economist Sacramento, CA
Job description
Duties
As an Economist, you will direct or conduct research on developments in finance, banking, food sector, and general and rural economy. Specific duties include:
- Conducting research and preparing various complex economic analyses of factors impacting Farm Credit System (FCS) Institutions or the System.
- Constructs and maintains databases containing financial, economic, and environmental information to support the Agency's risk evaluation activities and management's decision-making processes.
- Tracks conditions and changes in finance, banking, food sector, and both the general and rural economy
- Develops and uses a wide range of sources including structured and unstructured data, publications, agency documents and contacts with industry, professional, regulatory and policy groups.
- Leads and/or participates in joint projects requiring financial, credit, policy, or economic research and analysis.
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
- Must be a U.S. citizen.
- One year probationary period, unless previously served.
- Suitability for Federal employment, as determined by a background investigation.
- Submission of a financial disclosure report may be required.
- Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
- Complete the initial online assessment and USAHire Assessment, if required
Qualifications
In addition to the basic requirements above, your application must demonstrate the meeting the specialized experience statement(s) below.
You may qualify at the VH-38 (GS-12) band level if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the VH-37 (GS-11) band level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. Qualifying experience includes:
- Experience using and maintaining databases containing financial, economic and environmental information to support risk evaluation activities.
- Experience conducting or assisting in research developments in finance, banking, food sector and general and rural economy.
You may qualify at the VH-39 (GS-13) band level if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the VH-38 (GS-12) band level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. Qualifying experience includes:
- Experience developing and maintaining tools and models for evaluating financial and economic impacts.
- Experience conducting research and preparing economic analyses.
You may qualify at the VH-40 (GS-14) band level if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the VH-39 (GS-13) band level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. Qualifying experience includes:
- Experience participating in or leading projects requiring financial, credit or economic research and analysis.
- Experience presenting oral and written briefings for agency management and staff on financial, economic and policy developments.
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.
Education
If this position has a positive education requirement as part of the Basic Qualification Requirements, you MUST submit copies of your transcript(s) that include: your name, the name of the educational institution, course titles, number of semester/quarter hours, grade(s) earned and degree(s) awarded. Unless otherwise stated: (1) official or unofficial transcripts are acceptable at the time of application, or (2) you may submit a list with all of your courses, grades, semester, year, and credit for the course. Educational institutions must be accredited by one of the accrediting agencies or associations recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. All materials must be submitted by the closing date of the announcement.
Pass/Fail Courses: If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) were 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 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 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.
Additional information
- Only experience and education obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered.
- All FCA employees are subject to the conflict of interest laws and Standards of Ethical Conduct imposed upon all employees of the Executive Branch of the Federal Government and may be required to file a Financial Disclosure Report.
- FCA's supplemental ethics regulations restrict certain FCA employees concerning their direct or indirect interests in, or connections with, Farm Credit System institutions. These rules also require all employees to obtain approval for outside employment or business activities. Please contact the HR Division for additional information on these rules.
- FCA uses E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees.
- This announcement may be used to fill similar vacancies.
The base salary range for each grade level is as follows:
VH-38 (GS-12 equivalent): $76,203 to $125,734
VH-39 (GS-13 equivalent): $87,183 to $143,851
VH-40 (GS-14 equivalent): $99,744 to $164,577
The following locality percentages, depending upon geographic location, will be added to the base salary:
McLean, VA: 32.11%
Bloomington, MN: 23.78%
Denver, CO: 22.33%
Dallas, TX: 24.28%
Sacramento, CA: 26.48%
Benefits
Review our benefits
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps including submitting an application and completing the application questionnaire. Your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the job qualifications listed in this announcement. If you are minimally qualified for this job, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses on the Occupational Questionnaire.
Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):
- Oral Communication
- Written Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Project Management
This position requires an online assessment; the online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. The assessment includes a cut score based on the minimum level of required proficiency in these critical general competencies. You must meet or exceed the cut score to be considered. You will not be considered for the position if you score below the cut score or fail to complete the assessment.
Your application will be evaluated and rated under Category Rating and Selection procedures. Eligible candidates will be placed in one of three pre-defined quality categories, described below. The category assignment is a measure of the degree in which your background matches the competencies required for this position.
- Highly-Qualified Category: In addition to meeting minimum qualifications, applicants must fully demonstrate proficiency in all major aspects of the position.
- Well-Qualified Category: In addition to meeting minimum qualifications, applicants must demonstrate proficiency in some but not all of the major aspects of the position.
- Qualified Category: In addition to meeting minimum qualifications, applicants must demonstrate a basic level of knowledge, skill and ability of the position.
Under category rating procedures, veterans' preference points and the "rule of three" are not applied. The rights of eligible veterans are protected by placement on the list ahead of non-preference eligibles within each pre-defined quality category. Preference eligibles who meet minimum qualification requirements and who have a compensable service-connected disability of at least 10 percent (i.e., CPS and CP) are listed in the Highly-Qualified category except when the position is being filled is scientific or professional at the VH-35 (GS-09) grade level or higher.
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) be rated well-qualified for the position with a score of 85 or above based on the competencies listed above; and 3) 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
Benefits
Review our benefits
Required Documents
As a new or existing federal employee, you and your family may have access to a range of benefits. Your benefits depend on the type of position you have - whether you're a permanent, part-time, temporary or an intermittent employee. You may be eligible for the following benefits, however, check with your agency to make sure you're eligible under their policies.
