Job Title: Strategic Research Analyst III

Facility Location
USPS HEADQUARTERS
475 LENFANT PLZ SW
WASHINGTON, DC
20260-0004

Position Information
TITLE: STRATEGIC RESEARCH ANALYST III
GRADE: V - 01FLSA
DESIGNATION: Exempt
OCCUPATION CODE: 1515-0025
NON-SCHEDULED DAYS: Saturday/Sunday
HOURS: 08:00 A.M. to 05:00 P.M.
SALARY RANGE: 103,600.00 - 121,225.00 USD Annually
FINANCE NUMBER: 104116

BENEFIT INFORMATION:
The salary will be based on previous experience, salary history, and current postal pay policies.We offer excellent benefits including health and life insurance, retirement plan, savings/investment plan with employer contribution, flexible spending, flextime scheduling of core work hours, annual and sick leave.

Background Check
The Inspection Service criminal background check is conducted using United States information resources only (e.g., FBI fingerprint check, state and county checks). A criminal background check involves a 5-year inquiry for any location where the individual has resided, worked or gone to school within the United States or its territories. As a result of this limitation,the criminal background checks of individuals who have not resided in the United States or its territories for the preceding5-years may not be considered complete. The Inspection Service may be able to process inquiries for U.S. Citizens only,but only if their time spent out of the country was spent as: a trailing spouse or dependent of someone working for the U.S.government (military or civilian), a missionary, a student attending school in a foreign country, a Peace Corps participant, or as an employee of a U.S.-based employer/company. If the Inspection Service is unable to perform a complete background check because of residency outside the United States, such individuals will be ineligible for Postal employment.

Functional Purpose
Conducts advanced research and analysis into strategic business questions facing the organization and evaluates potential options to address challenges. Collaborates with units inside the organization and with external stakeholders as needed to understand systemic issues affecting the organization’s future and to gather and develop potential strategies for the organization’s executive leadership to evaluate. Uses a variety of business and research methods including mathematical modeling and data analysis, foresight techniques, design thinking, and other methodologies for problem solving, innovation,and strategy development.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Conducts research using a multi-disciplinary approach to formulate options for an overall strategic vision and specific strategies that will determine the organization’s future.
2. Independently researches and evaluates critical business challenges, seeking root causes of issues, and collaborates with business units and stakeholders to develop responses to address them.
3. Applies various qualitative and quantitative methods including foresight techniques, benchmarking analysis, mathematical modelling using large data sets, data analysis, predictive analysis and other methodologies to evaluate options for strategies.
4. Provides analytical support to Board members and executives by gathering information from within and outside the organization, analyzing it, and preparing it in a clear, concise, easy-to-understand format.
5. Interfaces with executives and staff across all business units, including network operations, retail sales, marketing, finance,and infrastructure to answer questions on significant organization-wide challenges and to collaborate on developing solutions.
6. Communicates with stakeholders to gather information on strategic questions and to understand how changes in strategies will affect the organization’s relationship with them.
7. Explores technological, social, and market trends to determine their effect on the organization’s future operational environment and potential response strategies.
8. Creates and delivers well-written reports and presentations, including the use of meaningful charts, graphs, or other data visualizations. Takes complex results and communicates them in an easily understood way for key stakeholder and executive review.
9. Organizes workshops and meetings with experts and internal and external stakeholders to gather information and guide decision-making on specific strategic business questions.
10. Serves as a subject matter expert on advanced strategic research methods and projects; Leads cross functional research projects and provides technical guidance and direction to the organization. Supports the development of others within the team through coaching, providing guidance, and reviewing the work of others to deliver feedback.
11. Reviews the activities of contractors who assist with the development of strategic projects and initiatives; determines if deliverables comply with the statement of work.

Requirements
1. Ability to establish and maintain effective work relationships with employees and internal customers at all levels of the headquarters and field organization, including working effectively as a member of a team.
2. Ability to think critically, logically, and analytically about strategic business questions to identify the root causes of complex problems and to formulate creative and innovative solutions.
3. Ability to collaborate with stakeholders inside and outside the organization on complex projects or events.
4. Ability to gather information from multiple sources, evaluate it critically, and synthesize it into a coherent and well-supported narrative that provides new insights into an important strategic business question.
5. Familiarity organizing workshops, events, and other programs in order to gather key insights about a specific business or strategic question.
6. Ability to stay abreast of technological, social, and market trends and innovations, analyze their implications for the organization’s future, and develop strategies in response.
7. Ability to communicate orally and in writing to explain the results of research and analysis in an engaging and understandable way for a varied audience. Ability to persuade, inform and influence others, leveraging a range of research techniques to develop options for business strategies.
8. EDUCATION REQUIREMENT: Possession of a bachelor's or graduate degree in a program of study which required coursework in qualitative and/or quantitative research methodologies such as Economics, Operations Research, Public Policy, Business Administration, or a closely related field from an accredited college or university by a national or regional accreditation organization recognized and sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Education.
9. Familiarity with qualitative and quantitative methodologies to answers strategic questions such as foresight techniques,benchmarking analysis, mathematical modelling, data analytics, or other business or analytical methods.
10. Ability to work independently and collaboratively on multiple projects, oversee the completion of contractual projects, and manage changing priorities and deadlines among different projects under limited direction, while providing guidance to lower level analysts.

NOTES:
Are you an excellent writer who enjoys in-depth research to understand problems and find solutions? Are you interested in a dynamic, startup-like work environment that involves constant learning? Are you interested in conducting strategic research to transform the Postal Service and put it on a path to financial sustainability? This job may be for you.While both Advanced Strategic Research teams will conduct research on multiple postal topics, will focus more on solving core postal challenges involving operations, cost, revenue and customer service.

**This position requires a NACI clearance. This process can take up to 6 weeks from the date the offer letter is returned*