Statistician

Summary

The Statistician will assist Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC) Core and affiliate investigators with statistical design and sample sizes for projects/ studies; advise regarding appropriate data management techniques for existing and new data; and conducting all needed statistical analyses using appropriate software. Written and oral reports will be provided by the Statistician describing statistical findings.

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Duties

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• Provides recommendations and advice on project/ study design related to data management and statistical analysis.
• Reviews data reports and statistical summaries of studies reported in the literature that are pertinent to the initiatives being conducted by the referring Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC) staff.
• Evaluates program-wide needs, sets timetables and specifications, and manages work to completion. Devises and recommends process improvements including new technology, methods, and instrumentation.
• Provides guidance and data collection and management including basic statistical compilation, analysis, validation, and trending.
• Serves as statistical reviewer of all research, education evaluation, and clinical (e.g., quality improvement) initiatives/ protocols conducted in the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC) Program. Acts as statistical consultant on all new and ongoing protocols each year. The work requires the incumbent to select and apply the most appropriate statistical techniques to be employed.
• Conducts analysis of statistical methods within each protocol to ensure that that these methods are clearly described and appropriate to meet project goals.
• Using the appropriate software (e.g., SAS), the incumbent will write and run all code needed to upload, store, clean, validate, and configure the project data and complete all statistical analyses.
• Performs analyses and presents results and reports that are clear, understandable, and accurate.
• Expert knowledge of the SAS statistical programming language for performing statistical analyses, producing reports, and reformatting data. Working knowledge of other statistical programs such as SPSS, R, STATA, and Excel.
• Knowledge of different database programs.
• Knowledge and experience working with an environment where the security of data is of paramount importance.

Work Schedule : Monday-Friday, 7:30a to 4:00p (subject to change based on the needs of the agency)

Telework : Available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description Title/PD#: 04667-0

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements ( Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements :

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Education- 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. OR
• Combination of education and experience courses as shown 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.

Grade Determinations :

Statistician (Health)- GS-12

Specialized Experience: E quivalent to the GS-11 level in the Federal service, that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) needed to successfully perform the duties of the position and that is typically in/or related to this Statistician Health GS-1530-12 position to be filled. This experience must be supported by your resume to be creditable. Specialized experience includes:

• Knowledge of research policies & procedures and of the research protocol approval process.
• Expertise in conducting geriatric human subject research; creativity, flexibility and adaptability to independently conduct the work required of each complex project.

Education Substitution: Must possess an Ph. D. or equivalent doctoral degree

Preferred Experience:

• Has greater than one (1) year exp. as Research Health Science Specialist or Research Assistant/Associate coordinating & managing a single- or multi-site human subject research and clinical quality improvement (QI) studies.
• Experience using technical writing styles and proper English grammar; ability to edit professional, technical manuscripts.
• Experience in project coordination, recruitment of subjects, subject interviewing, data collection, basic data analysis and report writing (for project management purposes), creation and maintenance of the research protocol's standard operating procedures (SOP) manual, and training other staff.
• Experience using SAS, R, or other compatible data analysis software.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit

The full performance level of this vacancy is 12.

Physical Requirements: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation, see Duties section for essential job duties of the position. May require standing, lifting, carrying, sitting, stooping, bending, puling, and pushing. May be required to wear personal protective equipment and undergo annual TB screening or testing as conditions of employment.

Work Environment: Work is performed in an office/clinic setting with minimal risks that requires normal safety precautions; the area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated. However, the work environment requires someone with the ability to handle several tasks at once in sometimes stressful situations.

Education

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit:

Additional information

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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