Statistician (Social Science)

Bureau of Prisons/Federal Prison SystemWashington, District of Columbiausajobspublished 10/29/2026
Must-have:SeniorPrincipal

About the company

Corrections professionals who foster a humane and secure environment and ensure public safety by preparing individuals for successful reentry into our communities.

Your tasks

Responsible for the initiation, formulation, planning, execution, and analysis of one or more complex statistical series relating to crime and the administration of criminal justice. Independently plans and conducts descriptive and complex multivariate data analysis on specific subjects relating to crime and the administration of justice. Authors original and creative reports which require minimal edits and little or no substantive changes, and which represent a finished product reflecting a high order of professional competence.

Requirements

To be considered for the position, you must meet the following qualification requirements. Basic Requirements: 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 curses 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. In addition to the basic requirements, you must have: Education: GS-11: Three years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. Such education must have provided the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position. GS-12: There is no substitution of education for specialized experience for this grade level. OR Experience: GS-11 and GS-12: You must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade level. To be creditable, this experience must have equipped the applicant with the particular qualifications to perform successfully the duties of the position, and must typically be in or related to the position to be filled. Some examples of this qualifying experience: GS-11: Experience assisting with applying basic knowledge and understanding of mathematical and statistical techniques and social science research methods. Experience assisting in planning and development of data collection methods, design of samples, formulation of data processing specifications, identification and resolution of technical and operational problems and evaluation of the collected information. Experience in providing basic expertise and technical assistance to statistical projects conducted by State and/or local criminal justice agencies. Experience working with senior or more experienced staff applying analytical expertise and experience in conducting analysis from more than one data series, involving more than one functional area, and requiring the formulation of new variables and new areas of data in response to organizational needs. GS-12: Experience in applying knowledge and understanding of mathematical and statistical techniques and social science research methods. Experience with planning and development of data collection methods, design of samples, formulation of data processing specifications, identification and resolution of technical and operational problems and evaluation of the collected information. Experience in providing expertise and technical assistance to statistical projects conducted by State and/or local criminal justice agencies. Experience with applying analytical expertise and experience in conducting analysis from more than one data series, involving more than one functional area, and requiring the formulation of new variables and new areas of data in response to organizational needs. Combination of Education and Experience: GS-11 Only: Have a combination of education and experience. This experience must have equipped you with the qualifications to perform the major duties of this position as described above. AND Selective Placement Factor: Applicants applying for this position MUST also possess the following Selective Factors. In the event you do not possess the Selective Factors, you will be found ineligible for the position. Applicant must have demonstrable prior experience developing and applying advanced statistical models; OR Applicant must have demonstrable prior experience managing and maintaining servers and complex databases. NOTE: All applicants MUST clearly address the Selective Factor in their resume and/or upload all licenses/certifications at the time you apply. If applicable, credit will be given for paid and unpaid experience. To receive proper credit, you must show the actual time (such as the number of hours worked per week) spent in activities. Your eligibility for consideration will be based on your responses to the questions in the application.

How to apply

ONLY if education is a requirement/substitution for specialized experience, applicant MUST upload legible transcripts as verification of educational requirement. Transcripts MUST be uploaded and electronically linked from USAJOBS at the time you apply and MUST include identifying information to include School Name, Student Name, Degree and Date Awarded (if applicable). All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at a college or university that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, Click Here. Foreign Education: For information regarding foreign education requirements, please see Foreign Diploma and Credit Recognition at the U.S. Department of Education website: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications. If you are selected for this position and qualified based on education (i.e. basic education requirement and/or substitution of education), you will be required to provide an OFFICIAL transcript prior to your first day on duty.

Other

Requirements Career Transition Programs (CTAP or ICTAP): These programs apply to Federal and/or DOJ employees who meet the definition of surplus or displaced from a position in the competitive service. To receive selection priority for this position, you must: Meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria; Be rated well-qualified for the position, scoring at least half of the total possible points for the vacancy KSAs or competencies; and Submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP eligibility: A copy of the agency notice (i.e., separation notice or agency RIF letter), Most recent performance appraisal, and Most recent SF-50 showing current/former position, grade, promotion potential, and duty location. See USAJOBS' Career Transition Programs for more information. EEO Statement/Policy: The United States government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service or other non-merit factor. More information can be found here: U.S Department of Justice - Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Key Requirements: U.S. Citizenship is Required. See Special Conditions of Employment Section. Selective Service Requirement