Without Compensation (WOC) - Research Statistician
About This Position
This is a Without Compensation (WOC) Research Statistician position with the Office of Research and Development (ORD). The VA Research Program strives to promote Veteran-centered care to improve patient experiences and outcomes across VA healthcare and community settings, and to advance value-driven care by providing Veterans the highest quality care at the lowest financial burden.
Qualifications
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/27/2026. All applicants must meet the Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) with one of the following: 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
Combination of education and experience including courses as listed 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. AND
In addition to one of the IOR; all applicants must also meet the following Basic Requirements: BASIC REQUIREMENTS -
In addition to the IOR, all applicants must meet the Basic Requirement which must be reflected in the experience listed on the applicant's resume: Education: 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D.
OR
equivalent doctoral degree Preferred: Doctoral degree (PhD or equivalent) in epidemiology, biostatistics, statistics, or pharmacoepidemiology Specialized Experience: Strong SAS programming skills (required) Documented experience with publication record analyzing large healthcare datasets. Experience using statistical and database computer programs to construct and manage datasets and databases relevant to projects; Experience checking the validity of data and programs through use of frequencies, listings, summaries, and calculation of meaningful data metrics; Conducting univariate and multivariate statistical data analyses; and multivariate regression analyses using ordinary least squares, logistic, and survival models; Reviewing analytical results for accuracy and completeness; and coding and summarizing data in tables and graphs; Developing and maintaining systems and databases designed to ensure that research projects comply with administrative policies, procedures and requirements set forth by entities. 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; religions; 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. A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities.
Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The work is predominantly sedentary. Typically, the employee sits comfortably to do the work.
However, there will be some walking, standing, bending and carrying of items of moderate weight such as large binders, banker style file boxes, meeting materials, papers, books or small parts. Hand and eye coordination for delicate testing procedures may be the only special physical demand required to perform the work.
Major Duties
This is a Without Compensation (WOC) Research Statistician position with the Office of Research and Development (ORD). Duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following: Using statistical and database computer programs to construct and manage datasets and databases relevant to projects; Checking the validity of data and programs through use of frequencies, listings, summaries, and calculation of meaningful data metrics; Conducting univariate and multivariate statistical data analyses; and multivariate regression analyses using ordinary least squares, logistic, and survival models; Reviewing analytical results for accuracy and completeness; and coding and summarizing data in tables and graphs; Developing and maintaining systems and databases designed to ensure that research projects comply with administrative policies, procedures and requirements set forth by entities.
Conditions of Employment
U.S. Citizenship; non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959. Subject to background/security investigation. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
Education
A transcript must be attached with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. 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 (particularly positions with a positive education requirement).
Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees obtained from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants can verify their education accreditation here.
All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly. Applicants using foreign education to meet the qualification requirements must attach a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with their transcript in order to receive credit for that education. More information can be found here here.
How You Will Be Evaluated
IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview.
Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment. The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.
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. It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.
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 announcement. VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact listed on this job announcement for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator.
The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced federal and/or VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job.
Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website here. 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.
Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members. For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document. Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion.
The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.
This job announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies as needed.
How to Apply
All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To be considered for this position, you must complete the questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below.
The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 08/27/2026 to receive consideration. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account.
Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package.
NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your application and all required documentation are submitted prior to the closing date.
Required Documents
REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION: To be considered for this position, all applicants must provide a complete Application Package to include: Resume Transcript (if you are basing all or part of your qualification on education) RESUME FORMAT AND LENGTH: Beginning September 27, 2025, federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update any resumes saved in your USAJOBS profile before applying for a job.
Resumes must include only information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying (see this link for more information). VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. All information must be legible and grammatically correct so that it may be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement.
Resumes must not contain the applicant's photograph, birth date or Social Security Number. Resume files must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading the resume as a PDF to maintain the formatting and number of pages.
We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX) formats. We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font such as Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans.
We recommend making page margins 0.5 inches and using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point font size for the main text. The USAJOBS Resume Builder can assist applicants in creating a resume using these recommendations. Additional helpful hints in creating a two page resume: Review the Applicant Guidance on Two Page Resume Limit document Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS Resume Builder VETERANS PREFERENCE: When applying for federal jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference for 5pt (TP), 10pt (CP/CPS/XP), or Sole Survivor Preference (SSP) in the questionnaire.
You must provide a legible copy of your DD214(s) which shows dates and character of service (honorable, general, etc.). If you are currently serving on active duty and expect to be released or discharged within 120 days you must submit documentation related to your active duty service which reflects the dates of service, character of service (honorable, general, etc.), and dates of impending separation. Additionally, disabled veterans and others eligible for 10-point preference (such as widows or mothers of eligible Veterans) must also submit an SF-15 "Application for 10 Point Veteran Preference" with required proof as stated on the form.
Documentation is required to award Veterans preference. For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit Feds Hire Vets - Veterans - Job Seekers - Veterans' Preference.