Duties

Summary

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is seeking a highly motivated and capable executive to serve as the Associate Commissioner for Survey Methods Research. This position is located in the U. S. Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington, DC.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

The Associate Commissioner for Survey Methods Research is responsible for directing the Office of Survey Methods Research, which includes the Mathematical Statistics Research Center and the Behavioral Science Research Center. These Centers provide methodology support and leadership across BLS in the areas of statistical methods, behavioral science, survey methodology, disclosure limitation, data science, and other related fields.

The Associate Commissioner evaluates complex problems arising in BLS survey programs, along with the analytical techniques employed, and serves as the chief advisor to the Commissioner of Labor Statistics and others in BLS leadership in the areas of survey methodology and statistical methods.

The Associate Commissioner participates in the development of policy, long-range plans and programs of BLS and in the formulation of statistical objectives related to quality, efficiency and effectiveness, as well as statistical standards regarding survey design, data collection, and integration, coding, statistical computing, data analysis, and data dissemination .The Associate Commissioner serves as the primary technical advisory and consultant to BLS programs in the fields of mathematical statistics, survey design and methodology, statistical methodology, disclosure avoidance, and cognitive psychology and usability, as related to the design of questionnaires, data collection procedures, and user-friendly computer systems for data collection and dissemination.

The Associate Commissioner for Survey Methods Research engages in a variety of interagency and professional leadership and collaboration activities, consulting on the quality of BLS statistical surveys and programs in partnership with stakeholders, and ensuring that BLS remains current in state-of-the-art methodologies and techniques.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - Travel by any means of government or public transportation may be required.

Supervisory status
Yes

Promotion Potential
00

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Subject to a security background investigation.
• Subject to financial disclosure requirements.
• Must complete 1-year SES probationary period, if not previously completed.
• Subject to drug test prior to and during appointment.
• U. S. Citizenship.

See below requirements

Qualifications

MANDATORY EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS (ECQs):

In writing your responses to the ECQs, your narrative must address each ECQ separately in the spaces provided. Each ECQ should contain at least two examples describing your experiences and accomplishments/results. Responses to ECQ's must not exceed 10 pages. For additional guidance, applicants may visit the Office of Personnel Management's Guide to Senior Executive Qualifications located at: www.opm.gov/ses/references/GuidetoSESQuals_2010.pdf. Applicants are encouraged to follow the Challenge, Context, Action, and Result model outlined in the guide.

1. Leading Change: This core qualification involves the ability to bring about strategic change, both within and outside the organization, to meet organizational goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to establish an organizational vision and to implement it in a continuously changing environment.

2. Leading People: This core qualification involves the ability to lead people toward meeting the organization's vision, mission, and goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to provide an inclusive workplace that fosters the development of others, facilitates cooperation and teamwork, and supports constructive resolution of conflicts.

3. Results Driven: This core qualification involves the ability to meet organizational goals and customer expectations. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to make decisions that produce high-quality results by applying technical knowledge, analyzing problems, and calculating risks.

4. Business Acumen: This core qualification involves the ability to manage human, financial, and information resources strategically.

5. Building Coalitions: This core qualification involves the ability to build coalitions internally and with other Federal agencies, State and local governments, nonprofit and private sector organizations, foreign governments, or international organizations to achieve common goals.

MANDATORY TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS (MTQs): In writing your narrative responses to the MTQs, please give examples and explain how often you used your skills, the complexity of the knowledge possessed, the level of people you interacted with, the sensitivity of the issues you handled, etc.

The MTQs are:

1. Extensive training and research experience (including refereed publications) in one or more areas of mathematical statistics, survey methodology, behavioral science, or data science.

2. Substantial research experience at the interface between (a) mathematical statistics, survey methodology, behavioral science and/or data science; and (b) computer science and information technology.

3. Substantial experience in leading and managing research and development programs and projects in mathematical statistics, survey methodology, behavioral science and/or data science that requires close collaboration and coordination among multiple stakeholders.

Education

Degree: Mathematical Statistics, series 1529, 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 semesters hours of mathematics and statistics, including at least 12 hours in mathematics and 6 hours in statistics, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Degree: Statistics Series, 1530:

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

APPLICANTS MUST PROVIDE DOCUMENTATION OF REQUIRED COURSE WORK. ACCEPTABLE DOCUMENTATION WOULD BE A LISTING OF COURSE WORK THAT SATISFIES THE EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS OF THIS POSITION OR A TRANSCRIPT.

College Transcript and Evaluation of Foreign Education - The U. S. Department of Labor does not recognize academic degrees from unauthorized secondary schools or post-secondary institutions that are not accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U. S. Department of Education. Any applicant falsely claiming an academic degree from an accredited school will be subject to actions ranging from disqualification from federal employment to removal from federal service. If your education was completed at a foreign college or university, you must show comparability to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States and comparability to applicable minimum course work requirements for this position.

Additional information

The United States Government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factor.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Candidates will be evaluated based on their resume and their responses to the ECQs and MTQs.

Current/Former Career SES or SES Candidate Development graduates who have been certified by OPM must address the MTQ's, but need not address the ECQs. In order to successfully complete the online application process you must input the term, "noncompetitive eligible" in the text boxes for each of the ECQs. You must submit a Standard Form 50 that documents your SES Career appointment or a copy of your OPM approved SES Candidate Development Program certificate.
To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Not Required

Drug test required
No

Required Documents

1. SF-50 documentation of career SES appointment or other Federal appointment (if applicable).
2. Certificate of completion of OPM certified SES candidate program (if applicable).
3. Copy of most recent performance appraisal (optional).

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.