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This position located within the Market and Trade Economics Division (MTED), Agricultural Policy and Modeling Branch (APM).
MTED conducts research on U.S. and global economic factors affecting markets for agricultural products. The program supplies information and analysis for decisions by USDA policy and program officials, other Executive Branch decision makers, and Congress and its staff.
APM provides an integrated and comprehensive view of the global agricultural economy and its relationship to U.S. agriculture, and provides decision-makers with data, projections, and analyses. APM develops models and analytical frameworks designed to respond to agricultural and policy issues relevant to U.S. competitiveness.
You will serve as an Agricultural Economist working in the area of data management, computer programming, and modeling analysis for the USDA Baseline. You will work directly with the Baseline Coordinators to assure effective delivery of timely, high quality products and analysis to the Office of the Secretary and other Departmental Officials. You will be responsible for providing authoritative technical analysis and managing and updating large datasets covering agricultural data for multiple countries and commodities. You will be responsible for linking these datasets to models of the agricultural sectors for multiple countries to produce long-run projections for the farm sector that cover agricultural commodities, agricultural trade, and aggregate indicators for the sector. You will also be responsible for managing, updating, and writing sophisticated computer programs that are used to produce the projections.
07/18/2018 to 07/31/2018
$96,970 - $126,062 per year
GS 13
Occasional travel - Occasional travel may be required
Yes—Relocation expenses will be authorized
Permanent
Full-Time
13
No
ERS-S18N-0014
505127800
Major Duties may include, but are not limited to:
Identifies the problems that need to be addressed by economic analysis in the incumbent’s assigned areas of study and takes initiative to address those problems.
Coordinates activities with other staff to identify and address important interactions within assigned areas of study. Identifies and analyzes factors shaping the evolution of assigned areas of study. Prepares major or entire sections of assigned areas in various publications and/or other information resources.
Participates with the supervisor, the Baseline Coordinators (Domestic, International, and Modeling coordinators), and others in identifying analysis to be done, which may involve joint efforts with subject matter experts in the agency, other government agencies, or research organizations.
Plans and organizes projects and studies, determines approaches, and selects analytical methods and theories to achieve desired objectives. The incumbent is responsible for formulating research plans, developing methodology, determining data needs, and defining resources needed to carry out complex economic research and analysis.
Provides authoritative technical analysis, managing and updating large datasets covering agricultural data for multiple countries and commodities; linking these datasets to models of the agricultural sectors for multiple countries to produce long-run projections for the farm sector that cover agricultural commodities, agricultural trade, and aggregate indicators for the sector; managing, updating, and writing sophisticated computer programs that are used to produce the projections.
Collects, edits, analyzes, evaluates, and interprets published and unpublished data pertinent to assignments; Identifies and studies data sources needed for analysis of assigned areas of study and determines the strengths and weeknesses of those data sources.
Assembles or oversees the assembly of relevant data (datasets/databases), and uses sophisticated methods in the development of analysis. Uses empirical methods (economic, mathematical, and statistical) to analyze structural models of agricultural sectors and link them across countries to determine market clearing prices.
Takes the overall lead in assembling and maintaining multi-year datasets ensuring data quality; developing protocols for data editing processes and other identification; and identifying and proposing solutions for new and unexpected data challenges.
US Citizens and Nationals; no prior Federal experience is required.
Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including the following specialized experience and/or education, as identified by grade level.
In order to be found minimally qualified, you must meet the following education requirement, specialized experience requirement, AND selective placement factor.
Basic Requirements:
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.
Specialized Experience:
GS-13: Qualifying experience for the GS-13 level includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-12 which is directly related to the work of this position and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. For this position, specialized experience is experience directing the design and implementation of a study of a complex program or initiative using economics, operations research, management science, statistics, or decision science methods and having been responsible for all stages of at least one technical, applied research study which includes project planning, conceptualization, implementation, and write-up of results.
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; religious; 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.
Selective Placement Factor:
Experience writing computer programs using at least one of the following programming languages: C/C++/C#, Python, Java, Fortran, R, MATLAB, or GAUSS in order to perform numerical computations.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Applications will be evaluated in accordance with Office of Personnel Managements (OPM) Delegated Examining Procedures using category rating. Applicants who meet basic minimum qualifications will be placed in one of two or three categories: Best Qualified, Well Qualified, or Qualified. Within these categories, applicants eligible for veteran's preference will receive selection priority over non-veterans. Category placement will be determined based on applicants quality of experience and the extent they possess the following knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) or competencies:
Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your rating may be lowered to more accurately reflect the submitted documentation. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action up to including removal from the Federal service.
