This position is organizationally located in the Research Service, James A. Haley Veterans Hospital (JAHVH) reporting to the Associate Chief of Staff. The work of this position involves conceptualizing, designing, initiating, formulating, planning, executing, and disseminating the statistical methods for a wide range of basic, clinical, and health services research projects; providing methodological expertise as the senior statistician to top-level subject matter specialists.

Duties

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES Statistical Analysis Duties and Responsibilities-75% - Provide methodological expertise and scientific leadership in statistics for a broad range of health services research studies that use a variety of experimental and quasi-experimental methods (e.g., randomized controlled trials, surveys, database analyses, cross-sectional, longitudinal, cohort, mixed quantitative/qualitative). - Oversee and participate in major research projects that investigate important and difficult issues in Veteran health and health care delivery and address key gaps in knowledge. This research generally involves complex theoretical and empirical issues and requires innovation and original efforts at the highest level of sophistication. -Apply established and emerging quantitative analytical methods to examine research questions concerning health, health care delivery, and health outcomes. -Develop, validate, and disseminate new statistical methods to address limitations of existing methods. -Provide methodological and scientific expertise on clinical trial and observational study design, including decisions on sample size, randomization strategies, endpoints, and methods of statistical analysis. -Formulate testable hypotheses for a broad range of innovative health services research projects; develop and implement statistical analysis plans to test such hypotheses. -Identify confounding factors that may compete with the exposure of interest (e.g., treatment) in explaining the outcome of a study; design and implement analytic strategies to control for confounding factors. -Develop theoretical and computational algorithms to solve difficult problems (e.g., optimizing linear and nonlinear functions subject to linear and nonlinear constraints). - Serve as a methodological expert directing research analysts using applied sciences to perform statistical modeling, develop computational methods and computer codes; and compare the computational results with observations or experiments. Writes code to test ideas or to generate software and numerical results supporting theories. -Take the lead and is independently responsible for the initiation, planning, implementation, control, modification, and execution of all components of statistical modeling for research and operational projects, including such tasks as specification of the methodology to be used, and preparation of appropriate procedures, specifications and materials needed for assuring the adequacy of the study's design. Assumes full technical responsibility for application of methods and accuracy of findings. Oversight, Management and Supervision-25% - The Supervisory Statistician monitors the effectiveness data management of the research program. The Supervisory Specialist supervisors the data scientists, and other data management personnel in the conduct of individual scientific projects, development of data management and statistical centers for multi-site projects, and other support personnel connected via the inter-personnel agreements or contracts. -The Supervisory Statistician reports to the ACOS for R&D, who oversees all R&D activities, but performs daily tasks without direct supervision in accordance with VA guidelines, directives, and regulations. Work is therefore subjected to review only in terms of its successful accomplishment of R&D objectives. - The Supervisory Statistician monitors the data management projects in accordance with all principles, rules and regulations affecting research within VA. Monitors compliance with the program requirements. Conducts program assessments and prepares reports necessary to apprise the ACOS, of status. Identifies problems and negotiates corrective action concerning data management for research service studies. As the point of contact for Data management, the Supervisory Statistician, will oversee the resolution of any problems that may arise within the area of data management for Research Service. Supervises data scientists, and other data management personnel. Performs other comparable duties as assigned. Work Schedule: 8am:4:30pm, Monday-Friday Telework: Available Functional Statement #: PD#956633-0 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. English Language Proficiency: Must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402 (d) and 7407 (d). Education : Basic Requirements: 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 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. Grade Determinations: GS-14Experience: Specialized Experience: Experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization(GS-13). Preferred Experience: Organization direction, and coordination of complicated and important scientific and statistical research programs. Evaluation of adherence to contracting, grant and budget policies and procedures. Development of new methods of scientific analysis or new scientific knowledge of value in fields important to Research Service. Selective Placement Factors: Extensive, published, peer-reviewed research in high impact scientific journals and principal Investigator or senior methodologist on federally funded, competitive grants or At least three (3) years of experience as the senior Ph-D level methodologist on teams developing new methods for analysis of complex data. Supervisory experience of other methodologist in the context of programmatic or Federally-funded research projects Quality Raking Factors: Technical Competence: Knowledge of biostatistical and clinical trial designs, i.e, research methodologies in clinical trial design and configuration; data collection, storage, extraction, manipulation, novel methods of analysis, reporting and communication for scientific audiences; maintains credibility with others on technical matter. Analytical Thinking: Solves problems/issues quickly and effectively, involving a methodical step-by-step approach to thinking: breaks down complex problems into single and manageable components and considering each part in detail: Makes systematic comparison of various alternatives; Notices discrepancies and inconsistencies in available information. Communications: Expresses information to individuals or groups effectively in various scientific products (i.e., successfully funded grants and peer-reviewed publications in high impact journals) and scientific forums ( research teams building multi-center trials, leadership in research sections of academic or federal research programs), taking into account the audience and nature of the information ( for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately as a leader in the field and/or organizational program. References: Job Family Standard (JFS) for Professional Work in the Medical and Healthcare Group, 0600, 09/2017. JFS for Professional Work in the Mathematical Sciences Group, 1500 September 2005. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-14. Physical Requirements: The work is essentially sedentary and is usually accomplished with routine computer equipment and office furniture. Travel may be required to other local offices, VHA facilities, or study sites to participate in site meetings or conferences, conduct data gathering or validation for special projects or to attend professional conferences or meetings.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address James A Haley Veterans Hospital 13000 Bruce B. Downs Boulevard Tampa, FL 33612 US
• Name: Davina Cook
• Phone: 407-631-8616
• Email: [email protected]