Supervisory Statistician (NTE 1 Year)

Summary

This position is for a Supervisory Statistician within the Office of Data Analytics (JD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The Office of Data Analytics serves as the OIG's center for advanced analytical capabilities, providing data science, statistical analysis, and economic modeling expertise to support investigations, audits, and the OIG broadly.

Duties

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This position is for a Supervisory Statistician within the Office of Data Analytics (JD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The Direct Service Hub provides rapid, on-demand analytical support to the Auditing and Evaluation office (JA) and serves as the primary liaison between audit teams and JD for statistical sampling, survey research, and other short-term analysis needs.

The incumbent will function as the primary point of contact for audit teams seeking direct statistical and other short-term analytical support on audit engagements. The role emphasizes defensible probability sampling, survey design and execution, rapid analytical triage, and quality control oversight of work performed by contractors and JD staff.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen.
• Submit application and resume online by 11:59 P.M. EST on the closing date.
• This position is subject to a background investigation.
• Relocation is not authorized.
• This position requires pre-employment and random drug testing.
• You may be required to serve a one year probationary period.

The position is structured as a one-year temporary supervisory promotion (not-to-exceed 1 year) to assess and develop management skills, with the option of conversion to permanent upon supervisory approval; prior formal supervisory experience is not required.

Qualifications

All documents must be received and eligibility requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement. Your resume must be well documented with the specialized experience, otherwise you may be deemed ineligible.

To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet the EDUCATION REQUIREMENT AND SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE qualifications for the grade(s) at which you are requesting consideration. Applicants must meet qualifications, education requirement and time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this vacancy announcement.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE

For GS-14: At least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level in the Federal service performing (obtained in either the public or private sectors) listed below:

• Leading the design and validation of complex probability sampling frameworks for audits, determining precision and projection methods, and authoring the methodological documentation used in audit records.
• Serving as the methodological quality-assurance lead: reviewing and approving staff and contractor sampling plans, estimation methods, calculations, and documentation; providing written confirmations and sign-offs consistent with OIG policy.
• Guiding audit teams' analytical planning and interpretation: translating objectives into sampling/survey strategies, advising on trade-offs among rigor, timeliness, burden, and evidentiary sufficiency, and directing adjustments when risks or limitations arise.
• Preparing and presenting methodological sections, appendices, and exhibits; communicating uncertainty, assumptions, and limitations clearly to non-technical audiences, including audit leadership and auditees.
• Making authoritative, binding judgments on data quality and fitness-for-use, documenting implications for projections and audit conclusions.
• Executing rapid audit-support analyses (trend checks, stratification diagnostics, frame validation) under compressed timelines while preserving methodological integrity.
• Planning, assigning, and reviewing the work of direct service staff; mentoring and enforcing JD analytical standards; contributing to performance appraisals under leadership guidance.
• Managing service operations: scoping requests, scheduling work, maintaining intake/status tracking, and reporting progress to leadership.

Education: Education cannot be substituted for experience at the GS-14 grade level.

Competencies: Your resume and short answer responses will be evaluated on the following competencies in addition to the specialized experience as stated above:

1. Statistical Sampling and Survey Methodology

Core ability to design, validate, document, and communicate probability-based sampling strategies and survey methods that meet audit objectives. Includes defensible design choices, projection methods, uncertainty communication, and creation of audit-ready methodological documentation.

2. Audit Quality Assurance and Methodological Review

Oversight of the technical soundness, reproducibility, and GAGAS-alignment of statistical work products. Includes reviewing staff and contractor deliverables, identifying methodological risks, issuing written confirmations/sign-offs, and enforcing JD analytical standards.

3. Analytical Guidance and Stakeholder Advisory

Ability to guide audit teams' analytic planning, translate audit objectives into fit-for-purpose methods, and provide expert advice on sampling strategies, estimation approaches, data visualization, and trade-offs (rigor, timelines, evidentiary sufficiency). This competency reflects your "primary specialist" role on audits.

4. Technical Communication

Skill in preparing methodological sections, technical appendices, visual displays, and plain-language explanations of sampling results, assumptions, and uncertainty. Includes presenting and defending methods at entrance/exit conferences and ensuring analytical materials are usable by non-technical audiences.

5. Leadership, Workflow Management and Service Operations

Skill in planning, assigning, reviewing work; mentoring staff; onboarding; and reinforcing JD standards. Also includes managing intake/workflow systems (e.g., trackers, Smartsheet), maintaining status reporting for leadership, and ensuring timely execution of audit support.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrated proficiency in audit-focused sampling and survey methods and GAGAS-aligned documentation.
• Experience providing methodological quality-assurance sign-offs for statistical evidence in audits.

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; religions; 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.

Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

Education

Mandatory Education Requirement:

1. 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.
   or
2. Combination of education and experience 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 Verifying Basic Education Requirement - You must submit unofficial or official transcripts verifying you meet the Basic Education Requirement. Ensure that the degree awarded and confer date are clearly stated on the transcript(s). You must provide documentation or proof that your degree(s) is from a school accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the Secretary, U.S. Department of Education, or that your education meets the other provisions outlined in the OPM Operating Manual. If you completed your education outside of the U.S., you must provide proof its equivalent to accredited U.S. education programs.

Special Instructions for Foreign Education: Qualifying education from colleges and universities in foreign countries must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part in foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree. You must provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course by course listing along with your application. Failure to provide such documentation when requested will result in lost consideration.

Learn more about education and training requirements.

The link (s) below contain a list of accredited organizations that specialize in interpreting of foreign education credentials:

Members - NACES

https://naces.org/members/

Credential Evaluation Services - AICE - Association of International Credential Evaluators. Inc.

https://aice-eval.org/members/

Additional information

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT MAY BE USED TO FILL ADDITIONAL LIKE VACANCIES IN THE ANNOUNCED DUTY LOCATION.

Relocation expenses will not be paid.

Best qualified candidates will be responsible for arranging and paying for their own travel expenses in conjunction with any required interviews, unless they are already employed by the Office of Inspector General at the U. S. Department of Transportation.

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.

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.