Summary GAO supports the Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities to legislate, appropriate, and oversee the Federal government for the benefit of the American people. GAO, commonly referred to as the investigative arm of Congress, or the congressional watchdog, is independent and nonpartisan. GAO assists Congress in making informed decisions by providing information on policy and program issues, as well as by providing recommendations to make government more effective and responsive. Responsibilities At the Band IIB, the incumbent serves as either a Sr. Mathematical Statistician or Senior Statistician providing consultative services to engagement teams and advising in the selection and implementation of appropriate statistical methodologies for engagements in accordance with GAO and professional statistical standards. Duties of Band IIB staff involve, but are not limited to, the following: Oversees the design, researchable question development, data collection and analysis, message development, and reporting writing; and ensures the quality and value of the final product. Advises on data collection methods for engagements. Selects, refines, organizes and presents factual information and analysis in support of engagement objectives. Collaborates with engagement team members on the scope, form, content and depth of analysis. Contributes to primary data collection. Evaluates and analyzes data to determine relevance and reliability. In conjunction with team members, develops findings and recommendations and prepares products that provide factual and analytical information in a clear, balanced manner that meets the needs of congressional clients. Performs statistical analyses, interprets and presents statistical results, and advises staff on matters relating to statistical issues, data analysis and evidence. Ensures products meet GAO standards for quality and are in conformance with policy and requirements. Requirements Conditions of Employment You must meet all qualification requirements by the effective date of promotion. You must meet both the education and experience requirements for this position by 5/18/2025 (effective date of promotion). Transcripts to verify your education should also be submitted with your application. Job locations are based on agency needs. Generally, you will remain in your current official duty station (ODS) if selected. However, based on agency needs, you may be offered a position in a different location and if you accept, your ODS will change. Qualifications Basic Qualification Requirements: The Mathematical Statistician Series, 1529 and the Statistics Series, 1530 both have positive education requirements. Go to the Education section of this announcement to see the specific requirements for each series. AND Minimum Qualification Requirements: In addition to the education requirement, you must have one year (52 weeks) of GAO experience equivalent to the next lower band level (PE-IIA, PT-II, PT-III, PA-II, MS-I) in a position demonstrating experience performing sampling, estimation, and other statistical analysis independently, to meet overall objectives by May 18, 2025 (effective date of promotions). Education Basic requirements for Mathematical Statistician (1529 series) Qualification standards A. Degree: that included 24 semester hours of mathematics and statistics, of which at least 12 semester hours were in mathematics and 6 semester hours were in statistics. OR B. Combination of education and experience -- at least 24 semester hours of mathematics and statistics, including at least 12 hours in mathematics and 6 hours in statistics, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. Evaluation of Education: Courses acceptable toward meeting the mathematics course requirement of paragraphs A or B above must have included at least four of the following: differential calculus, integral calculus, advanced calculus, theory of equations, vector analysis, advanced algebra, linear algebra, mathematical logic, differential equations, or any other advanced course in mathematics for which one of these was a prerequisite. Courses in mathematical statistics or probability theory with a prerequisite of elementary calculus or more advanced courses will be accepted toward meeting the mathematics requirements, with the provision that the same course cannot be counted toward both the mathematics and the statistics requirement. Evaluation of Experience: The experience offered in combination with educational courses to meet the requirements in paragraph B above should include evidence of statistical work such as (a) sampling, (b) collecting, computing, and analyzing statistical data, and (c) applying known statistical techniques to data such as measurement of central tendency, dispersion, skewness, sampling error, simple and multiple correlation, analysis of variance, and tests of significance. Without other indications of statistical experience, work required in the processing of numerical or quantified information by other than statistical methods is not considered appropriate qualifying experience. Examples of such nonqualifying work include statistical clerical work; statistical drafting; calculation of totals, averages, percentages, or other arithmetic summations; preparation of simple tables or charts; or verification of data by simple comparison or proofreading. Basic requirements for Statistician (1530 series) Qualification standards 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 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 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. FOREIGN EDUCATION: Education completed outside of the United States must be deemed equivalent to that gained in conventional/accredited U.S. education programs to be acceptable for Federal employment. Most foreign education is not accredited by an accrediting body that is recognized by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of 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. For further information, visit: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | International Affairs Office (ed.gov) Additional Information For information on the number promotion opportunities by team, please see the GAO-wide Notice published and distributed (via email) earlier this month. Note: There are six (6) positions in ARM that may be filled from any of the advertised Band IIB vacancy announcements. If you have an approved Flexible Work Agreement (FWA) and you are selected for promotion, you must complete and submit a new flexible work application for approval. Your new flexible work arrangement will be reviewed and decided based on Agency policy governing these arrangements. Additionally, you may have a 90-day waiting period to submit an arrangement changing your ODS to a different locality area. BARGAINING UNIT STATUS: This position is included in the bargaining unit. If you would like to apply for Specialist and/or National Security promotion opportunities (ARM, DCM, HSJ, IAT, NRE, IT Analyst, Financial Auditor, etc.), you must submit a separate application directly to the appropriate announcement for each Specialist and/or National Security position for which you wish to be considered. This position is a moderate risk public trust position with possible upgrade to a Secret or Top Secret or SCI clearance depending on the type of engagement the employee will be assigned to within the mission teams. REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION: GAO provides reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities. To request accommodation, please email ReasonableAccommodations@gao.gov. The U.S. Government Accountability Office's policy is to provide equal employment opportunity for all regardless of race, religion, color, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, sexual orientation, or gender identity.