Economist

You will serve as an Economist for the Bureau of Reclamation responsible for project cost allocation and economic studies, and agricultural economic analyses.

Major duties
Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following: Serves as an Economist for the Bureau of Reclamation responsible for implementing the economic portions of the Central Valley Project (CVP) Final Cost Allocation Study (FCAS) and other California-Great Basin Region economic and cost allocation studies. Responsible for implementing the economic portions of the Central Valley Project (CVP) Final Cost Allocation Study (FCAS) and other California-Great Basin Region economic and cost allocation studies. Oversees the implementation of CVP FCAS and Regional cost allocation studies, applying Reclamation's separable costs-remaining benefits method, and leads preparation of Regional economic analyses-including direct and indirect benefit estimation and construction-related economic impacts-in alignment with Reclamation policies, standards, and federal guidelines. Assesses the technical scope, level of effort, and funding required for conducting complex economic and financial evaluations. Implements the FCAS two-cost/two-period repayment approach and designs research plans supporting cost allocation integration into water rate setting methodologies. Conducts quantitative and qualitative economic and financial analyses, including benefit-cost and financial feasibility studies, using advanced economic tools such as SWAP, Reclamation's Farm Budget Tool, optimization models, input-output models, market analyses, and other statistical techniques required for CVP project benefit evaluation. Prepares technical reports for planning studies, environmental documents, land classification reports, water service rate setting proposals, water rights settlements, litigation support, legislative proposals, congressional testimony, and other specialized purposes. Reviews economic components of studies prepared by other Federal, State, and local agencies. Serves as the Region's subject matter expert supporting the Denver Technical Services Center and Denver Policy Office in developing policy, directives, standards, and guidance related to cost allocation, payment capacity, ability-to-pay, and other economic studies. Develops Regional guidance and contributes to Reclamation-wide policy development. Participates in interagency task forces and work groups involving Federal and State agencies on planning, project formulation, and economic evaluations of resource management and development proposals. Plans, directs, performs, and reviews complex Regional economic studies forming the technical basis for evaluating economic and financial effects of current and potential water and related land resource programs. Formulates and executes research plans for studies where objectives and solutions have not been predefined, and develops procedures for collecting, analyzing, and interpreting Regional economic and financial data. Leads the Region's agricultural economic analyses, including evaluation of water contractors 'payment capacity and ability-to-pay for potential relief from applicable water charges using complex farm budgeting methods. Analyzes agricultural economic conditions, trends, and repayment ability for contractors in the Rehabilitation and Betterment Loan Program, Safety of Dams Program, and during water service and repayment contract negotiations. Conducts agricultural surveys, prepares farm budget studies, designs research plans for payment capacity estimates across land classes, and performs Class I equivalency determinations consistent with Reclamation Reform Act requirements.

Qualifications
All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement – 10/05/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Competitive candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of specialized experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the work schedule requirement as the service dates will be reflected. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the basic education requirements and specialized experience: Basic Educational Requirements: you must meet at least one of the following: A. Degree: economics, that included at least 21 semester hours in economics and 3 semester hours in statistics, accounting, or calculus. -OR- B. Combination of education and experience: course work as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sector). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: conducting complex economic studies involving cost allocation, benefit-cost analysis, financial feasibility, or multi-purpose water/resource projects; Applying advanced economic models and analytical tools, such as agricultural production models, input-output models, optimization techniques, or farm-budgeting methods, to evaluate project costs, benefits, and repayment obligations; Developing and executing research plans to assess economic, financial, agricultural, or water-resource issues where guidelines are limited and significant judgment is required; Preparing authoritative technical reports and recommendations used for planning studies, environmental analyses, rate-setting, legislative or regulatory actions, or interagency coordination; Serving as an economic subject-matter expert, advising leadership, partner agencies, or stakeholders on economic methodologies, policy implications, and analytical findings; Evaluating repayment ability, payment capacity, or ability-to-pay for agricultural or municipal water users using detailed economic and financial analysis. Volunteer Experience: 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, 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.

How to apply
Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the 10/05/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement to receive consideration. Note: You will only be marked eligible for those eligibilities that you selected and provided the appropriate supporting documentation. The application process is as follows: Click the Apply Online button. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. To PREVIEW the application questionnaire, select the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13073310 Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date. Applicants who apply under this job opportunity announcement agree to have their application, associated documents and applicable personal information shared with other Bureaus/Offices within the Department of the Interior (DOI) who have vacancies within the same occupational series, grade, full performance level and in the same geographic location(s), including within the same metro/commuting area. Applying to this announcement does not replace the need to apply to other job opportunity announcements for which you wish to receive consideration. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status, visit https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to/application/status.