STATISTICIAN (Direct-Hire Authority) Job in Anywhere in the U.S. (remote job)

Vacancy No. DE-12665894-25-LDC Department Small Business Administration
Salary $75,706.00 to $138,296.00 Grade 12 to 14
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 1/14/2025 Close Date 1/21/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Anywhere in the U.S. (remote job)


Summary

This announcement will be used to fill vacancies through OPM-Authorized Government-Wide Direct Hire Authority. Category rating, veteran's preference, and traditional rating and ranking of applicants DO NOT APPLY to this vacancy. For more information on OPM's Authorization of Direct Hire Authority, please click here.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

This position is being filled through the Direct-Hire Authority. This position is 100% remote.

Duties

  • Collaborates with auditors, investigators, contractors and outside third parties to identify risks that can be investigated and or mitigated through data analytics.
  • Develops fraud and risk scenarios related to SBA loan and contracting assistance programs. Identify and evaluate the system and procedural controls of SBA programs.
  • Models complex agency problems, developing insights and identifying opportunities using statistical, algorithmic, mining and visualization techniques.
  • Analyzes user needs, performs system analysis and design, and trains developers and end users in data mining/data warehousing/data visualization techniques.
  • Creates and oversees the application of a diverse set of models, tools, and risk and decision science techniques to develop and enhance program operation analytic capabilities.
  • Uses data management tools to control the organization's storage, retrieval, security, and integrity of data.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • You must be a U.S. Citizen.
  • You must successfully complete a background investigation. Candidates who do not complete the required background investigation paperwork by the pre-determined due date, will be disqualified.
  • You may be required to serve a one-year probationary period.
  • You must meet the Basic Education Requirement.
  • Candidates who are determined to be qualified for this position, must complete an additional online assessment through Talent Plus. You must complete the Talent Plus Assessment within 48 business hours of being sent the email notification.

Qualifications

In order to qualify for this position, your resume must provide sufficient evidence of experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform the duties of the position. Therefore, we encourage you to submit a thorough resume that directly relates to this position.

Applicants must meet any basic requirements and specialized experience.

BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENT:

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

Combination of education and experience: courses as shown 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.

Specialized Experience Statement:

GS-14: One year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-13 grade level in the Federal service, obtained in either the private or public sector such as: applying statistical and machine learning methods and concepts to test hypotheses using advanced statistical programming software such as, Python and Azure Machine learning, identifying and assessing relevant data sources' validity and reliability to meet project needs; and producing studies or reports that employ state-of-the-art statistical and data analysis techniques; experience with the analysis of financial data, preferably in accordance with policy and GAGAS standards.

Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions.

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 11:59 pm (Eastern Time) on 01/21/2025.

Education

College Transcripts:

  • If this position requires specific educational course work to qualify, or you are qualifying based in whole or part on education, you are required to provide all unofficial transcripts (undergraduate, graduate, etc.) by the closing date of this announcement or you will be disqualified from further consideration. Please ensure that all documentation is legible.
For this position, you must meet the basic education requirements as described in "Qualifications". You MUST submit copies of your proof of education. Failure to submit required documents by the close of the announcement will result in an ineligible rating.

APPLICANTS PLEASE NOTE: 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 (particularly positions with a positive education requirement.) Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Verify School accreditation. All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly. *** If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. *** For further information, click on: Foreign Education.

Additional information

SUITABILITY, CLEARANCE & REQUIREMENTS: A background investigation may be required for all new hires. Appointment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet these requirements will be grounds for termination.

SELECTIVE SERVICE: If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System, or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. For additional information visit www.sss.gov.

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE: You are required to file a new entrant Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE 450 Report).

Additional vacancies may be filled from this vacancy announcement if additional vacancies occur within 180 days of the date the certificates were issued.

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.

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.

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 how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials, the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the online assessment required for this position (if you are determined qualified after initial review). To preview this questionnaire, click on the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12665894. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

  • Data Analysis
  • Research
In addition to the application and Occupational Questionnaire, this position requires submission of a Talent Plus Online Assessment by all candidates determined to be qualified. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. The assessment 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 online assessment (if forwarded to you). In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration.

Career and InterAgency Career Transition Assistance Programs: If you are applying for a special selection priority under SBA's Career Transition Assistance Plan (open to surplus SBA employees only) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (open to surplus and displaced Federal employees), you must: meet CTAP eligibility criteria, be rated well-qualified for the position with a rating of 85 or above based on the competencies listed below, and submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP eligibility. Click here for more information.

