DATA SCIENTIST

Summary U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of Inspector General's (OIG) Office of Analytics and Innovation (OAI) is seeking a data scientist to join our creative, multidisciplinary team. OAI's mission is to empower OIG to leverage data and analytics proactively to promote efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency. OAI deploys data analysis; data visualization; and statistical sampling, projection, modeling, and forecasting to identify fraud, waste, and abuse in USDA programs and operations. Duties Provides expert design and development of data models and statistical analyses to visualize the impact of alternative strategies and methods. Designs and implements custom layouts, algorithms, workflow processes, software, and computer programs for analyzing complex, enterprise-scale data sets used for modeling, data mining, and research purposes. Provides expert and authoritative advice to the OAI team, it's customers, and invested stakeholders internal and external to Office of Inspector General. As a project lead, ensures status updates and issues are communicated to the team and project manager. Writing code (e.g., SQL, R, or Python) that can be used by others to create models, dashboards, and user apps. Requirements Conditions of employment You must be a US Citizen or US National. Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt. Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check. Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served. Refer to the Next Steps section for more information. Direct Deposit: Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution. Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit E-Verify at https://www.e-verify.gov/. Relocation expenses are NOT authorized Public Financial Disclosure Required (OGE 450) Qualifications Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. BASIC REQUIREMENT: Degree: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study that led to a bachelor's or higher degree in mathematics, statistics, computer science, data science, or field directly related to the position. The degree must be in a major field of study that is appropriate for the position. You must submit transcripts that reflect relevant coursework. OR Combination of Education and Experience: Combination of education and experience which included at least 30 semester hours (or equivalent) in courses equivalent to a major in mathematics, statistics, computer science, data science, or field directly related to the position, plus creditable experience. You must submit transcripts that reflect relevant coursework. Such education and experience must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position. The quality of the combination of education and experience must be sufficient to demonstrate you possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform work in the occupation, and is comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of a full 4-year course of study with a major in the appropriate field. In addition to courses in the major and related fields, a typical college degree would have included courses that involved analysis, writing, critical thinking, research, etc. These courses would have provided an applicant with skills and abilities sufficient to perform progressively more responsible work in the occupation. Therefore, creditable experience should have demonstrated similarly appropriate skills or abilities needed to perform the work of the occupation. In addition to meeting the Basic Requirement listed above, you must meet the following Minimum Qualifications Requirement in order to be considered: MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: To be considered minimally qualified for this position, you must demonstrate that you have the required specialized experience for the grade level to which you are applying: GS-14 Specialized Experience: Must have at least one full-time year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 grade level in the Federal service (or comparable level of experience from outside the Federal service) performing ALL of the following duties: Developing business solutions by writing code that utilizes open-source machine learning models or code and/or developing custom machine learning models; Applying a variety of data analytic tools and techniques to produce insights from structured or unstructured data; Extract data from disparate sources via SQL, APIs, Cloud Storage, etc., performing complex transformations and feature engineering to load high-integrity datasets into data warehouses for scalable machine learning and analytics. Communicating with stakeholders to scope business requirements, obtain feedback, and deliver business-relevant solutions within the agreed upon timeframe. (This experience must be reflected in your resume.) IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE DO NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your resume must support your application responses. NOTE: To be considered for this position, you must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements for the GS-1560 series set forth in the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards by the closing date of the announcement. A copy is available at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work performed 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 and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Education You must submit a copy of your college transcripts to show that you meet the basic education requirement for the Data Scientist position, 1560 series. Unofficial transcripts with the degree title, list of courses, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter or semester hours earned can be used as a substitute for the official transcripts at the time of application. If you are selected for a position, official transcripts will be required prior to entering on duty. If a relevant course is not clearly qualifying (e.g., special topic, seminar, research, thesis, obscure or misleading course title, etc.), please submit an official course syllabi and/or detailed course description from the university/college for that particular course to ensure you are properly evaluated. Provide all relevant transcripts, not just your most recent one. 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; applicants' resumes and supporting documentation should only reflect education received from schools accredited by such institutions. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website: https://ope.ed.gov/dapip/#/home. Special Instructions for Foreign Education: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that 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. Failure to provide such documentation with your application will result in lost consideration. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. Additional information Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority List (RPL), or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): Visit the OPM website for information on how to apply as a CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP eligible. To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section. When assessed through a score-based rating method, CTAP/ICTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 80 out of a possible 100. Veterans: Under the provisions of the Direct-Hire Authority, veterans' preference does not apply. However, applicants who are eligible for veterans' preference are still encouraged to include that information in their application and submit supporting documentation (i.e., DD-214 or other substantiating documents). Qualified candidates with veterans' preference will be selected as they are found, just as any qualified non-preference eligible candidate would be selected. Locality rate will be determined at the time of selection. To see a complete list of locality rates, please visit Salaries & Wages (opm.gov) If selected, you will be required to submit Form OGE-450 within 30 days of your initial appointment date, and annually thereafter. Selectee is subject to financial Disclosure Requirements in accordance with 5 CFR, Part 2635, Sub part E regarding business or personal transactions with applicants, borrowers, or business contacts who have or who are seeking business with this Agency. Selectee must be able to obtain and maintain a security clearance. If selected you will be subject to a National Agency Check and Inquiry (NACI) and a credit report. This is a Testing Designated Position (TDP). Selectee must submit to a urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment and random testing thereafter. Final appointment and continued employment is conditional on negative results for illegal drug use. Candidates will not be hired based on their race, sex, color, religion, or national origin. Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution. Benefits A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits. Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.