Duties

Summary

This position is in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Management (OM) at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Central Office Headquarters, Washington, DC: The incumbent will serve as the Actuary for the entire Department of Veterans Affairs and reports to the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Management and Deputy Chief Financial Officer, Office of Management.
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Responsibilities

The incumbent serves as the Actuary with specific focus to develop, implement, and oversee actuarial programs pertinent for financial reporting, including managing a wide range of projections across the full range of VA programs. This includes (but is not limited to) VA medical and health care services, community care, disability compensation, pension, education benefits, insurance, home loan guaranty benefits, vocational rehabilitation, and memorial affairs.

The responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Ensure adherence to enacted laws and directives with actuarial implications

The Actuary is responsible for providing leadership and actuarial expertise on the affect and implications of enacted laws and directives published by the regulatory agencies such as the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board, General Accounting Office, Office of Management and Budget (0MB), Department of Treasury , and other oversight agencies. Produces actuarial deliverables that meet the requirements of financial reporting and the annual financial statement audit. Ensures actuarial estimates requiring recognition of liabilities for significant VA programs are complete and reasonably accurate. Develops attributes that can be quantified in monetary units with sufficient reliability to be reasonably estimable.

• Compiles Statistical Data for Analysis & Reports

Manages a wide variety of projections across the VA with heavy emphasis on medical and health care services, disability compensation, and other post-employment benefit programs. Possess strong skills to articulate, justify, and defend the Department's actuarial estimates to the Office of Inspector General, VA's independent auditors, and the Department of Treasury with respect to the Department's annual financial statement audit and financial reporting disclosures. In addition, with respect to the Department's annual budget submission, the Actuary articulates, justifies, and advocates for the actuarial methodologies and calculations supporting the Department's annual budget submission before OMB and VA's Congressional Committees of jurisdiction. Provides a high level of predictive
modeling and research to achieve VA objectives. Responsible for projects requiring advanced actuarial projection, statistical analysis, data mining, predictive modeling and innovative research skills. Interacts with VA executive leadership on work assignments requiring the ability to independently plan, organize, and accomplish complex work assignments, as well as defend findings, both orally and in writing.

• Estimate Probability and Cost

Manages and develops new approaches to problems using advanced data mining and predictive techniques (such as decision tree, Generalized Linear Model, Linear Models, NN, and Multivariate Adoptive Regression Splines). Builds predictive models using diverse data sources including VA databases, inter-agency data, and industry data sources. Directs the implementation of model results into VA decisions and strategies. Develops various models
and recommendations for their future use, including the potential to leverage multiple model estimates. Performs advanced programming in SAS, Excel, Access or other software to perform data mining and predictive modeling activities .

• Design, test, and administer strategies to minimize risk

Provides authoritative actuarial consultation and advice on a wide range of program issues to executive directors from all organizational elements of the Department and other relevant Departments and agencies as appropriate. Possess elevated experience and background to work across Departmental programs by reviewing and ensuring the quality and completeness of work performed by contract actuaries as well as VA program specific actuaries (Insurance, Loan Guarantee, Compensation & Pension actuaries, etc.). Performs evaluation of proposed legislation affecting Veterans program for its cost, impact, and actuarial soundness and prepares supporting evidence for the findings that can be understood by a layman. Designs and conducts ad-hoc models and analyses. Communicates with lead actuaries and officials of other Government agencies, as well as with non-Government actuaries on matters pertaining to the actuarial aspects of VA services.

*Performs Other Mission Related Duties Assigned

Travel Required

25% or less - You may be expected to travel for this position.

Supervisory status
Yes

Promotion Potential
00

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• US citizenship is required.
• One year probationary period required for initial SES appointment.
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
• Incumbents of this position will be subject to a background investigation commensurate with the risk and sensitivity level of the position.
• Successful completion of drug screening required.
• Public Financial Disclosure Report (SF-278) is required within 30 days of appointment.
• May be subject to reassignment geographically or organizationally.

Qualifications

To meet the minimum qualifications, applicants must possess the following technical and executive core qualifications. These qualifications would typically be gained through progressively responsible management or executive level assignments such as director of a regional office, medical facility or program manager. An individual's total experience, education and volunteer work experience must demonstrate the ability to perform the duties of the position.

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.

MANDATORY EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS (ECQs): All applicants must submit a written narrative response to each of the following ECQs and include your name on each page. Your narrative must address each ECQ separately. Additional information on ECQs is available at: http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/senior-executive-service/executive-core-qualifications/ . Applicants are encouraged to follow the Challenge, Context, Action and Results model outlined in the guide. It is recommended that you draft your ECQs in a Word document and then upload into the system.

1. Leading Change: 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: 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: 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: The ability to manage human, financial and information resources strategically.

5. Building Coalitions: 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.

TECHNICAL QUALIFICATION (TQ)s: In addition, all applicants must submit a written narrative response to the following specific TQ(s). Please label and include your name on each page. 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 managing a large public or private sector organization that administers complex, rules-based benefits or services, etc. It is recommended that you draft your TQ(s) in a word document and then upload into the system.

TQ1: Expert knowledge and experience with diverse data mining techniques (e.g. GLM, Neural Nets, Decision Trees, etc.) and data mining software (SA, R etc.) and in developing a healthcare model, with a strong focus on Veterans related modeling.

Education

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

Veteran Preference does not apply to the Senior Executive Service.: https://www.opm.gov/faqs/topic/Senior-Executive-Service/index.aspx .

Drug Testing: All applicants tentatively selected for VA Senior Executive Service employment in any position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.

Incumbents of this position will be subject to a background investigation commensurate with the risk and sensitivity level of the position.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Step 1: ECQ qualifications

Step 2: Technical Qualification(s)

Step 3: VA Executive Resources Board

Step 4: Nominating Organization may conduct interviews

Step 5: Approval by the Selecting Official (may include additional screening)

Step 6: OPM Qualifications Review Board certification

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
Yes

Position sensitivity and risk
Noncritical-Sensitive (NCS)/Moderate Risk

Trust determination process
Suitability/Fitness

Required Documents

A complete application for this position includes the following items:

1. Resume not to exceed 5 pages;

2. Written narrative response to address each Technical Qualification(s) not to exceed 2 pages each; and

3. Written narrative responses to address each Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) not to exceed 2 pages each for a total of 10 pages; or

4. Proof of non-competitive eligibility (if applicable). Proof consists of an SF-50 showing career status in the SES and proof of certification of your Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) administered Qualifications Review Board (QRB).

Non-Competitive Consideration: You are considered a non-competitive applicant if you are a current career Senior Executive, graduate of a Senior Executive Service (SES) Candidate Development Program (CDP) or an individual with SES reinstatement eligibility and your ECQs have been certified by the OPM QRB. You may be considered non-competitively for appointment to this position if you meet the mandatory technical qualifications requirements.

Non-competitive applicants do not need to submit ECQ narratives but you must clearly state your status in your resume and submit a written narrative response to the Technical Qualification (s); not more than 2 pages per each TQ with a font size no smaller than 12 points. Proof of non-competitive eligibility is required. The agency has the option of considering you non-competitively or including you in the competitive process.