The Bureau of Labor Statistics measures labor market activity, working conditions, price changes, and productivity in the U.S. economy to support public and private decision making. The position is located in the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Office of the Commissioner. This position is inside the bargaining unit.

Duties

Duties include, but are not limited to the following: Provides significant input in determining project direction, provides technical guidance and leadership, and performs complex economic analyses and verification of project data. Coordinates and directs the preparation of technical instructions for, or documentation of, processes and systems used for specialized projects, which may involve data collection, review, analysis, estimation, validation, or dissemination. Authors and reviews new regulations to support the implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act across all U.S. statistical agencies. Develops directives and procedures for multiple projects, implements plans, and coordinates results with senior officials; projects include coordination of agency-wide activities such as strategic plans, customer satisfaction surveys, and high-level speeches and events. Identifies primary source information and analyzes data where no precedent exists to respond to requests from the agency leadership, other government agencies, Congress, private industry, the news media, and other customers. Researches potential changes in agency programs, notably related to researcher access to confidential data. This work, with little precedent, includes research into technology-based solutions and disclosure-avoidance techniques with the broad goal of allowing access while protecting confidentiality. Designs and manages projects that may involve work with other offices to develop project design, to review and edit information upon receipt, and to improve the quality of outputs. Oversees development of formal project planning documents, requirements for data collection, training materials including procedures documentation, progress monitoring and reporting, and process improvement techniques. Identifies needed economic data for key leadership activities; conducts extensive analysis and prepares complex speeches based on available data and analysis. Locates and explores research areas addressing the agency's needs; takes complete responsibility for formulating and carrying through research plans. Examples include research include customer website satisfaction data, using results to identify website and program improvements. Oversees the review and verification of data collection, analysis, and dissemination material for accuracy and conformance to quality standards, and the development and evaluation of supporting processes. Conducts new studies and writes reports of findings, the impact of the findings on government and private industry and industry segments, and the general public and makes recommendations with far-reaching impact to BLS executive management. Conducts independent research into economic and related topics of current interest, such as economic equity, the use of automation in the workplace, and changes in economic conditions due to major disruptions, such as severe weather, global pandemic, or terrorism. Gathers information on pre-decisional policy matters (budgets, program changes, personnel issues, program evaluations, interactions with other agencies, etc.). Compiles and prepares confidential information in response to sensitive requests. Acts in a confidential capacity concerning proposed or anticipated program changes; researches assigned topics and collects data for use in agency policy matters such as budgets, program reductions or enhancements, program evaluations, and negotiations with other agencies. Facilitates the information exchange process when input and assistance are required from other analysts and subject matter specialists. This includes individuals, organizations, and entities within and outside the agency, including other government agencies, state and local governments, and private industry. Represents the agency in internal and external team activities, such as those focusing on the future of work; employee engagement activities; and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. Authors; reviews and edits content authored by others; and coordinates the distribution of internal communications, including blogs, all-employee emails, announcements, and related material. Locates and explores research areas concerning the agency's program and needs; takes complete responsibility for formulating and carrying through research plans.

Requirements

• Must be a U.S. Citizen.
• Must be at least 16 years old.
• Candidate required to obtain the necessary security/investigation level.
• Requires a probationary period if the requirement has not been met.

Qualifications

Basic Requirement Economist, 0110: A) Degree: economics, that included at least 21 semester hours in economics and 3 semester hours in statistics, accounting, or calculus. OR B) Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in economics, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. Statistician, 1530: 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. OR B) 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. Specialized Experience Specialized experienceis the experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform the duties of the position successfully, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level. GS-14: Applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, GS-13, in the federal service. Specialized experience includes: In-depth understanding of economic principles, theories, and measures or technical competence in the use of statistical methodologies for the evaluation and analysis of complex economic data; Experience leading or directing staff and projects in the development and production of economic and statistical data where experience is in the review, evaluation, analysis, and verification of micro-data for large scale surveys in a production environment; Experience in planning, directing, or supporting the improvement of economic processes or methodologies for the review, evaluation, and verification of survey micro-data, or conducting research to develop new review methods, possesses, and tools.; Experience in applying economic and statistical techniques to evaluate the quality, consistency, and accuracy of survey data.

Education

Any applicant falsely claiming an academic degree from an accredited school will be subject to actions ranging from disqualification from federal employment to removal from federal service.

If your education was completed at a foreign college or university, you must show comparability to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States and comparability to applicable minimum coursework requirements for this position. Click Evaluation of Foreign Education for more information.

Contacts

• Address Bureau of Labor Statistics 200 Constitution Avenue NW Washington, DC 20210 US
• Name: Kristen Nathe
• Phone: 312-353-2364
• Email: [email protected]