Research Agricultural Economist

**Duties**:

- Provide leadership for the Food Availability Data System (FADS) including data development and analysis of food availability/consumption.
- Analyze food consumption trends to address questions about how technological, social, and economic forces affect consumer behavior, tastes, and preferences.
- Provide leadership and serve as the primary investigator in most of the research, which is usually self-initiated.
- Formulate and implement plans to improve data quality and usability.
- Plan, conduct, and report studies to advance the understanding of use of food demand.
- Study the role of Food at home, and Food Away from Home and store-prepared foods in the household’s food expenditures and overall budget, as well as the effects of source-of-food on consumption patterns and nutrition profiles.
- Analyze the economic and regulatory issues concerning food safety.

**Requirements**:
**Conditions of Employment**:

- You must be a US Citizen or US National.
- Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
- Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
- Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served.
- Direct Deposit - Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution

**Qualifications**:

- Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below.
- **Basic Requirements**:
**Degree**:economics, that included at least 21 semester hours in economics and 3 semester hours in statistics, accounting, or calculus.
- **OR**
**Combination of education and experience**:courses equivalent to a major in economics, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
- **AND**
In addition to the basic requirements above, all applicants must also meet the following minimum qualification requirements:

- **GS-15**:
**Specialized Experience**:Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. Specialized experience must be described for each grade level advertised. The specialized experience requirements for this position are: Qualifying experience for GS-15 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-14 which is directly related to the work of this position, and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. For this position, specialized experience is experience planning and coordinating a program of complex economic research and analysis relevant to agricultural, environmental, rural, or food policies; using advanced microeconomic and quantitative analysis tools to analyze economic data; advising and designing data communications strategies intended for public outreach; and disseminating research results to a variety of audiences, including peer-reviewed publications.
- 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 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**:
Please see above for education qualification requirement information.

**Additional information**:

- Selections made under this authority will be processed as new appointments to the civil service. Current civil service employees would therefore be given a new appointment to the civil service.
- Recruitment Incentive may be authorized. Final determination to pay an incentive will be made by the hiring official at time of job offer.
- Travel and relocation expenses will **not** be paid by the Department of Agriculture. Any travel, transportation and relocation expenses associated with reporting for duty in this position will be the responsibility of the selected employee.
- This position is designated as a bargaining unit position and is represented by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).
- Benefits

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.

**How You Will Be Evaluated**:
You will be evaluated for this job based on how