENT:
Degree: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study that led to a bachelor's or higher degree in mathematics, statistics, computer science, data science, or field directly related to the position. The degree must be in a major field of study that is appropriate for the position. You must submit transcripts that reflect relevant coursework.
OR
Combination of Education and Experience: Combination of education and experience which included at least 30 semester hours (or equivalent) in courses equivalent to a major in mathematics, statistics, computer science, data science, or field directly related to the position, plus creditable experience. You must submit transcripts that reflect relevant coursework. Such education and experience must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position. The quality of the combination of education and experience must be sufficient to demonstrate you possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform work in the occupation, and is comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of a full 4-year course of study with a major in the appropriate field. In addition to courses in the major and related fields, a typical college degree would have included courses that involved analysis, writing, critical thinking, research, etc. These courses would have provided an applicant with skills and abilities sufficient to perform progressively more responsible work in the occupation. Therefore, creditable experience should have demonstrated similarly appropriate skills or abilities needed to perform the work of the occupation.

In addition to the basic requirements described above, the incumbent must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-14 level in the Federal government and meet time in grade requirements:

Time in Grade: Current federal employees applying for a promotion opportunity must meet the time in grade requirement of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled.

GS-14 Specialized Experience: Must have at least one full-time year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 grade level in the Federal service (or comparable level of experience from outside the Federal service) performing ALL of the following duties:

• Developing business solutions by writing code that utilizes open-source machine learning models or code and/or developing custom machine learning models;
• Applying a variety of data analytic tools and techniques to produce insights from structured or unstructured data;
• Extract data from disparate sources via SQL, APIs, Cloud Storage, etc., performing complex transformations and feature engineering to load high-integrity datasets into data warehouses for scalable machine learning and analytics.
• Communicating with stakeholders to scope business requirements, obtain feedback, and deliver business-relevant solutions within the agreed upon timeframe.

(This experience must be reflected in your resume.) IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE DO NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your resume must support your application responses.

NOTE: To be considered for this position, you must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements for the GS-1560 series set forth in the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards by the closing date of the announcement. A copy is available at: Data Science Series 1560

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 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.

You will be evaluated based on the following:

Your responses to questionnaire items focused on the basic education requirement and minimum qualifications (specialized experience).

Application Questionnaire: Applicants must complete a questionnaire as part of the application process. The assessment questionnaire includes a cut score based on the minimum level of proficiency required for this position. Your score must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered and to move on to the next steps. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment.

Transcripts Review: We will review the transcripts you submit to determine if you meet the basic requirement for this position based on the required education. Applicants identified as meeting the basic education requirement will move on to the next phase of the assessment process.

Resume Review: Your application will be reviewed to determine if you meet the minimum qualification requirements listed in the qualifications section and also your application will be reviewed to determine if you meet the eligibility requirements.

If it is determined that you meet the eligibility requirements, basic education and minimum qualification (specialized experience) requirements, and met or exceed the assessment cut score, you will be referred to the selecting officials.

If you are referred for consideration, you may be subject to additional assessments by the selecting official

To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process, including the application, questionnaire, and resume and transcripts submission. Overstating your education or experience in your application materials may result in your removal from consideration.

Clicking the link below will present a preview of the application form; i.e. the online questionnaire. The application form link below will only provide a preview and does not initiate the application process. To initiate the online application process, click the "Apply" button to the right.

To view the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12911507

The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration.

Resume that includes: Personal Information: name, address, contact information; Education; Work Experience related to this position as described in the major duties including work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment; title, series, grade (if applicable); other qualifications. Resume cannot exceed 2 pages.

• USA Jobs restricts resume uploads to a maximum of 2 pages. Resumes attached in other sections (such as "Documents" or "Other") will not be considered if longer than two pages. Do not submit multiple resumes. Failure to follow these formatting guidelines may result in disqualification from further consideration.
• To receive full credit for relevant experience, please list the month/year and number of hours worked for experience listed on your resume.
• For resume writing guidance, visit USAJOBS Help Center - How do I write a federal resume?

College transcripts: You must submit a copy of your college transcripts. An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application if it includes your name and the necessary course information; however, if you are selected, official transcripts will be required prior to entering on duty. Education must have been successfully obtained from an accredited school, college or university. If any education was completed at a foreign institute, you must submit with your application evidence that the institute was appropriately accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as equivalent to U.S. education standards. There are private organizations that specialize in this evaluation and a fee is normally associated with this service. For a list of private organizations that evaluate education, visit the NACES website. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.

Current and former Federal employees:

• Most recent non-award Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) showing you are/were in the competitive service, highest grade held (or promotion potential) on a permanent basis, position title, series and grade AND
• Most recent performance appraisal (dated within 18 months) showing the official rating of record, signed by a supervisor, or statement why the performance appraisal is unavailable. A performance plan is not an acceptable substitute.

Surplus or displaced employees eligible for CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP priority must provide: proof of eligibility (RIF separation notice, notice of proposed removal for declining a transfer of function or directed reassignment to another commuting area, notice of disability annuity termination), SF-50 documenting separation (as applicable), current performance appraisal with rating of at least "Fully Successful" or equivalent, and your most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with your application per 5 CFR 330.

Next steps