Required Documents

To apply for this position, you must submit a complete Application Package which includes:

1. Your resume showing work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment and duties performed.
2. A complete Occupational Questionnaire
3. Relevant Transcript(s)
4. A complete Talent Plus Assessment, if required after initial qualification determination
5. In addition to the online application (resume and responses to the occupational questionnaire), you are required to submit the following forms, if applicable. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure all documents are legible:

  • Federal employees must submit proof of your permanent career/career-conditional competitive status ("1" or "2" in Tenure, block 24 and "1" in Position Occupied, block 34). Submit SF-50 showing current grade and tenure and an SF-50 showing highest (permanent) grade ever held, if different. NOTE: An award or detail SF-50 will not be accepted as proof of status.
  • If you are using education as a substitution for experience (the announcement will state whether this is allowed), or if there is an educational requirement for this position, you must submit a copy of your transcripts (unofficial or official) that clearly describes your qualifying education. If selected, official transcripts will be required;
  • If you are claiming Veteran status, you must submit a copy of all required documents to support your claim (including a DD-214 showing character of service)--see VetGuide;
  • To receive consideration for a special appointment authority (30%, severely disabled, Peace Corps, ICTAP, VRA), you must submit all required documentation supporting your claim for Special Appointing Authorities;
  • Veterans who are still in the service may be granted tentative preference on the basis of information contained in their applications, but they must produce a DD-214 (showing the character of service) or other proof of service to receive consideration for veterans' preference. For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit FedsHireVets.gov.
  • For proof of CTAP/ICTAP eligibility, you must provide documentation from each of the following three categories:
  • 1. One of the following:
  • Your Reduction in Force (RIF) separation notice;
  • Your RIF notice offering a lower graded position accompanied by a declination of the offer (the RIF notice must state that declination will result in separation under RIF);
  • Notice of proposed removal for declining a directed geographic relocation outside the local commuting area (e.g., a directed reassignment or change in duty station)
  • Certificate of expected separation; or
  • Other official agency certification or notification indicating that your position is surplus (e.g., a notice of position abolishment or a notice of eligibility for discontinued service retirement).
  • 2. Your Notification of Personnel Action(s), SF-50(s), or other official documentation that shows:
  • a. You are a current:
    • i. career or career-conditional competitive service employee, in tenure group 1 or 2, at grade GS-15 or equivalent and below; or
    • ii. excepted service employee serving without time limit at grade GS-15 or equivalent and below who has been conferred noncompetitive appointment eligibility and selection priority by law for competitive service positions; and
  • b. The position you may be or are being separated from:
    • i. Is equal to or higher than the grade of the job announced; and
    • ii. Has the same or higher promotion potential as the job announced; and
    • iii. Is in the same local commuting area as the job announced.
  • 3. Your most recent performance rating of record (which must be rated at least fully successful or equivalent).

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.

How to Apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online assessment and submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 01/21/2025 to receive consideration. The application process is as follows:

  • To begin the application process, click the Apply Online button.
  • Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation.
  • Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59PM (ET) on the announcement closing date.
  • After submitting an online application, you will be notified whether or not you are required to take the additional online assessment through Talent Plus. This message will be delivered to you via email. You must complete the Talent Plus Assessment within 48 business hours of being sent the email notification.
  • If you are asked to take the Talent Plus Assessment, you will be presented with a unique URL to access the Talent Plus system.
  • Note, set aside at least 40 minutes to take the assessment; however, most applicants complete the assessment in less time. If you need to stop the assessment and continue at a later time, you can re-use the URL sent to you via email.
To update your application, including supporting documentation, at any time during the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account (https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login) . There you will find a record of your application, the application status, and an option to Update Application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed.

To verify the status of your application both during and after the announcement open period, log into your USAJOBS account: https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login . All of your applications will appear on the Welcome page. The application record in your USAJOBS account provides an Additional Application Information page that provides information regarding the documentation you submitted and any correspondence we have sent related to this application. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/.

Agency contact information

OIG Human Resources
Learn more about this agency

Next steps

Once your responses to the occupational questionnaire are received by our system, you will be sent an acknowledgement email stating that your submission was successful. If you meet the minimum qualifications of this position, you will be presented with instructions on how to access the Talent Plus Assessment system via email. The additional assessment must be completed within 48 business hours following email notification. After a review of your complete application is made, you will be notified of your rating and/or referral to the hiring official. If further evaluation or interviews are required you will be contacted. During the evaluation and interview process you may be asked to provide written responses to questions or writing samples. You may track the status of the application process through USAJOBS and you will be notified of the outcome.


Note: We cannot accept applications on behalf of Federal Agencies. Application instructions are listed within the Job Description.


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