Mathematical Statistician

Summary

This position is located within the Office of the Administrator, National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), and supports national agricultural statistical programs through survey design, statistical analysis, estimation methodology, and preparation of official agricultural statistics and reports. .

Duties

• Recommend new or improved mathematical methods and techniques for statistical sampling, assembly, and computation, and for the summarization of data and preparation of reports.
• Apply general mathematics and mathematical statistics, including probability and sampling theory, to perform limited studies that have defined program objectives, analyze information, and identify trends.
• Evaluate critical factors related to the assignment area and draw rational inferences to assist in preparing technical reports of methods and findings.
• Assists in developing plans and procedures for the conduct of surveys and for the analysis and preparation of estimates, forecasts, and reports.
• Ability to use automated data processing techniques to process statistical data, execute jobs, review output, construct tables and graphs, and conduct research.
• Ability to evaluate critical factors related to the assignment area and draw rational inferences to assist in preparing technical reports of methods and findings.
• Analyzes summarized survey indications and prepares estimates, forecasts, and supporting analytical and interpretative comments for reports.
• Assists in preparing final recommendations for estimates and forecasts and in writing analytical and interpretive comments to substantiate conclusions.

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. 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. Basic Requirements: 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 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. In addition to meeting the basic requirements described above, applicants must also meet additional qualification requirements as stated below. Specialized ExperienceGS-07 - Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. Qualifying experience for GS-07 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to the GS-05 which is directly related to the work of this position. One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 level that includes: Independently analyzing datasets using statistical techniques and tools Applying mathematical and statistical methods to support research studies or program evaluation Preparing technical reports, briefings, or visual presentations of findings Evaluating data quality and contributing to study design or methodology selection GS-09 - Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. Qualifying experience for GS-09 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to the GS-07 which is directly related to the work of this position. One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level that includes: Independently analyzing datasets using statistical techniques and tools Applying mathematical and statistical methods to support research studies or program evaluation Preparing technical reports, briefings, or visual presentations of findings Evaluating data quality and contributing to study design or methodology selection GS-11 - Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. Qualifying experience for GS-11 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to the GS-09 which is directly related to the work of this position. One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level that includes: Designing and conducting statistical research studies or analytical projects Applying advanced statistical models and quantitative techniques to complex datasets Interpreting findings into comprehensive reports with actionable insights Evaluating methodologies, ensuring data integrity, and recommending improvements 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.

Requirements

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. 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/. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period (unless previous federal service is creditable) during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Education

Please see above for education qualification requirement information.

How to apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. Resumes cannot exceed two pages. The application process is as follows: 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 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside about 1-2 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: Visit https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/howto/application/status/. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. Please verify that documents you are uploading from USAJOBs transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded documents must be less than 5MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, TXT or Word (DOC or DOCX). Do not upload Adobe Portfolio documents because they are not viewable. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration. Please ensure your resume does not exceed two pages. Applicants who submit a resume that exceeds two pages will be removed from consideration. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, your system failure, etc.