Job Details
** PATHWAYS STUDENT INTERN - Transportation Specialist**
**Department of Transportation**
**Location**
1 vacancy in the following location:
** Relocation expenses reimbursed**
No
** Telework eligible**
Yes as determined by agency policy
**Duties**
** Summary**
This is a Student Internship position under the Pathways Internship Program.
To qualify for this Internship, you MUST be a continuing student enrolled or accepted for enrollment for the current/upcoming semesters for the duration of the internship as a condition of employment, taking at least a half-time course load. You will be required to provide documentation to support eligibility. Students may be employed throughout the academic year.
**Responsibilities**
**The Student Trainee (Transportation Specialist) Pathways Intern will:**
+ Implements transportation program functions in a wide variety of disciplines (engineering, planning, environment, etc.) under the review of the office specialists. The activities will be focused on identifying and eliminating program deficiencies; and develops and coordinates a variety of reports, staff actions, correspondence, program briefings and other related actions.
+ Tracks data and maintains databases of varied Federal-aid performance data and drafts reports as requested. Participates in initiatives/activities as required by the Division Performance Plan to implement programs, products, processes, or technologies that contribute to the achievement of the agencys National Strategic Goals.
+ Assists supervisor or staff members in the formulation of milestones, goals, target dates and requirements to evaluate/analyze various aspects of projects/programs. Assists in monitoring status of accomplishments against established schedules and on occasion is tasked to identify anticipated problem areas and initiate simple corrective actions.
+ Researches, analyzes, and drafts responses to questions regarding specific transportation related topics.
+ Participates in meetings, workshops, conferences, and similar activities.
+ Contributes to a range of modeling enhancements that involve engineering, economic, or statistical analysis. Assists with remodeling the problem into a more efficient constrained model by reviewing all constraints and objectives in order to improve the mathematical model and remove redundancies and inefficiencies; Explores possibilities for integrated computer applications of HERS and other models. advises on the model re-code into PYTHON.
+ Reviews the quality of the HPMS sample data, devises fixes or errors and omissions, and recommends changes to the data collection instruments. Ascertains the minimum sample size needed to generate reliable model outputs (the current sample size is geared toward obtaining reliable descriptive statistics on the highway system at sub-State levels of geography; a smaller sample may suffice for the HERS model where the focus is national).
+ Reviews HERS to identify elements that could possibly be eliminated or simplified without any significant loss, but with benefits in faster run times, increased model transparency or integrity, or reduced costs for model documentation and updates, and recommend specific changes. **Travel Required**
Occasional travel - Some travel will be required.
** Supervisory status**
No
** Promotion Potential**
11
**Requirements**
** Conditions of Employment**
+ You must be a U.S. Citizen and meet the requirements of the program.
+ You must be at least 16 years of age
+ Required documents must be submitted by the closing date.
+ Submit application and resume online by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date
**PATHWAYS ELIGIBILITY - To be eligible for appointment to a position in the DOT Internship Program, throughout the duration of the appointment, an individual must:**
+ **Be accepted for enrollment or enrolled and seeking a degree or certificate in a qualifying educational institution on a half to full-time basis (as determined by the educational institution).**
+ **Be seeking a degree that is relevant to this position.**
+ **Be able to work at least 20 hours per week, depending on your academic schedule, and preferably full-time during the summer.**
+ **Grade qualifications must be met prior to start date.** **If selected you:**
+ **must sign a Pathways Internship Program Participant Agreement;**
+ **may be employed throughout the academic year;**
+ **must maintain status as a current student;**
+ **must maintain good academic standing, at least a 2.5 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 grading scale.**
+ **must furnish course registration information at the start of each school term; and**
+ **must provide verification of academic status (transcript) at the end of each academic term.** For more information on the Pathways Program, please visit:
**ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:**
+ **UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP**: Must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position.
+ **SELECTIVE SERVICE**: Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for the Selective Service.
+ **BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION:** You will be required to complete a background/security investigation and meet preliminary requirements prior to onboarding. This information will be listed under conditions of employment.
+ **DECLARATION FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT**: Selectee is required to complete a Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306) to determine suitability for federal employment.
+ **PHYSICAL LOCATION:** Intern will be required to work onsite unless COVID-19 restrictions mandate change
+ **TRIAL PERIOD:** The intern is in a trial period throughout the entire Pathways Internship appointment. ** Qualifications**
**To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet the education requirements for each grade which you are requesting consideration for:**
+ **GS-07: Completion of one academic year of graduate level education; OR eligibility under the *provision, as defined in the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Operating Manual for Qualification Standards, and completion of a bachelor's degree.** *Superior Academic Achievement - In the upper one-third of graduating class; OR a GPA of 3.0 or higher out of 4.0, as recorded on official transcript, or based on courses completed during final 2 years of curriculum; OR a GPA of 3.5 or higher out of 4.0, based on average of required courses completed in major or required courses in major completed during the final 2 years of curriculum.
Academic Year: At the undergraduate level, 30 semester hours or 45 quarter hours is comparable to 1 year of undergraduate education. When academic credit is expressed in units or other terms that differ from conventional semester or quarter hours, it is the responsibility of the applicant to provide an interpretation of such credits from the institution.
+ **GS-09: Completion of one academic year of graduate level education; OR eligibility under the *provision, as defined in the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Operating Manual for Qualification Standards, and completion of a bachelor's degree.** Completion of two academic years of graduate level education, or a master's degree or equivalent graduate degree.
**KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs):** Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas:
+ Ability to develop efficient optimization models and solution algorithms, analyze transportation data sets, and conduct statistical modeling.
+ Proficiency in algorithm development using optimization software (e.g. CPLEX, GAMS, AIMMS, and FICO Express), statistical programs (e.g., SAS, R), and programming languages (e.g., Python).
+ Applicants should be proficient in using callable functions for the optimization software within API.' (Updated VRF provided reflecting changes). Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service program