Duties

Summary

About the Position: Works in the Army Research Institute's (ARI) Predictive Analytics & Modeling Unit (PAMU) at Ft Belvoir. PAMU combines personnel psychology (e.g., job analysis, test development), computational social science, and measurement to study talent management (e.g., dynamic career modeling). PAMU develops/uses innovative analysis, simulation, and statistical learning methods (e.g., machine learning, Bayesian models) to quantify behavioral patterns in diverse, high-dimensional data.
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Responsibilities

• Develop research plans and integrate into a larger program of research.
• Provide guidance to other research psychologists at lower grades and provide guidance to operational personnel in the preparation and execution of evaluations and tests.
• Develop valid and reliable data collection methods using both experimental based observations and subjective instruments.
• Perform and/or oversee data reduction and analysis and write reports describing the completed research.
• Prepare and provide briefs after receiving minimal input from the unit chief and/or team leader.
• Review reports of other scientists and contract personnel for quality, accuracy, professional standards, and compliance with regulations and style manuals.

Travel Required

25% or less - Up to 25% business travel required.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
None

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• This position requires you to submit a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE450) upon entry, and annually thereafter.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance.
• Two year probationary period may be required.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: US Citizens

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and experience requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document .

Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) with a major or equivalent in psychology, such as Experimental Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Social Psychology or Industrial Organizational Psychology.

Experience required: To qualify based on your experience, your resume must describe at least one year of experience which prepared you to do the work in this job.

Specialized experience is defined as: performing psychometric analyses to develop a standardized testing/assessment instrument (e.g., applying classical test theory (CTT) development methods, applying Item Response Theory (IRT) methods) or experience performing advanced statistical modeling (e.g., statistical analysis of data, testing of hypotheses, analyzing data using qualitative or quantitative statistical techniques, longitudinal designs, Bayesian statistics, machine learning (ML), and natural language processing (NLP)). This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-12).

Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify. For this job, you must meet the qualification requirement using experience alone--no substitution of education for experience is permitted.

You will be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency in the following areas:

• Education and Training
• Psychology
• Reporting
• Research
• Statistical Analysis

Education

FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html

Additional information

• Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration.
• You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.
• Direct Deposit of Pay is required.
• Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from Department of Defense referral system for displaced employees.
• If you have retired from federal service and you are interested in employment as a reemployed annuitant, see the information in the Reemployed Annuitant information sheet.
• This is a Career Program (CP) 16 - Scientist and Engineers (Non Construction) position.
• You may claim military spouse preference.
• If a MSP applicant is determined best qualified and selected, placement must be at the full performance level for priority consideration.
• Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
• Salary includes applicable locality pay or Local Market Supplement.
• Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP). If you are a Federal employee in the competitive service and your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority for this position. To receive selection priority, you must: (1) meet ICTAP eligibility criteria (2) be rated well-qualified for the position and; (3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your ICTAP eligibility. To be considered well-qualified and receive selection priority applicants must satisfy all qualification requirements for the position and receive a score of 90 or above. Additional information about the program is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website.
• When you perform a Civilian Permanent Change of Station (PCS) with the government, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) considers the majority of your entitlements to be taxable. Visit https://www.dfas.mil/civilianemployees/civrelo/Civilian-Moving-Expenses-Tax-Deduction/ for more information.
• If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application .
• Payment of Permanent Change of Station (PCS) costs is authorized, subject to the provisions of the Joint Travel Regulations.
• Eligible for situational telework only, including emergency and OPM prescribed "unscheduled telework".

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Once the announcement has closed, a review of your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) will be used to determine whether you meet the qualification requirements listed on this announcement. If you are minimally qualified, your résumé and supporting documentation will be compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire to determine your level of experience. If, after reviewing your résumé and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully when applying, errors or omissions may affect your eligibility. The automated system will assign an initial rating to your application based on your responses to the online questionnaire. After the vacancy closes, your application may be quality reviewed by human resource professionals, federal managers, or subject-matter experts. Your initial rating may be adjusted during the quality review process. Your resume must support your responses to the self-assessment questions or your final rating may be adversely affected. The best-qualified candidates will be referred to the hiring manager and may be invited to an interview. Please ensure your resume provides enough detail to support your answers to the questionnaire.

You should list any relevant performance appraisals and incentive awards in your resume as that information may be taken into consideration during the selection process. If selected, you may be required to provide supporting documentation.

Basis for Rating: Qualified candidates will be assigned to one of three quality categories: Best Qualified, Highly Qualified and Qualified. Veteran preference eligibles are listed ahead of non-preference eligibles within each quality category.

• Best Qualified. Candidates in this category possess exceptional skills and experience to exceed well above the minimum requirements for the announced position.
• Highly Qualified. Candidates in this category possess good skills and experience above the minimum requirements for the announced position.
• Qualified. Candidates in this category meet the minimum experience requirements for the announced position.

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Secret

Drug test required
No

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

Trust determination process
National security

Required Documents

The documents you are required to submit vary based on whether or not you are eligible for preference in federal employment. A complete description of preference categories and the associated required documents is in the Applicant Checklist (External) .

As described above, your complete application includes your resume, your responses to the online questionnaire, and documents which prove your eligibility to apply. If you fail to provide these documents, you will be marked as having an incomplete application package and you will not be considered any further.

1. Your resume:

• Your resume may be submitted in any format and must support the specialized experience described in this announcement.
• If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content, it will not be used to make eligibility and qualification determinations and you may not be considered for this vacancy.
• For qualifications determinations your resume must contain hours worked per week and the dates of employment (i.e., HRS per week and month/year to month/year or month/year to present). If your resume does not contain this information, your application may be marked as incomplete and you may not receive consideration for this position.
• For additional information see: What to include in your resume .

2. Other supporting documents:

• Cover Letter, optional
• Most recent Performance Appraisal, if applicable
• Transcripts: You MUST submit a copy of your transcript with your application package or you will be rated ineligible. See: Transcripts and Licenses

NOTE: Documents submitted as part of the application package, to include supplemental documents, may be shared beyond the Human Resources Office. Some supplemental documents such as military orders and marriage certificates may contain personal information for someone other than you. You may sanitize these documents to remove another person's personal information before you submit your application. You may be asked to provide an un-sanitized version of the documents if you are selected to confirm your eligibility.

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.