Financial Economist

Clarification from the agency

All US Citizens

In this role as a Financial Economist, you will be responsible for:

• Applying advanced economic concepts and methods to the evaluation of federal financial rules and policies, including their impact on individuals, businesses, market efficiency, competition, and capital formation.
• Analyzing economic, financial, and administrative data to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of federal financial and securities regulations and policies.
• Designing, implementing, and maintaining quantitative and qualitative models to risk-rank market participants, financial entities, and market events, providing decision-ready assessments of systemic vulenerabilities.
• Planning, organizing, and prioritizing tasks to address needs, emerging issues, and meet timelines, while working collaboratively and flexibly with multi-disciplinary team members, including lawyers, data analysts, and finance policy experts.
• Discussing, evaluating economic research, comments, and analysis authored by federal agencies, international organizations, standard setting bodies, academics and other experts to determine their relevance and implications for federal financial rules and policies, or broadly systemic risk.
• Providing economic guidance and research expertise to a broad range of activities, including federal policy, rule-making, enforcement actions, market risk assessment, and other regulatory initiatives, with opportunities to specialize in policy areas.
• Reviewing draft analyses and reports to ensure accuracy, precision, and clarity of presentation of economic issues and data.

Conditions of employment

• CITZENSHIP: You must be a US Citizen.
• SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see https://www.sss.gov/).
• SECURITY CLEARANCE: Entrance on duty is contingent upon completion of a pre-employment security investigation. Favorable results on a Background Investigation may be a condition of employment or selection to another position.
• PERMANENT CHANGE OF STATION (PCS): Moving/Relocation expenses are not authorized.
• DIRECT DEPOSIT: All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.
• PROBATIONARY PERIOD: This appointment may require completion of a one-year probationary period.
• The selectee is required to report to the duty station(s) listed.

Qualifications

Applicants are responsible for confirming all required materials are submitted by the closing date of the announcement. Please check the How You Will Be Evaluated and Required Documents sections carefully, as missing documents will render the application incomplete and ineligible for review.

Qualifying experience may be obtained in the private or public sector. 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. All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

BASIC REQUIREMENT:
A. Applicants must possess a degree in economics that included at least 21 semester hours in economics and 3 semester hours in statistics, accounting, or calculus.
--OR--
B. An appropriate combination of education and experience----courses equivalent to a major in economics, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. Examples of qualifying experience include individual economic research assignments requiring planning, information assembly, analysis and evaluation, conclusions and report preparation; supervisory or project coordination assignments involving a staff of professional economists, and requiring the evaluation and interpretation of economic information; or teaching assignments in a college or university in economic subjects in combination with 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.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: In addition to meeting the basic requirement, applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS/SK-13 grade level providing economic analysis which includes at least one of the following:

1. Success in conducting research that is of comparable quality to peer-and economics journals;
2. Experience analyzing the economics of securities litigation that have been submitted in federal courts or in the context of an SEC action, including the quantification of either harm to investors or ill-gotten gains;
3. Experience writing reports that evaluate the effect of policy and rule changes on market performance and function;
4. Experience writing reports in market microstructure or similar applied microeconomic fields such as industrial organizations and auction theory;
5. Experience in analyzing the costs and benefits of regulations in financial markets, including effects on market efficiency, competition, and capital formation;
6. Experience in developing, writing, and presenting economic risk analyses to intra-agency or international organizations, or other standard setting bodies.

ACCOMPLISHMENT RECORD COMPETENCIES: Your Accomplishment Record narratives should address the following competencies. See the How You Will Be Evaluated section below for more information:

Competency 1: Economic Analysis - Evaluates economic effects of financial actions related to a rule, conduct in the marketplace, and/or risks in the market.
Competency 2: Statistical Expertise - Performs and interprets data analysis.
Competency 3: Teamwork and Collaboration - Interacts with internal and external others in a manner that advances examinations and SEC goals and objectives.
Competency 4: Workload Management - Effectively prioritizes workload in a way that accommodates unforeseen developments and achieves successful outcomes.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. All applicants are required to submit a complete application package by the specified cutoff dates. Incomplete submissions by the bi-weekly cutoff will not move forward in the hiring process. Certificates will be issued on a bi-weekly basis until the announcement's closing date.

Cut Off Dates: October 2nd; October 16th; October 30th; November 13th; November 27th, December 11th, December 24th; January 8th, January 22nd; February 5th; February 19th; March 5th; and March 19th.

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 for this position based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this announcement.

This position is being advertised through the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Delegated Direct-Hire Authority (5 U.S.C. Section 3304 and 5 CFR Part 337, Subpart B) and is open to All U.S. Citizens. Under this authority, competitive rating, ranking and veterans' preference procedures do not apply.

Your resume and application package will first be reviewed to determine whether you meet the minimum qualification requirements outlined in the announcement. Please do not submit an Accomplishment Record at this time.

If you are found minimally qualified, the Office of Human Resources will contact you to request an Accomplishment Record. You will have 3 business days from the date of the request to submit it. Failure to submit the Accomplishment Record on time will remove you from further consideration. A response is required even if an Accomplishment Record was submitted at time of application. Because of the short turnaround time, you are strongly encouraged to begin preparing your Accomplishment Record in advance.

Once your Accomplishment Record is received, a rating panel will review both your resume and your narrative responses. Your Accomplishment Record must clearly demonstrate your proficiency in the competencies listed in the Qualifications section.

Click here for guidance on writing your Accomplishment Record.

Your resume must provide evidence that supports the claims in your Accomplishment Record. Each narrative must describe one specific, relevant example from your experience or training. Responses are limited to 300 words per competency; any text beyond this limit will not be reviewed.

Accomplishment Record Format:

Competency Title

• Position title and dates from your resume that this experience was obtained
• Describe the situation (i.e., the challenged faced, the problem solved)
• Describe the specific actions you took
• State the outcome, results, or long-term impact of your accomplishment
• Name and email address of someone who can verify this information

Reference checks may be conducted as part of the final selection process, and you will be notified before any contacts are made.

Basis for Rating: The rating panel will evaluate applicants' accomplishment records and resume, and then place them into one of the following categories:

• Pass - Meets the minimum qualification requirements and has at least a moderate amount of skills and experience in most of the job related competencies.
• Fail - Meets the minimum qualification requirements, but has only limited experience in several of the job related competencies.

Passing applicants will be referred to the hiring office for further review and consideration. The hiring office may directly contact recommended candidates for interview(s).

*If you are invited to participate in the interview stage, you may be asked to provide a job market paper related to economic theory and research for which you are the author or co-author. You may also be asked to present the paper and discuss your research approach and findings.*

To preview the Questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13054022

You must provide a complete Application Package, which includes:

• Required: Your responses to the Questionnaire.
• Required: Resume - Resumes should include relevant work experience, with specific employment dates, that demonstrates qualifications for the specialized experience and competencies as outlined above. If your resume does not reflect demonstrated evidence of these qualifications, you may not receive consideration for the position. Resumes that exceed two pages will be deemed ineligible and receive no further consideration. For resume writing tips, visit USAJOBS and the SEC careers page.
• Required: Unofficial Transcripts - If education is a required qualification for this position, you must submit unofficial transcripts with your application demonstrating that you meet the specified degree and/or coursework requirements. Failure to provide transcripts showing completion of all required degree and coursework requirements may result in a determination that you are ineligible for further consideration. Official documents will be required if selected. .
• Required, if applicable: CTAP/ICTAP documentation (a copy of a separation notice or other proof of eligibility for priority selection; a copy of an SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, showing current position, grade, promotion potential, and duty location; AND a copy of your most recent performance appraisal.)

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