- Resume. Highlighting relevant work experience and education (if applicable) as it relates to this position. Your resume must include the following information (1) paid and non-paid work experience including your position title, start and end dates (month/year) of employment, average number of hours worked per week and salary (separated by position series and grade for each federal position, if applicable ; (2) indication of the knowledge, skills and education you have that are pertinent to this position; (3) specific duties you have performed as a regular part of your job with indications of the level of responsibility and complexity of work; (4) Names and contact information for your current and/or previous supervisor(s).
- Transcript(s), if qualifying based on education. All applicants must submit a copy of their college/university unofficial transcript(s) for positions with a positive education requirement. See the Education section of the announcement for details on education requirements for this position. If you are selected, you must provide official transcripts to verify your education prior to your entry on duty.
- CTAP/ICTAP Documentation, if applicable (e.g. Certification of Expected Separation, Reduction-In-Force Separation Notice, or Notice of Proposed Removal; SF-50 that documents the RIF separation action; and most recent performance appraisal).
- Veterans' Preference documentation, if applicable (e.g. DD-214 Member Copy 4 showing type of discharge/character of service; Current Active Duty members must submit a certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions dated within 120 days; SF-15 Form and related documentation; VA letter.)
- Worker's Compensation Separation. Agency certification of inability to place employee AND Notification of Separation OR Separation SF-50.
- Military Reserve or National Guard Technician Special Disability Retirement Annuity under 5 U.S.C. 8337(h) or 8456. Certification of special disability retirement annuity from a military department or National Guard Bureau AND Separation SF-50 of the last position held.
Failure to submit any of the above mentioned required documents may result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted.If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
How to Apply
To apply for this position, you must complete the online application and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section above. A complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration.
- To begin, click Apply to access the online application. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account to apply. If you do not have a USAJOBS account, you will need to create one before beginning the application.
- Follow the prompts to select your resume and/or other supporting documents to be included with your application package. You will have the opportunity to upload additional documents to include in your application before it is submitted. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
- After acknowledging you have reviewed your application package, complete the "Include Personal Information" section as you deem appropriate and click to continue with the application process.
- You will be taken to the online application which you must complete in order to apply for the position. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation is included with your application package, and submit the application.
If applying online poses an extreme hardship, you may request alternate application procedures to submit your application package by fax. Contact the FCA HR Division between 8:15 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. ET, at least two business days prior to the closing date of this announcement at [email protected] or 703-883-4135. The alternate application package must be received in the Human Resources Division no later than 11:59 p.m. EST on the closing date of this announcement. NOTE: Paper applications and documents sent via mail will NOT BE ACCEPTED.
If you need technical assistance with your online application, you can contact the USAJOBS customer support desk Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET, and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. You can find answers to many of your questions on the USAJOBS Help Center.Agency contact information
FCA HR Division
Address
Office of Agency Services, Human Resources Division
1501 Farm Credit Drive
McLean, VA 22102
USNext steps
The questionnaire will assess your qualifications for the job, and will be used to identify the best qualified applicants to be referred to the hiring manager for further consideration and possible interviews. Your ratings in this Assessment Questionnaire are subject to evaluation and verification based on the documents and references you submit. Later steps in the selection process are specifically designed to verify your ratings. Deliberate attempts to falsify information may be grounds for not selecting you or for dismissing you from the position/agency during the probationary period.
Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. Your application will be evaluated. You will receive another notification about the status of your application. You can check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USAJOBS account and selecting "Application Status." We recommend that you also opt to receive USAJOBS status update emails.
Once referred, you may be asked to complete a structured interview, written demonstration, and/or fit interview as part of the multiple hurdle assessment process. Deliberate attempts to falsify information may be grounds for not selecting you or for dismissing you from the position/agency during the probationary period.
Please notify us if your contact information changes after the closing date of the announcement.Fair and Transparent
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
- Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy
- Reasonable accommodation policy
- Financial suitability
- Selective Service
- New employee probationary period
- Signature and false statements
- Privacy Act
- Social security number request
Required Documents
- Resume. Highlighting relevant work experience and education (if applicable) as it relates to this position. Your resume must include the following information (1) paid and non-paid work experience including your position title, start and end dates (month/year) of employment, average number of hours worked per week and salary (separated by position series and grade for each federal position, if applicable ; (2) indication of the knowledge, skills and education you have that are pertinent to this position; (3) specific duties you have performed as a regular part of your job with indications of the level of responsibility and complexity of work; (4) Names and contact information for your current and/or previous supervisor(s).
- Transcript(s), if qualifying based on education. All applicants must submit a copy of their college/university unofficial transcript(s) for positions with a positive education requirement. See the Education section of the announcement for details on education requirements for this position. If you are selected, you must provide official transcripts to verify your education prior to your entry on duty.
- CTAP/ICTAP Documentation, if applicable (e.g. Certification of Expected Separation, Reduction-In-Force Separation Notice, or Notice of Proposed Removal; SF-50 that documents the RIF separation action; and most recent performance appraisal).
- Veterans' Preference documentation, if applicable (e.g. DD-214 Member Copy 4 showing type of discharge/character of service; Current Active Duty members must submit a certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions dated within 120 days; SF-15 Form and related documentation; VA letter.)
- Worker's Compensation Separation. Agency certification of inability to place employee AND Notification of Separation OR Separation SF-50.
- Military Reserve or National Guard Technician Special Disability Retirement Annuity under 5 U.S.C. 8337(h) or 8456. Certification of special disability retirement annuity from a military department or National Guard Bureau AND Separation SF-50 of the last position held.
Failure to submit any of the above mentioned required documents may result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted.
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
This job is open to
The public
U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.
About Farm Credit Administration
CEO: Dallas P. Tonsager
Revenue: Unknown / Non-Applicable
Size: 201 to 500 Employees
Type: Government
Website: www.fca.gov
Year Founded: 1933
