Supervisory Economist/Statistician (Economics)

Full Job Description

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.

This position is with the U.S.

Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Office of Field Operations, San Francisco Region, Division of Price Programs, Branch of Consumer Price Index (CPI) Program.

Applicants must meet the basic education requirements, eligibility requirements of time-in-grade (52 weeks at the next lower grade), time-after-competitive-appointment (90 days), and minimum qualifications (52 weeks equivalent to the next lower grade in federal service).

These requirements must be met within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement. This is an interdisciplinary position and may be filled either as an Economist or Statistician (Economics).

BASIC REQUIREMENTS: Economist, GS-0110: A) Degree in economics, that included at least 21 semester hours in economics and 3 semester hours in statistics, accounting or calculus.

OR B) A combination of education and experience - courses equivalent to a major in economics, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Statistician (Economics), GS-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) A 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.

In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements above, applicants must also meet the minimum qualifications to be considered.

For GS-13: Applicants must have 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level GS-12 in the Federal Service.

Specialized Experience is 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 should include a thorough range of complex economic professional work and training.

Specialized experience includes all of the following: Expert knowledge of data collection programs, including technical requirements and collection methodology of component surveys.

Experience in data collection and data collection procedures. Experience providing technical assistance and guidance in the collection, processing, estimating, analysis, and interpretation of data.

Experience reviewing data and completing data quality reviews. Experience recommending changes in technical procedures to improve program effectiveness and data adequacy.

Conducting research and investigations to interpret and present economic findings; expert knowledge of data quality program requirements and an understanding of quality principles to direct subordinate staff.

For additional information, refer to the Office of Personnel Management Operating Manual for Qualification Standards, Group Coverage Qualification Standards for Professional and Scientific Positions.

Individual Occupation Requirements for Economist Series GS-110. Individual Occupation Requirement for Statistician Series GS-1530. Major Duties:

This position is the CPI Branch Chief in the San Francisco Region and performs the following duties: Ensures the quality of the data collected by all Branch staff through a comprehensive data quality program consisting of observational interviews, reinterviews, and scheduled reviews for multiple surveys.

Directs survey planning for the branch and participates in the overall survey planning for the region with the Assistant Regional Commissioner, other CPI Branch Chiefs, and national office staff, including making long-range assessments of the various price programs and surveys.

Plans, establishes and communicates work priorities to staff; provides training, counseling, staff development and evaluation; develops Branch recruitment plans; interviews, and selects candidates for vacancies and initiates other personnel actions; supports EEO affirmative action plans and objectives; provides advice, counsel, or instruction to individual employees on performance and administrative matters; initiates disciplinary measures.

Analyzes data to improve overall Branch performance. Identifies developmental and training needs for staff and develops appropriate remedies to promote consistent production and quality.

Ensures that changes in survey techniques or design are well understood and properly and promptly implemented by staff.

Participates in national level task forces which address program related issues and problems that are nationwide in scope.

Identifies and evaluates feasibility and reliability of new data resources and the impact on established technical procedures. Recommends revisions of data collection procedures.

Researches and analyzes a variety of unique and complicated data sources, and determines which source or combination of sources will yield the kind and quality of data needed to satisfy BLS national data requirements.

Directs and provides technical guidance to a branch of professional and technical employees, providing technical leadership in the following areas: Developing and improving survey collection strategies and procedures; collecting data from the most complex companies in the Consumer Price Index Programs; improving survey nonresponse; assisting branch Field Economists in developing strategies for obtaining participation from respondents critical to multiple BLS programs and surveys; leading, training, and mentoring others; explaining survey findings and data uses; exchanging information on developments relevant to the programs; and making presentations to interested groups regarding survey results.

As assigned, negotiates levels of cooperation with major United States firms addressing participation in BLS surveys from a multi-survey level.