Duties

Summary

You will serve as a Mathematical Statistician in the National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA). In the capacity, the Mathematical Statistician plans and executes analyses designed to improve quantitative knowledge if the causes and results of motor vehicle traffic crashes, and in the development and implementation new and improved ways of using mathematical and statistical techniques in the measurement of highway traffic safety.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

As a Mathematical Statistician (Data Scientist), you will:

• Plan, and execute analyses designed to improve quantitative knowledge of the causes and results of motor vehicle traffic crashes, and in the development and implementation new and improved ways of using mathematical and statistical techniques in the measurement of highway traffic safety.
• Prepare and deliver briefings and technical papers to management and users both within and outside NHTSA.
• Maintain a familiarity with field data collection procedures, data retrieval and techniques, and computer software analysis packages in order to perform specialized data retrievals.
• Develop specifications and plans and perform the work within NHTSA and NCSA policy guidelines. Prepare work statements, evaluate contract proposals, chair source evaluation committees, and monitor contracts.
• Prepare and deliver briefings and technical papers to management and users both within and outside of NHTSA.

The ideal candidate for this position is highly self-motivated and possesses excellent mathematical and statistical analytical capabilities. The ideal candidate has excellent oral and written communication skills, since they will be writing analysis reports. NHTSA is seeking a candidate capable of working cooperatively with other offices within NHTSA, to understand countermeasures using extensive crash data bases. Experience working with large data bases and experience working with SAS programming is preferred.

Travel Required

Not required

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
13

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be eligible for Status consideration & meet specialized experience
• Submit application and resume online by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date
• Provide all required documents by closing date
• Announcement also advertised to U.S. Citizens: NHTSA.NSA-2019-0023.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

• SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for the Selective Service.
• PROBATIONARY PERIOD: You must complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed).
• TIME-IN-GRADE - Federal applicants must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade to satisfy time-in-grade restrictions contained in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F.

NHTSA is a Local 3313 Bargaining Unit Agency.

Qualifications

To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet either the education or specialized experience requirements for the grade at which you are requesting consideration.

To qualify for the GS -11 on Experience, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equal or equivalent to the GS-09, which includes:

• Experience performing analyses and general statistical research using large data systems.
• Experience using various statistical computer software.

To qualify for the GS-11 on Education, you must have :

• 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree OR Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree.

You can also qualify on a combination of higher level graduate education and matching experience. This experience and education must be fully documented in your resume.



To qualify for the GS-12 on Experience (in addition to the GS-11), you must have at least one year of equal or equivalent to the GS-11, which includes:

• Experience working with senior staff member to identify problems and using existing data to produce solutions within the limitations of available data.
• Experience producing written and oral reports on results of statistical analyses.

You cannot qualify on Education at this level, you must have experience.

To qualify for the Grade 13, On Experience (in addition to the GS-12), you must have at least one year of equal or equivalent to the GS-12, which includes:

• Experience with computer operations and the application of computer programs designed to retrieve and analyze data from data files in order to provide descriptions of current status and trends.
  
  You cannot qualify on Education at this level, you must have 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.
  
  For additional information about applying to Federal positions, please click on the following link: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-policies/#url=e4
  
  
  Students enrolled in a qualifying degree program can apply if the anticipated graduation date is within six months of closing date of the announcement. Graduation transcript must be received before start date.
  
  Other applicants must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
  
  

Education

MANDATORY EDUCATION REQUIREMENT:

A. 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

B. 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.

Additional information

Displaced employees may be eligible for ICTAP or CTAP priority consideration. For more information, please review the OPM Employee's Guide to Career Transition .

EEO STATEMENT: The Department of Transportation (DOT) maintains a model federal work environment that is free of discrimination. DOT ensures equal employment opportunity for employees and applicants for employment, regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), genetic information, age, disability, sexual orientation, or protected activity.

PLEASE NOTE: This vacancy may be used to fill similar positions within 90 days for this location.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE: PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume/ application does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). Your resume must contain sufficiently detailed information upon which to make a qualification determination. Please ensure that your resume contains specific information such as position titles, beginning and ending dates of employment for each position, average number of hours worked per week, and if the position is/was in the Federal government, you should provide the position series and grade level.

