Construction Analyst

Applications close on November 3, 2026.

Summary

This position is located in the Small Business Administration, Damage Verification Center. This position conducts field examinations and performs a variety of duties directed at verifying cause, determining extent and estimating the repair/replacement cost of damage to personal, real, and business property, equipment and inventory resulting from a disaster declared by the President or the Administrator of the Small Business Administration.

Duties

• This is a time limited appointment. This position is not expected to be full time year round. There will be times that you will be placed in NonPay Status. Additional information under Important Notes.As a/an Construction Analyst at the GS- 0828-7/9/11, some of your typical work assignments may include: Conduct technical damage assessments on residential, commercial, and industrial facilities to verify disaster damage using standard engineering and construction methods. Evaluate personal property claims and ownership documentation to determine eligibility, repair costs, and asset legitimacy via financial or insurance records. Analyze financial statements, tax returns, and accounting data to calculate inventory loss, depreciation allowances, and equipment salvage values. Review and defend technical estimation reports from third-party engineers, contractors, and adjusters to validate structural evaluation conclusions. Perform collaborative Preliminary Damage Assessments (PDAs) with FEMA and local officials to prepare reports justifying Presidential or SBA disaster declarations. IMPORTANT NOTES: The salary range above reflects the employee's base salary. Locality Pay will be added based on the location of the employee's residence. Your primary residence is considered your official duty station. TRAVEL STATEMENT- You may be required to travel to a disaster site during increased disaster activity for extended periods with little or no advanced notice. If so, you may encounter hazardous working and/or living conditions; i.e., no water or electricity and/or minimal lodging facilities. Travel expenses are compensated based on SBA policy and Federal regulations. This position works on an as needed basis. This means that employees are in a pay and duty status only when activated to respond to workload needs, especially in response to heightened disaster activity. When no longer needed, employees return to a non-pay status until the next event necessitates additional staff. However, depending on the workload and/or level of disaster activity, your work schedule may be changed to full-time. Subsequently, if the workload decreases, you may be placed in a NonPay Status. Mandatory Overtime: In order to respond quickly and efficiently to disaster survivors, substantial compensated overtime hours may be required while on assignment (up to seven days a week and twelve to fourteen hours a day). A valid driver's license may be required.

Qualifications

To be minimally qualified for the position, you must meet the Basic Requirements (Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR). Education: Undergraduate and Graduate. Education: Major study: architecture, engineering, building construction, or other fields related to the position. OR Specialized Experience: Experience in the preparation or review of plans, specifications, or estimates of materials and costs for the construction, extension, alteration, or repair of buildings. Applicants should have knowledge of the residential construction field, and experience in the development of plans and specifications, and in negotiation work. This experience may have been obtained working as a contractor or as a draftsperson in an architectural engineering firm. However, any drafting experience must have provided an opportunity to acquire technical knowledge. Appropriate experience includes working with diverse construction materials (brick, lumber, reinforced concrete, steel) and types of structures (housing, single-family dwellings and multi-family apartment units, and industrial and commercial structures). Applicants should be familiar with matters such as planning a subdivision, laying out traffic flow in a multi-family apartment structure, or working out specification problems in plans. You may qualify based on experience, education or a combination of both. A combination of education and experience as indicated above. Qualification Standards: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=Group-Standards In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, you must also meet the specialized experience requirements listed below. GS-07: One year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-05 grade level in the Federal service, obtained in either the private or public sector: Assisting with visual inspections of residential structures to identify physical and structural damage. Estimating repair or replacement costs by listing quantities of building materials, labor, and equipment. Evaluating property conditions to identify pre-existing maintenance issues or determine repair actions. Reviewing property records, receipts, or photos to verify ownership and evaluate damage to personal property. These qualifications must be clearly referenced in your resume. GS-09: One year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service, obtained in either the private or public sector: Inspecting conventional residential structures or small business facilities to identify physical and structural damage. Estimating repair or replacement costs by itemizing quantities of construction materials, labor, and equipment. Evaluating property to determine pre-disaster conditions, deferred maintenance, or eligibility for assistance. Examining personal property, commercial equipment, or business records to determine damage cause and replacement values. These qualifications must be clearly referenced in your resume. GS-11: One year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service, obtained in either the private or public sector: Estimating repair and replacement costs for residential, business, and industrial facilities; AND Identifying cause and extent of structural damage through visual inspections and the interpretation of technical plans and specifications; AND Analyzing business financial records, tax returns, and payroll to determine inventory costs, depreciation, and salvage values; AND Reviewing and adjudicating technical damage reports submitted by architectural firms, engineers, or insurance adjusters; AND Conducting joint disaster damage surveys and preparing technical reports to support federal disaster declaration requests; AND Performing quality reviews of loss verification files to ensure mathematical accuracy and procedural compliance. These qualifications must be clearly referenced in your resume.Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on OPM's Qualifications web site: Construction Analyst Series 0828 (opm.gov) 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. Generally, time in Non-Pay status as a federal employee is not creditable towards the specialized experience requirement listed above. All qualification requirements must be met by 11:59 pm (Eastern Time) on 11/03/2026.

