Duties
The primary purpose of this position is to leverage a variety of statistical, analytical, and modeling tools to independently initiate and manage studies, execute data management, and develop statistical findings and reports to meet statutory requirements and inform DHS leadership decisions.
As a Statistician, GS-1530-14, your typical work assignments may include:
- Selecting and implementing statistical techniques and methods to produce accurate and timely data.
- Planning analytical projects requiring application of statistical theory related to immigration issues with a specific focus on immigration benefits or enforcement.
- Selecting and modifying statistical techniques and methods to produce accurate and timely data for reports in various formats.
All DHS-HQ announcements have a 5 business day open period due to the number of applications received. This announcement will be open for 5 business days OR until the first 100 applications have been received, whichever happens first.
View common definitions of terms found in this announcement:
Common Definitions.
Requirements
Conditions of employment
- You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position.
- Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for Selective Service.
- You must successfully pass a background investigation.
- Candidates are required to undergo a pre-employment drug testing screening and are subject to random drug testing as this position is drug testing designated.
- You must meet time-in-grade requirements.
- You may be required to serve a one-year probationary period.
- Applying to this announcement certifies that you give permission for DHS to share your application with others in DHS for similar positions.
Qualifications
In addition to meeting the basic requirements, applicants must demonstrate possession of at least one year of specialized experience in public or private sector at GS-13 for GS-14.
Basic Requirements: (A): Demonstrated possession of a 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. 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, courses in methods of processing mass statistical data such as tabulating methods or electronic data processing).
OR
(B) Possession of a combination of courses shown in A above plus appropriate experience or additional education. The experience should include a full range of professional statistical work such as (including but not requiring all) (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.
Substitution of education in lieu of specialized experience may not be used for this grade.
SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE
To qualify for the GS-14 you must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 grade level, OR equivalent public or private sector experience.
For this position, specialized experience is defined as:
(1) Applying statistical theory and methodology to conduct statistical analysis for DHS missions;
(2) Developing new immigration data to support DHS policy-makers;
(3) Applying complex modeling techniques to develop relevant statistical information on the impact of DHS missions in the United States; AND
(4) Communicating orally and in writing to persuasively communicate the results and findings of statistical analysis.
All qualifications and eligibility requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement.
Note: Current or former Federal employees MUST submit a copy of their SF-50 Form which shows competitive service appointment ("position occupied" block 34 on the SF-50 should show a "1"), tenure group (block 24 should show a 1 or 2), grade, and salary. If you are applying for a higher grade, please provide the SF-50 Form which shows the length of time you have been in your current/highest grade (
examples of appropriate SF-50s include promotions, With-in Grade/Range Increases, and SF-50s dated a year apart within the same grade/job). If you have promotion potential in your current position, please provide proof. IF YOU DO NOT SUBMIT ALL OF THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION, YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE CONSIDERATION AS A STATUS CANDIDATE.
National Service Experience: 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.
Current or Former Political Appointees: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office.
Education
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; applicant's resumes and supporting documentation should only reflect education received from schools accredited by such institutions. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following Website: https://ope.ed.gov/dapip/#/home.
If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency (a U.S. private organization's interpretation that such education has been deemed at least equivalent to conventional U.S. education programs) with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For more information regarding evaluation of foreign education for federal employment, please visit the U.S. Department of Education webpage on the Recognition of Foreign Qualifications.
Additional information
The Department of Homeland Security encourages persons with disabilities to apply, to include persons with intellectual, severe physical or psychiatric disabilities, as defined by 5 CFR 213.3102(u), and or Disabled Veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more as defined by 5 CFR 315.707. Veterans, Peace Corps, VISTA volunteers, and persons with disabilities possess a wealth of unique talents, experiences, and competencies that can be invaluable to the DHS mission. If you are a member of one of these groups, you may not have to compete with the public for federal jobs. To determine your eligibility for non-competitive appointment and to understand the required documentation, click on the links above or contact the servicing Human Resources Office listed at the bottom of this announcement.
Pursuant to Executive Order 12564 and DHS policy, DHS is committed to maintaining a drug-free workplace and, therefore, conducts random and other drug testing of its employees in order to ensure a safe and healthy work environment. Headquarters personnel in safety- or security-sensitive positions are subject to random drug testing and all applicants tentatively selected for employment at DHS Headquarters are subject to drug testing resulting in a negative test result.
If you receive a conditional offer of employment for this position, you will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration of Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application, prior to entry on duty. False statements on any part of the application may result in withdrawal of offer of employment, dismissal after beginning work, fine, or imprisonment.
Background Investigation: To ensure the accomplishment of its mission, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requires every employee to be reliable and trustworthy. To meet those standards, all selected applicants must undergo and successfully pass a background investigation for Secret Clearance as a condition of placement in this Non-Critical Sensitive position. This review may include financial issues such as delinquency in the payment of debts, child support and/or tax obligations, as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs.
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.
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.
We will review your resume and supporting documentation to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. If you meet the minimum qualifications, your experience, education and training will be rated using a job questionnaire that is based on the following competencies or knowledge, skills and abilities needed to perform this job: Statistical methods
Structured Resume Review. Subject matter experts (SMEs) will review your resume to determine your technical qualifications for this position based on the required specialized experience. SMEs will not review additional information beyond your resume (e.g., cover letter, links embedded in your resume). Applicants passing the structured resume review will move on to the next phase of the assessment process.
If you are the best qualified, you may be referred to the hiring manager for consideration and may be called for an interview. To preview the job questionnaire and application, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13073903
If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have overstated your qualifications and/or experience, you may be removed from consideration or your score may be lowered.
Due weight will be given to performance appraisals and incentive awards in merit promotion selection decisions in accordance with 5 CFR 335.103(b)(3).
Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) Eligibles: If you have never worked for the Department of Homeland Security, you are not CTAP eligible. View information about CTAP eligibility on OPM's Career Transition Resources website. To be considered well qualified under CTAP, you must be rated at a minimum score of 85 for this position. In addition, you must submit the supporting documents listed under the required documents section of this announcement.
Interviews are required for this position. Failure to complete the interview may result in removal from further consideration.
After DHS Headquarters completes its hiring, the resumes of the remaining candidates referred for selection consideration may be shared with other DHS Components. During the application process, you may choose to opt-in if you would like your name, application material, and assessment results to be shared. There is no guarantee of further consideration, and you can continue to explore other job opportunity announcements.