Social Scientist

Summary

WHAT IS Taxpayer Services? A description of the business units can be found at: https://www.jobs.irs.gov/about/who/business-divisions Position(s) are to be filled in following area(s): TS - Operation Support - Operations Support Strategies & Solutions REVIEW THE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BELOW FOR FURTHER DETAILS

Duties

The following are the duties of this position at the full working level. If this vacancy includes more than one grade and you are selected at a lower grade level, you will have the opportunity to learn to perform these duties and receive training to help you grow in this position. As a technical authority, the incumbent assumes full responsibility for the initiation, planning, implementation, controlling, modifying, and executing of all or part of an entire social economic and social psychology research project, specification of the methodology to be used, preparation of appropriate specifications and procedures, and review of computer system specifications and materials, and instructions needed for assuring the adequacy of the study's design. In addition, reviews on an as needed basis the results of the social science research process. Resolves very complex behavioral and social economic research problems requiring incumbent's in-depth knowledge to locate and explore the areas of research in relation to the agency's program and needs, to take complete responsibility for formulating and carrying through research plans, to assume full technical responsibility for the interpretation, and application of findings, and to develop and present recommendations to support these plans. Provides management guidance in determining the scope, goals, and schedules for future social economic and social psychology programs. Troubleshoots major problems to resolve bottlenecks at any step in a social science program or research project. Serves as authoritative technical advisor, and participates in executive-level meetings within the large division as a representative of management to provide technical advice and counsel on policy responsibilities. STANDARD POSITION DESCRIPTIONS (SPD): PD95236 Visit the IRS SPD Library to access the position descriptions. Requirements

Probationary Period - A person who is required to go through a probationary period and then is transferred, promoted, demoted, or reassigned before he or she completes such period is required to complete the remainder of the probationary period in the new position. Government Credit Card - Obtain and use a Government-issued charge card for business-related travel. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS SHOWN IN QUALIFICATIONS SECTION Qualifications

Federal experience is not required. Experience may have been gained in the public sector, private sector or through Volunteer Service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-timework is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/day/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week, on your resume. You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement. QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: BASIC REQUIREMENTS: A Degree in behavioral or social science; or related disciplines appropriate to the position. OR A combination of education and experience that provided the applicant with knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in the field. OR Four years of appropriate experience that demonstrated that the applicant has acquired knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in the field. AND SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE GS-14: In addition to the basic requirements, you must have 1 year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-13 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position includes: professional knowledge of the methods and principles of social economic and social psychology to identify behavioral segments and profiles of taxpayer behavior, to determine conclusions, solve complex problems within the assigned area, draw rational social economic statistical conclusions and prepare comprehensive reports. Experience conducting quantitative and qualitative social science research and analyzing results to provide operational recommendations and inform future research for the stakeholders. Experience include developing, analyzing, and presenting social science information statistically, recognizing and adopting new techniques, preparing comprehensive reports and presenting key findings to stakeholders. Your experience must demonstrate the ability to independently carry out research assignments using social science and statistical methods to define populations, profile and evaluate market segments to better understand taxpayer behavior for application to IRS service and taxpayer compliance. Specifically, your experience must demonstrate technical responsibility for various phases of initiation, formulation, planning, execution, and control of social science studies and/or continuous projects to recognize and evaluate significant and critical factors as well as to understand taxpayer behavior. Demonstrated experience reviewing internal and external research papers, articles and other reports that use social science data to provide comments on technical accuracy as well as proper application of social science methods and statistical analysis. AND You must also meet the following requirement(s): TIME AFTER COMPETITIVE APPOINTMENT (TACA): By the closing date (or if this is an open continuous announcement, by the cut-off date) specified in this job announcement, current civilian employees must have completed at least 90 days of federal civilian service since their latest non-temporary appointment from a competitive referral certificate, known as time after competitive appointment. For this requirement, a competitive appointment is one where you applied to and were appointed from an announcement open to "All US Citizens" TIME IN GRADE (TIG): For positions above the GS-05, applicants must meet applicable time-in-­grade requirements to be considered eligible. One year (52 weeks) at the next lower grade level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the grade you are applying for. For positions at the GS-05, you cannot advance to the GS-05 if you have held a GS-02 in the past 52 weeks. There is no TIG restriction for GS-02, 03 or 04 positions. For more information on qualifications please refer to OPM's Qualifications Standards.

Education

A college or university degree generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools which meet these criteria, please refer to Department of Education Accreditation page. FOREIGN EDUCATION: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the requirements. You must show proof the education credentials have been deemed to be at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education program. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. Click here (Section 3, Explanation of Terms) or here for Foreign Education Credentialing instructions. We recommend choosing an evaluator from a member organization of one of the following national associations of credential evaluation services: National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) or Association of International Credentials Evaluators (AICE). How You Will Be Evaluated

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. Applicants who disqualify themselves will not be evaluated further. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): Business Results – Efficiency Business Results – Quality Customer Satisfaction – Application Customer Satisfaction – Knowledge Employee Satisfaction - Employee Contribution Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. Rating: Your application will be evaluated in accordance with the Service's Merit Promotion Plan. A quality group rating will be used to rank and select eligible candidates. If qualified, you will be assigned to one of three quality level groups, Superior/Best Qualified, Highly Qualified and Qualified. Referral: Eligible applicants rated in the highest quality group, may be referred to a selecting official for consideration. Candidates, if required to participate in a selection interview (telephonic and/or in person at the discretion of the Selecting Official in accordance with hiring practices), will be interviewed in quality group order. We will not reimburse costs related to the interview such as travel to and from the interview site. Performance Appraisal and Awards - Will not be used in determining your overall rating. Any performance appraisal/evaluation and award documentation you provide will be forwarded to the selecting official. The selecting official will review this documentation and give it due weight consideration during the overall selection process. IRS employees may obtain their most recent awards listing at https://persinfo.web.irs.gov/. If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee (eligible for the Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), you must receive a score of Highly Qualified or better to be rated as "well qualified" to receive special selection priority. Benefits

As a current employee, you know the great benefits we offer. Should you have any questions about benefits, please contact the Employee Resource Center (ERC) at 1-866-743-5748 option #1 for ERC. Other Information

Consider each location carefully when applying. If you are selected for a location, that location will become your official post of duty. In the event that a building is closed due to rent management, new hires may be placed in a local commuting location. Additional jobs may be filled from this announcement or any other source to fill these vacancies. Alternative work schedule, staggered work hours may be available. Salary: General Schedule (GS) Locality Pay tables may be found under Salaries & Wages.