Duties

The intern serves as an advanced student trainee utilizing data science knowledge in contributing to assigned projects that involve automating processes to assess, integrate, and prepare diverse datasets, and apply accepted and emerging analytical approaches to evaluate statistical data and perform spatial and non-spatial analysis of transportation systems.

As a Student Trainee (Data Scientist) Pathways Intern, duties and responsibilities include:

• Supporting the development of data visualization, assessment and integration methods to prepare diverse data for statistical analysis.
• Applying accepted and emerging analytical approaches to perform portions of spatial and statistical analysis of transportation data to assess safety, operational, infrastructure, economic, social, environmental, or other transportation-related impacts.
• Assisting in the implementation of information technology solutions to develop websites, mobile applications, and online databases
• Organizing and writing technical reports, as well as preparing and making oral presentations of work to management, sponsors, and other groups.
• Exercising considerable interpersonal skills, tact, imagination strong listening skills and resourcefulness when engaging with co-workers, sponsors, and other parties.
• Effective oral and written communication skills are essential, as is the ability to actively participate in meetings with staff and sponsors to discuss outcomes and results of analysis.
• Performing other duties as assigned.

The ideal candidate is a student studying Data Science or a related field with at least 4 or more semesters in their program with emphasis on statistical analysis and computation, processing large datasets, and data visualization and an interest in the applications of advanced analytics, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, to solve problems related to surface transportation.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen and meet the requirements of the program.
• You must be at least 16 years of age
• Required documents must be submitted by the closing date.
• Submit application and resume online by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date

PATHWAYS ELIGIBILITY - To be eligible for appointment to a position in the DOT Internship Program, throughout the duration of the appointment, an individual must:

• Be accepted for enrollment or enrolled and seeking a degree or certificate in a qualifying educational institution on a half to full-time basis (as determined by the educational institution).
  
• Be seeking a degree that is relevant to this position.
• Grade qualifications must be met prior to start date.

If selected you:

• must sign a Pathways Internship Program Participant Agreement;
• may be employed throughout the academic year;
• must maintain status as a current student;
• maintain good academic standing, at least a 2.5 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 grading scale.
• must furnish course registration information at the start of each school term; and
• must provide verification of academic status (transcript) at the end of each academic term.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

• UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP: Must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position.
• SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for the Selective Service.
• DECLARATION FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT: Selectee is required to complete a Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306) to determine suitability for federal employment.
• BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: You will be required to complete a background/security investigation and meet preliminary requirements prior to onboarding.
• TRIAL PERIOD: The intern is in a trial period throughout the entire Pathways Internship appointment.
• TELEWORK ELIGIBILITY: This position is approved for occasional telework. The number of telework days approved is determined by the agency policy, emergency situations, the approval of your immediate supervisor, and if applicable, approval of additional officials. You are required to report to the office on a regular basis since this is not a full-time telework position, or approved as a remote work position.

Qualifications

Please be sure that you have read and meet the Pathways program requirements under the Requirements section. Then, to further meet the minimum qualifications for this position, review the following grade specific education requirements to determine full eligibility before applying:

• GS-07 - Completion of one academic year of graduate level education; OR eligibility under the Superior Academic Achievement * provision, as defined in the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Operating Manual for Qualification Standards, and completion of a bachelor's degree.

• GS-09 - Completion of two academic years of graduate level education, or a master's degree or equivalent graduate degree.

*Superior Academic Achievement (Bachelor's degree) - In the upper one-third of graduating class; OR a GPA of 3.0 or higher out of 4.0, as recorded on official transcript, or based on courses completed during final 2 years of curriculum; OR a GPA of 3.5 or higher out of 4.0, based on average of required courses completed in major or required courses in major completed during the final 2 years of curriculum.

Academic Year Clarification:

• At the undergraduate level, 30 semester hours or 45 quarter hours is comparable to 1 year of undergraduate education. When academic credit is expressed in units or other terms that differ from conventional semester or quarter hours, it is the responsibility of the applicant to provide an interpretation of such credits from the institution.
• At the graduate level, one year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full time study requirement for GS-07. And 36 semester hours for 2 years of full-time study should be considered as satisfying the GS-09 requirement. When academic credit is expressed in units or other terms that differ from conventional semester or quarter hours, it is the responsibility of the applicant to provide an interpretation of such credits from the institution.

You may use 2022 in-progress semester/quarter hours to qualify for a higher grade level. Qualifications will be determined based on completed and in-progress hours stated on your unofficial transcript submitted at the time of application. To be qualifying, you must successfully complete and receive credit for the courses by December 31, 2022 and provide an updated official transcript before you enter on duty.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas:

Written Communication - Writes in a clear, concise, organized, and convincing manner for the intended audience.

Oral Communication - Makes clear and convincing oral presentations. Listens effectively; clarifies information as needed.

Artificial Intelligence - Knowledge of the principles, methods, and tools used to design systems that perform human intelligence functions.

Computer Languages - Knowledge of computer languages and their applications to enable a system to perform specific functions.

Data Management - Knowledge of the principles, procedures, and tools of data management, such as modeling techniques, data backup, data recovery, data dictionaries, data warehousing, data mining, data archiving, data disposal, and data standardization processes.

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.

For additional information about applying to Federal Pathways Internship Positions, please click on the following link: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=GS-PIP

Applicants must meet all qualification requirements by the start of the internship.

Additional information

This is an Excepted Service Appointment for an initial period expected to last for more than 1-year. This is an Excepted Service appointment. As a part of the Pathways Internship Program, the appointment may be extended until the selectee's educational program requirements have been completed. The student intern may be converted, without a break in service to a term (time-limited) or permanent appointment upon graduation, to a position that has a career ladder targeted up to the GS-12, provided they are a US citizen who has worked at least 640 hours in an appropriate program and receive a favorable recommendation from the supervisor for retention. There is no guarantee of a permanent position following this internship. The selectee is on a trial period while on a Pathways Internship appointment.

This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if similar vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.