Education

APPLICANTS PLEASE NOTE: Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications (particularly positions with a positive education requirement.) Therefore, applicants must report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Verify School accreditation. All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly. If you do not meet the specialized experience requirements, you may also qualify with education. You MUST submit transcripts (official or unofficial) with this application if you wish to qualify based on education. If you are selected for this position and qualified based on education (i.e. basic education requirement and/or substitution of education), you will be required to provide an OFFICIAL transcript prior to your first day on duty. GS-07: 1 full year (18 semester hours) of graduate-level education directly related to the position: architecture, engineering, building construction, or other fields related to the position. Education must be in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position. OR Superior academic achievement based on one of the following: (1) class standing, (2) grade-point average, or (3) honor society member. For a detailed description of Superior Academic Achievement, please visit the Superior Academic Achievement website. OR A combination of education and experience. For example, 6 months of the specialized experience (50% of the experience requirement), and completion of 9+ semester hours or 13+ quarter hours of graduate-level education in a related field from an accredited institution (50% of the qualifying education) would equal 100% of the required experience for the position. GS-09: 2 academic years of progressively higher-level graduate education directly related to the position (e.g., architecture, engineering, building construction). Education must be in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position. OR Master's degree (or equivalent graduate degree such as LL.B. or J.D. as specified in qualification standards or individual occupational requirements) directly related to the position: architecture, engineering, building construction, or other fields related to the position. Education must be in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position. OR A combination of education and experience. For example, 1 full year (18 semester hours or 27 quarter hours) of graduate-level education (i.e. 50% of education required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e. 50% of the required experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the position. GS-11: Successful completion of a Doctorate or equivalent graduate degree in architecture, engineering, building construction, or other fields related to the position from an accredited college or university, or 3 full years (54 semester hours or equivalent) of related progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree, or LL.M., if related. OR A combination of education and experience: For example, an applicant who has 1.5 full years of Ph.D. level education (i.e. 50% of education required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e. 50% of the required experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the position. *** If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, click on: Foreign Education.

How to apply

Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions will affect your rating. If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience your rating may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities. Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online assessment and submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. The application process is as follows: 1. To begin the application process, click the Apply Online button. 2. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. 3. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59PM (ET) on the announcement closing date. 4. After submitting an online application, you will be notified whether or not you are required to take additional online assessments through the USA Hire Competency Based Assessment system. This message will be delivered to you both on screen and via email notification. 5. If you are asked to take the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be presented with a unique URL to access the USA Hire system. Access to USA Hire is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Be sure to review all instructions prior to beginning your USA Hire Assessments. Click here for Computer System Requirements 6. