Summary
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is an independent office whose mission is to promote excellence, integrity, and accountability throughout the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In our dynamic environment, the OIG conducts investigations, audits, evaluations, and inspections to enhance program effectiveness and efficiency and to detect and prevent waste, fraud, and mismanagement in DHS programs and operations.
Duties
This announcement is for the DHS-Wide Career Expo in Buffalo, NY. Applicant must register for the Career Expo to apply and be considered. https://www.dhs.gov/homeland-security-careers/expo **This is an open continuous announcement with two cutoff Dates: 08/19/2026 09/02/2026 This position is in the Office of the Chief Data Officer (OCDO), Office of Innovation (INN), Office of Technology & Innovation (OTI), Office of the Inspector General (OIG), Department of Homeland Security (DHS).The incumbent will serve as a Data Scientist, responsible for utilizing scientific methodologies, process, algorithms, and systems to extract insights from structured and unstructured data and to provide guidance for data-driven decision making in support of OIG investigations, audits, and inspections.Typical assignments for GS-11/12/13 include: Extracting, cleaning, transforming, and organizing structured and semi-structured data (e.g., resolving inconsistencies, handling missing values, normalizing fields) to prepare datasets for analysis. Applying descriptive statistics (e.g., counts, means, medians, standard deviations), inferential techniques (e.g., t-tests, chi-square tests) libraries or functions (e.g. in R or Python), or more advanced techniques (e.g., machine learning models, risk modeling) to address stakeholder questions and identify patterns, anomalies, or relationships in the data. Building and updating dashboards, reports, and visualizations in tools such as Power BI, Tableau, or similar platforms. Automating routine manual tasks (e.g., parsing large data files, merging files, recurring data quality checks, scheduled refreshes) to improve efficiency and reduce errors. Participating in discussions with auditors, investigators, inspectors, and other stakeholders to clarify data needs, understand business rules, refine analytical questions and translate stakeholder questions into concrete data tasks.
Education
Basic Requirements: A. 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 B. 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.
How you will be evaluated
We will review your resume and supporting documentation to ensure you meet the minimum qualification requirements. Your experience, education, and training will be rated using a job questionnaire that is based on the following competencies or knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform this job: If you meet the minimum qualifications, you will be placed in one of the following categories: Best-Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrate high proficiency in all of the critical competencies, including all Selective Placement Factors (SPF) and appropriate Quality Ranking Factors (QRF) as determined by the job analysis. Well-Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrates acceptable proficiency in all of the critical competencies, including all SPFs and appropriate QRFs as determined by the job analysis. Qualified: Applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position and demonstrate basic proficiency in most of the critical competencies, including all SPFs and appropriate QRFs as determined by the job analysis. If you are best qualified, you may be referred to the hiring manager for consideration and may be called for an interview. Preview the job questionnaire https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13031954. Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) Eligibles: If you have never worked for the federal government, you are not ICTAP eligible. View information about ICTAP eligibility on OPM's Career Transition Resources website. To be considered eligible under ICTAP, you must be placed in the well-qualified category for this position, as described above. In addition, you must submit the supporting documents listed under the required documents section of this announcement.