Railroad Retirement Board

Summary
This position is located in the Bureau of the Actuary & Research, Railroad Retirement Board. The incumbent is professionally responsible for planning and conducting various economic, statistical and financial studies, projects, and cost calculations for programs administered by the agency under the provisions of the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA), Railroad Unemployment and Insurance Act (RUIA), and/or other pertinent laws.
This job announcement may be used to fill one or more vacancies.
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Duties
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This is a bargaining unit position. This position is represented by the Council of AFGE Locals in the Board.
WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE PATHWAYS PROGRAM? For additional information regarding the Pathways Program, please refer to the following website: Students & Recent Graduates
The RRB Recent Graduates Program affords developmental experiences in the Federal Government intended to promote possible careers in the civil service to individuals who have recently graduated from qualifying educational institutions or programs. Successful applicants are placed in a dynamic, developmental program with the potential to lead to a civil service career in the Federal Government. Following the completion of program requirements, selectees may be considered for non-competitive conversion to a career-conditional or term appointment. All conversion requirements will be identified in the Participant Agreement. Program requirements include but are not limited to:

• Successful completion of at least 1-year of continuous service
• Completion of at least 40 hours of interactive training
• Demonstration of successful job performance
• Meet the qualification standards for the position to which the Recent Graduate may be converted
• Conversion to the competitive service is not implied nor guaranteed.

As a Pathways Recent Graduate Economist/Statistician/Data Scientist, you will:

• Collect, tabulate, analyze, interpret, and present economic and statistical data used in programs administered by the agency under the provisions of the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA), Railroad Unemployment and Insurance Act (RUIA), Railroad Retirement Tax Act (RRTA), Social Security Act (SSA), and/or other pertinent laws.
• Conduct studies and analyses on proposals to modify the Acts.
• Prepare materials for a variety of agency publications.
• Identify and oversee the collection and development of relevant data.
• Develop and identify data required for use in the management and direction of the programs.
• Prepare ad hoc reports and conduct studies as directed.
• Be responsible for contributing to the analysis and review of large amounts of relevant data.
• Make recommendations resulting from analysis and reviews of data. Analysis and recommendations developed can influence the management and oversight of the benefit programs and be used to formulate policy, address program vulnerabilities and ensure the integrity of the programs.
• Address irregularities, anomalies, or suspicious patterns or trends in the programs.

Requirements
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Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen
• Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered for Selective Service
• Suitable for Federal employment, determined by a background investigation
• May be required to successfully complete a probationary period
• Complete the online assessment
• All selectees must sign a Pathways Participant Agreement.

Qualifications
Basic Requirements for Economist Series 0110:

1. Degree: economics, that included at least 21 semester hours in economics and 3 semester hours in statistics, accounting, or calculus.
   OR
2. Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in economics, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Basic Requirements for Statistician Series 1530:

1. 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
2. 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.

Basic Requirements for Data Science Series 1560:

1. 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
2. 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.

In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements listed above, applicants must have the specialized experience and/or directly related education as defined below.
For Grade GS-07:
A. One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-05 grade level in the Federal service that includes assisting with the planning and conducting data collection studies or projects; analyzing data sets; assisting with conducting analysis using various computer applications and software such as QMF, SAS, R, SQL, and Excel; and assisting in developing a portion of a technical report. OR
B. One full year of graduate level education in an accredited or pre-accredited college or university in one of the following related fields: Economics, Statistics, Data Science, Mathematics, Actuarial Science, or Computer Science. The education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. OR
C. Superior Academic Achievement: Completion of a 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree in a field of study that demonstrates the competencies required by this position with either (1) a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 based on a 4.0 scale; (2) a 3.5 GPA based on a 4.0 scale for all required courses completed in a qualifying major field of study at either the time of application or during the last two years of your undergraduate curriculum; (3) class standing of upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or a major subdivision of the college; or, (4) membership in a National Scholastic Honor Society certified by the Association of College Honor Societies, excluding freshman honor societies; If applying under this provision, copies of transcripts (from each school attended) for undergraduate courses must be submitted with your application, and originals must be provided prior to entering on duty. OR
D. A combination of education and experience as listed above.
For Grade GS-09:
A. One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service that includes planning and conducting data collection studies or projects; providing analysis and recommendations from analysis of data sets; conducting analysis using various computer applications and software such as QMF, SAS, R, SQL, and Excel; and preparing detailed concise technical reports. OR
B. A Master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in a related field such as Economics, Statistics, Data Science, Mathematics, Actuarial Science, or Computer Science. OR
C. A combination of specialized experience and qualifying graduate education beyond the first year of graduate study that together meet the requirements for this position.
In addition to the above, you must have, within the previous 2 years*, completed all educational requirements for a qualifying associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying institution. Education requirements must be met by October 10, 2026.
*Veterans who, due to a military service obligation, were precluded from applying to a Recent Graduates Program during any portion of the 2 year eligibility period may have their eligibility period extended so that they receive the full 2 years of eligibility. The remaining 2-year eligibility period will begin upon his or her release or discharge from active duty. The veteran's eligibility period may not extend beyond 6 years from the date of completion of all requirements of an academic course of study.
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.
Only experience and education obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered.
Documenting experience: IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Qualifications are based on breadth/level of experience. In addition to describing duties performed, applicants must provide the exact dates of each period of employment (from MM/YY to MM/YY) and the number of hours worked per week if part time. As qualification determinations cannot be made when resumes do not include the required information, failure to provide this information may result in disqualification. Applicants are encouraged to use the USAJOBS Resume Builder to develop their federal resume.
Do not copy and paste the duties or specialized experience from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.
Education
You MUST provide transcripts or other documentation to support your educational claims.
Official or unofficial transcripts are acceptable. All materials must be submitted by the closing date of the announcement. Official transcripts will be required if selected.
PASS/FAIL COURSES:
If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) was taken on a pass/fail basis, your claim of superior academic achievement must be based upon class standing or membership in an honor society.
GRADUATE EDUCATION:
One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours that your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study.
FOREIGN EDUCATION:
If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that 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, click here.
Additional information
If you are a male applicant who was born after 12/31/59 you are required to register under the Military Selective Service Act; the Defense Authorization Act of 1986 requires that you be registered or you are not eligible for appointment in this agency.
Applying online is highly encouraged. 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 to be entered into the system prior to its closing.
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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.
Benefits
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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.