Interdisciplinary (Transportation Research Analyst) Direct-Hire

Summary

This position is located in the Safety Research Division, Office of Research and Engineering, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The incumbent serves as an Interdisciplinary General Engineer / Data Scientist / Statistician who plans and conducts transportation safety studies and evaluations of the effectiveness of transportation safety programs and countermeasures.

Duties

As a Interdisciplinary (Transportation Research Analyst) Direct-Hire,GS-0801/1530/1560-11, you will perform the following major duties: Plans and conducts transportation safety studies, special studies, program evaluations, and analytical projects involving transportation safety programs, countermeasures, regulations, standards, policies, and technologies. Develops analytical products used by investigators and other agency staff to evaluate accident circumstances, contributing factors, safety issues, and emerging risks, using aggregate data and statistical analysis. Performs complex quantitative and qualitative analyses involving aggregate transportation safety data and research studies leveraging Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Prepares customized data and statistical analyses, and supporting documentation, for official agency responses, briefing materials, and analytical summaries of transportation safety data, Investigation data, and other technical information when requested by internal and external stakeholders. At the GS-12/13 grade levels, in addition to duties at the lower grade level, typical duties may include: Interprets study results, identifies safety risks and emerging issues within the assigned subject areas, and develops findings, conclusions, and supporting analyses that contribute to agency safety recommendations and transportation safety priorities such as improving accident prevention. Applies expert knowledge of specialized research designs and aggregate data analysis methods to support transportation accident investigations in three or more modes of transportation. Plans, conducts, and leads quantitative and qualitative analyses of aggregate data to identify safety risks and trends, evaluate safety interventions and countermeasures, and support the examination of systemic transportation safety issues. Provides expert advice and serves as a technical resource at the agency's public meetings, hearings, and forums. Represents the agency at transportation safety conferences, technical panels, working groups, task forces, and interagency discussions involving transportation safety data, statistical analysis, and research activities. Qualifications

To be eligible for this position, applicants must meet the Basic Qualification Requirements outlined below, as well as the Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR) specified in the Education section of this announcement for the applicable occupational series for which they wish to be considered. GS-11 One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience is experience assisting with research studies by performing literature searches and reviews in transportation safety, injury prevention, or a closely related safety field; experience collecting, organizing, cleaning, and validating datasets, and conducting statistical analyses using Python or R or SQL under the guidance of senior researchers, engineers, data scientists, or statisticians; and experience contributing to written reports, data summaries, or presentations that effectively communicate research findings and key insights to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. OR 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph. D. or equivalent doctoral degree. OR a combination of Education and Experience. To be creditable, your education must be directly related to the position being filled. GS-12 One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 in the Federal Service. Experience could have been obtained in the Private sector. Specialized experience is experience contributing to transportation safety research and statistical analyses by applying established study designs, research methodologies, and statistical techniques to defined components of larger research projects such as descriptive studies, systematic and evidence-based reviews, case control studies, or other types of research studies; experience collecting, organizing, and analyzing data using Python and/or R and SQL; and experience using oral and written communication skills to clearly communicate research findings and key insights in plain language to technical and non-technical stakeholders. GS-13 One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 in the Federal Service. Experience could have been obtained in the private sector. Specialized experience is experience conducting independent research and statistical work in transportation safety, applying research study designs, methods, and statistical techniques such as descriptive studies, meta-analyses, systematic or evidence-based reviews, case-control studies, or other types of research studies experience using data science methods and techniques to perform data and statistical analysis using Python and/or R and SQL; and experience using oral and written communication skills to clearly communicate research findings, key insights, and safety recommendations in plain language to technical and non-technical stakeholders. For more information see link: General Engineering Series 0801; Statistics Series 1530; Data Science Series 1560 NOTE: IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your resume must clearly show the specialized experience and competencies related to this position. Failure to demonstrate how you possess the education, specialized experience and/or competencies will result in an "Ineligible" rating. GENERAL EDUCATION: All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at an institution that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education for it to be credited towards qualifications. For a list of schools that meet these criteria, see https://www.ed.gov/accreditation?src=rn. Applications submitted without the required supporting documents will not be accepted. An unofficial transcript; statement from the institution's registrar, dean, or other appropriate official; or equivalent documentation is acceptable at the time of application. Education submitted must be appropriately accredited by an accredited body recognized by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. For additional information, refer to the U.S. Department of Education web site at: http://www.ed.gov FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html

Education

INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENT GS-801 Job Series: A. 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree in professional engineering. To be acceptable, the curriculum must: (1) be in a school of engineering with at least one curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) as a professional engineering curriculum; or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength materials (stress-strain relationships);(c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science and physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics. OR B. Combination of education and experience -- college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following: 1. Professional registration or licensure -- Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT)1, or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board's eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions. 2. Written Test -- Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE)2 examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. 3. Specified academic courses -- Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and that included the courses specified in the basic requirements under paragraph A. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A above. 4. Related curriculum -- Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a bachelor's degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions. (The above examples of related curricula are not all-inclusive.) For GS-1530 Series: 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. For the GS-1560 Job Series: A. Degree: Mathematics, statistics, computer science, data science or field directly related to the position. The degree must be in a major field of study (at least at the baccalaureate level) that is appropriate for the position. OR B. Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major field of study (30 semester hours) as shown in paragraph A above, plus additional education or appropriate experience. For more information on Education, please refer to the Qualifications section of this announcement. How You Will Be Evaluated

This position will be filled through the Direct Hire Authority. Under this authority, competitive rating, ranking, and veterans' preference procedures do not apply. Your application will be considered based on education, training, and quality of your experience. For more information on Direct-Hire Authority visit: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/direct-hire-authority/ Your application must include your resume and required supporting documents. Please be sure that your resume includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position; failure to provide sufficient evidence in your resume may result in a "not qualified" determination. Referral: Applicants who meet the qualification requirements may be referred to a selecting official for consideration. Referred candidates will be required to participate in a structured interview (telephonic and/or in person) based on the following competencies: Writing Planning and Evaluating Technology Application Attention to Detail Teamwork Problem Solving Other Information

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, paid vacation, sick leave, holidays and various benefits as well as work life amenities such as alternate work schedules, telework, flextime, fitness and transit benefits. Moving expenses associated with permanent change of station (PCS) ARE NOT authorized for this position. A Relocation or Recruitment Incentive may be offered to highly qualified candidates. If you left Federal Employment and received a buy out and you are selected for this position, you may be required to repay the full amount of the payment. Career Transition Assistance Programs: These programs apply to employees who have been involuntarily separated from a federal service position within the competitive service or Federal service employees whose positions have been deemed surplus or no longer needed. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: (1) meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria; (2) meet the basic qualification standards (including minimum educational and experience requirements; (3) be rated well-qualified for the position with a score of 80 and above on the rating criteria for this position; and, (4) submit the appropriate documentation ( to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility. For more information visit: http://www.opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.asp Note: ICTAP eligibles must submit one of the following as proof of eligibility for the special selection priority: a separation notice; a "Notice of Personnel Action" (SF-50) documenting separation; an agency certification that you cannot be placed after injury compensation has been terminated; an OPM notification that your disability annuity has been terminated; OR a Military Department or National Guard Bureau notification that you are retired under 5 U.S.C. 8337(h) or 8456. All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. OPM's web site at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications. Ad-hoc/situational telework as determined by the agency policy. Multiple and subsequent vacancies may be filled from this announcement. NTSB uses E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit http://www.uscis.gov/e-verify. The National Transportation Safety Board provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should contact the National Transportation Safety Board directly. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.