Economist

Summary

This announcement is issued under the Direct Hire Authority (DHA) to recruit for positions for which there is a critical hiring need. Selectee(s) will receive a career or career-conditional appointment in the competitive service and may be required to serve a one year probationary period.

Duties

• This position is located in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer which provides sound decision support in the areas of budget, financial management, and program and economic analysis services. Typical work assignments at the full performance level include, but are not limited to: Planning and executing projects to collect, validate, and manage detailed economic data, including establishing data requirements, sources, quality controls, and documentation sufficient to support reproducible analysis. Conducting independent economic research and analysis supporting CISA analytic requirements (e.g., economic impact studies, cost-benefit analyses, and decision-support tool development), applying appropriate economic theory, quantitative methods, and qualitative techniques as required. Identifying and resolving methodological issues affecting study design, data acquisition, and interpretation (e.g., model selection, data limitations, assumptions, uncertainty, and sensitivity), and establishing analytically sound approaches to ensure valid and defensible results. Leading the design and execution of complex or pioneering economic studies and programs of critical importance to CISA by defining research scope and objectives, evaluating feasibility, managing analytic risk/uncertainty, and coordinating work across stakeholders and contributing analysts as needed. Preparing and delivering technical written products and briefings (reports, graphics, charts, and presentations) that communicate methods, assumptions, limitations, findings, and actionable recommendations clearly and concisely to senior leadership and other stakeholders.

Qualifications

Do NOT copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position. Your resume must describe your work and experience, in your own words. To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you have the required education and experience for the respective grade level in which you are applying. Applicants must demonstrate that they meet the Basic Requirements AND Minimum Qualification requirements as listed below. BASIC REQUIREMENTS: A. Degree: Bachelor's or higher degree from an accredited institution that included a major field of study in economics that included at least 21 semester hours or 31.5 quarter hours in economics AND 3 semester hours or 4.5 quarter hours in statistics, accounting, or calculus. OR B. Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in economics, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. Evaluation of Experience 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 that included both class instruction in economics subjects and 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. IN ADDITION TO MEETING THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS ABOVE, YOU MUST ALSO MEET THE FOLLOWING MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: You qualify at the GS-13 grade level, if you have: EXPERIENCE: At least one (1) year of specialized experience at the GS-12 grade level (or equivalent) performing all the following duties: Conducting independent economic research and analysis projects such as economic impact studies and cost benefit analyses; Analyzing methodological problems and planning the basis for the acquisition and interpretation of economic data; Planning and preparing quantitative and qualitative analysis; and Making authoritative recommendations on Division policies that provide guidance, information, and technical expertise to senior leadership on policy initiatives pertaining to economic analysis. You qualify at the GS-14 grade level, if you have: EXPERIENCE: At least one (1) year of specialized experience at the GS-13 grade level (or equivalent) performing all the following duties: Conducting independent economic research and analysis projects such as economic impact studies and cost benefit analyses, including development of decision support tools; Analyzing methodological problems and planning the basis for the acquisition and interpretation of economic data; Defining analytic requirements, scoping and planning of quantitative and qualitative analysis including methods selection decisions (e.g., econometric analysis, pricing and market analysis, multiplier models, uncertainty and risk analysis, statistics, etc.); and Making authoritative recommendations on Division policies that provide guidance, information, and technical expertise to senior leadership on policy initiatives pertaining to economic analysis. 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.

Requirements

You must be a U.S. citizen. Selective Service - Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service, see http://www.sss.gov/ All Federal employees are required to participate in Direct Deposit/Electronic Funds Transfer for salary payments. DHS uses E-Verify, an Internet-based system, to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States. Learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities. You must be able to obtain and maintain a security clearance suitable for Federal employment as determined by a background investigation. This may include a credit check, a review of financial issues, as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs. This position may be designated as essential personnel. Essential personnel must be able to serve during continuity of operation events without regard to declarations of liberal leave or government closures due to weather, protests, and acts of terrorism or lack of funding. Failure to report for or remain in this position may result in disciplinary or adverse action in accordance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations (5 U.S.C. 7501-7533 and 5 CFR Part 752, as applicable). This position requires a pre-employment drug test. All applicants tentatively selected for this position will be required to submit to a drug test to screen for illicit/illegal drug use prior to receiving a final offer of employment. A final offer of employment is contingent upon a negative drug test result.

Education

If you are using your education to meet all or part of the qualification requirements specified in the "Qualifications" section of this announcement, you MUST submit a copy of your transcripts or equivalent with your application. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted that include your name, the name of the educational institution, course title(s), number of credits, grade, and date of completion. An official transcript will be required if you are selected. Failure to submit the required transcript may result in an ineligible determination. Education must be from an accredited 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. Graduate Education: One academic year of graduate education is the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study. Foreign Education: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the qualification requirements. You must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private U.S. organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence with your application. See Recognition of Foreign Qualifications for more information.

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 all required questionnaires, assessments, and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. A complete application package must be received by 11:59 PM (EST) on 09/21/2026 to receive consideration. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted. The application process is as follows: To begin, click Apply to access the online application. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account to apply. If you do not have a USAJOBS account, you will need to create one before beginning the application. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Only resumes up to a total of two pages will be accepted. Applicants with resumes exceeding two pages will be removed from consideration. If you submit multiple versions of your resume, only the most recent version, based on the submission date and/or time, will be reviewed for qualification determinations. Click Submit Application prior to 11:59 PM (EST) on 09/21/2026. 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 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. To update your application, including supporting documentation: You may update your application documents and some questions related to your personal information at any time during the announcement open period. However, you will not be able to make changes to questions related to assessing the minimum qualifications and competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics) mentioned in the "How You Will Be Evaluated" section above. To make an allowed update to your application, return to your USAJOBS account. There you will find a record of your application, the application status, and an option to Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account at https://usajobs.gov, all your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to/application/status. Shared Certificate: After CISA 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 continue to explore other job opportunity announcements. Short Essay Questions: The vacancy questionnaire includes four short, free-response essay questions. This provides an opportunity for you to highlight your dedication to public service for the hiring manager and agency leadership (or designee(s)). While your responses are not required and will not be scored, we encourage you to thoughtfully address each question. Please provide a response of 200 words or less to each question. You will be asked to certify that you are using your own words and did not use a consultant or artificial intelligence (AI) such as a large language model (LLM) like ChatGPT or Copilot.