Summary

A Recruitment/Relocation Incentive may be considered for a highly qualified candidate.

The incumbent serves as a biostatistician and provides complete management of assigned cooperative (multicenter) clinical trials and epidemiologic studies at Perry Point. The primary responsibilities involve managing and coordinating clinical trial activities, protocol writing and submission, data processing, statistical analysis, and report writing.

Duties

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The major duties of this position include but are not limited to:

Study planning:

• Investigate the feasibility of conducting the proposed study within the VA by identifying available patient cohorts at different VA medical centers from VA's electronic health records.
• Prepares a preliminary statistical analysis plan (SAP) or a Biostatistical Research and Data Processing plan (BRDP)

Study conduct:

• Works with the statistical programmer to generate randomization lists and the Clinical Data Manager (CDM) to set up the automated randomization system for the assigned studies.
• Prepares recurring study reports for various stakeholders.

Analysis and Publication of study results:

• Performs final statistical analyses, using the locked data set, as outlined in the research protocols for the assigned studies
• Prepares and submits the primary/secondary manuscripts in collaboration with the study PI(s) to peer-reviewed national and international journals

Study Team Management:

• Prepares budget scenarios and provides budget input during planning phase.
• participates in the design of data collection tools (CRFs), in the preparation of a data management plan, and in establishing a data cleaning procedure for the assigned studies.

Research and Consultation:

• Modifying existing statistical methods or developing new and innovative statistical methods for a specific study or of general interest.
• Providing expert consultation in support of activities, such as preparation of literature searches as background for further research, and preparation of parts of internal documentation or proofreading documentation with researchers.

Work Schedule: Mon - Fri 8:00 am - 4:30 pm

Compressed/Flexible:Available

Telework: This position may be authorized for ad hoc telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Ad hoc is defined as occasional, non-recurring telework.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: PD22007A

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: A Recruitment/Relocation Incentive may be considered for a highly qualified candidate.

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements:

In order to meet the basic requirement of the Statistician, 1530 series, you must possess one of the following:

1. A degree 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. (TRANSCRIPTS ARE REQUIRED)
   or
2. A combination of education and experience as follows: courses as shown in A 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. (TRANSCRIPTS ARE REQUIRED)

GS-13 Specialized Experience:

In addition to meeting the Individual Occupational Requirement, you must have one full year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-12 grade level that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. In order to meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet 4/6 of the following examples of specialized experience:

• Providing Biostatistical support during all phases of multi-center clinical trials.
• Providing statistical input and advice to clinical teams.
• Providing clear and regular technical and administrative input to professional, technical, and administrative personnel assigned to a clinical trial.
• Ensuring the assigned studies are conducted according to rules, regulations and ethics requirements.
• Reviewing the statistical programs, written by the assigned statistical programmer.
• Monitoring performance using an established risk-based monitoring approach.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13.

Physical Requirements: The work is mostly sedentary; however, some walking between offices located on three different floors in the same building and in two satellite locations is required.

Education

Transcripts must be provided with your application.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

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

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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.

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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.