If you meet the qualification requirements, your application will be scored based upon your responses to the vacancy questions. The top rated applications will be reviewed for the quality of your experience, education and training relevant to the position.

Your application will be rated on the extent and quality of your experience, education and training relevant to the position. The answers you select in the on-line process must be substantiated in your application package. If upon review, it is determined that your described work history, competencies, and/or supporting documents do not support your answer choices, your application may be updated or you may not be referred to the selecting official. Please ensure that your work history provides enough details to support your answers. If referred, all relevant documents including performance appraisals and awards submitted with your application package will be forwarded to the hiring official for review. The Automated Staffing Office is ultimately responsible for determining your final rating.
To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
No

Required Documents

The following is a list of documents that are only required based on the type of position and consideration for which you are applying. Please review each of the following sections to determine which, if any, additional documents you need to provide with your application.

TRANSCRIPTS - verifying that you meet the stated MANDATORY EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS for the series or SF-50 showing that you have already qualified and worked in the federal service in this series.

TRANSCRIPTS (Grade-11) verifying that you meet the stated education requirements, if you are qualifying based on education.

PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS/INCENTIVE AWARDS: If applicable, performance appraisals and/or Incentive award documentation may be submitted and will be forwarded to the selecting official as support in consideration of your application in the evaluation process. To receive due weight, you must submit a recent performance appraisal (dated within 18 months) showing the official rating of record, signed by a supervisor, or statement why the performance appraisal is unavailable (do not submit a performance plan) and/or incentive award documentation dated within the last 18 months (i.e. superior performance awards, special act or achievement awards, quality step increases, etc.).

VETERANS: Your last DD214, Certificate of Release or Discharge From Active Duty, that shows the type of discharge and all dates of active duty is required to verify your eligibility. It need not be official.

• If you are applying to a vacancy opened to all US Citizens under category rating and wish to be considered as a preference eligible, you need to submit a copy of your DD214.
• If you are claiming preference eligibility as a disabled veteran, you must submit proof of entitlement of this preference which is normally a valid letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs certifying to the present existence of the service-connected disability and indicating the percentage of your disability. An SF-15 is desired, but not required.
• If you are applying to a vacancy opened Status and you are requesting consideration under Veteran's Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) ( https://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/shav/#veoa ), you need to provide a copy of your last DD214, which verifies your military service dates, reason for separation, OR certification of separation that shows a discharge date within 120 days of the closing of this announcement, and eligibility for consideration under the Veterans Employment Opportunity Act.

STATUS APPLICANTS: If seeking eligibility consideration as status/agency/DOT employee, you must provide proof of eligibility in the form of an SF-50. Your SF-50 must verify the highest grade held competitively, full performance level of position, and eligibility as a status applicant. Please do not submit an Award SF-50, as these are often incomplete and do not verify grade or status eligibility.

NON COMPETITIVE APPLICANTS: If requesting concurrent consideration for Non-competitive (NC) appointment eligibility, you must provide the appropriate SPECIAL APPOINTING AUTHORITY DOCUMENTS, such as PCS orders (military spouse) describing move & marriage certificate; letter from VA or DD214 describing 100% disability of spouse; letter from State Vocational Office certifying disability (schedule A), etc. For more information, visit military spouse NC appointments or Persons with Disabilities NC appointments.

DISPLACED EMPLOYEES: If requesting consideration under the Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or Interagency CTAP program (ICTAP), you must meet the well qualified standards for this vacancy (meeting minimum requirements for position and scoring at least an 85 or falling in the Gold Category) and provide all of the following documents:

• your most recent performance appraisal,
• the proof of eligibility letter from the Agency, and
• your most current SF-50, displaying current series and grade.

Failure to submit any of the required documents by the closing date of the vacancy will result in your removal from consideration for this position. Please review your application prior to final submission and ensure you have submitted all appropriate documents. Uploading documents to USAJobs does NOT ensure inclusion with your application to our system. You must verify that the documents are in the system with your application prior to final submission.

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.