Clicking the link below will present a preview of the application form; i.e. the online questionnaire. The application form link below will only provide a preview and does not initiate the application process. To initiate the online application process, click the "Apply Online" button to the right.
A resume should be provided. It should include relevent work experience (start/end dates stated in month/year. desription of duties and salary), applicable education at a minimum, and your contact information. For current or previous Federal employees, it should also include the Pay Plan, Series, and Grade for each work experience history.
Please provide a copy of your college transcript(s) which support those qualifications for which you wish to have considered.
The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, illegible fax transmissions, delays in the mail service, your system failure, etc. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration.
• Resume that includes: 1) personal information such as name, address, contact information; 2) education; 3) detailed work experience related to this position as described in the major duties including work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment; title, series, grade (if applicable); 4) supervisors phone number and whether or not the supervisor may be contacted for a reference check; 5) other qualifications.
• If education is required or you are using education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts. An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application; however, if you are selected, you will be required to submit official transcripts prior to entering on duty. Education must have been successfully obtained from an accredited school, college or university. If any education was completed at a foreign institute, you must submit with your application evidence that the institute was appropriately accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as equivalent to U.S. education standards. There are private organizations that specialize in this evaluation and a fee is normally associated with this service. For a list of private organizations that evaluate education, visit http://www.naces.org/members.htm. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.
• If claiming veterans preference, you must submit a DD214, Certificate of Release from Active Duty, which shows dates of service and discharge under honorable conditions. If currently on active duty you must submit a certification of expected discharge or release from active duty service under honorable conditions not later than 120 days after the date the certification is submitted. Veterans preference must be verified prior to appointment. Without this documentation, you will not receive veterans preference and your application will be evaluated based on the material(s) submitted.
• If claiming 10-point veterans preference you must provide the DD214 or certification requirements (see above bullet), plus the proof of entitlement of this preference as listed on the SF-15 Application for 10-point Veterans Preference. The SF-15 should be included but is not required. Failure to submit these documents could result in the determination that there is insufficient documentation to support your claim for 10-point preference. For more information on veterans' preference see http://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/vetpref/
• Surplus or displaced employees eligible for CTAP, RPL, or ICTAP priority must provide: proof of eligibility (RIF separation notice, notice of proposed removal for declining a transfer of function or directed reassignment to another commuting area, notice of disability annuity termination), SF-50 documenting separation (as applicable), and your most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with your application per 5 CFR 330.
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
Please read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement.
Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00a.m. - 4:00p.m., Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, contact the Agency Contact listed below well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages must be complete and submitted no later than noon ET on the closing date of the announcement in order to be entered into the system prior to its closing.
This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis; contact the Agency Contact to request this.
To begin, click "Apply Online" and follow the instructions to complete the Assessment Questionnaire and attach your resume and all required documents.
NOTE: You must verify that uploaded documents from USAJOBS transfer into the Agency's staffing system. Applicants may combine all like required documents (e.g., all SF-50s) into one or more files and scan for uploading into the application. Each file must not exceed 3MB. Grouping like documents into files will simplify the application process. Documents must be in one of the following formats: GIF, JPEG, JPG, PDF, PNG, RTF, or Word (DOC or DOCX). Uploaded documents may not require a password, digital signature, or other encryption to open.
Your application will be reviewed to verify that you meet the eligibility and qualification requirements for the position prior to issuing referral lists to the selecting official. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted. Log in to your USAJOBS account at https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login to check your application status. We expect to make a final job offer approximately 40 days after the deadline for applications.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/505127800. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
Learn more about
The Economic Research Service (ERS) conducts broad programs of economic and other social science research and analysis relating to agriculture, food, natural resources and rural America for use by public and private decision makers. ERS' clients are the executive and legislative branches; environmental, consumer and public interest groups, including farm and industry groups; and the general public.
USDA is a great place to start or continue your career. USDA is ranked as one of the top 10 "Best Places to Work in the Federal Government" by the Partnership for Public Service (http://bestplacestowork.org/BPTW/rankings/overall/large). Rankings are based on employee feedback regarding satisfaction with their work experience.
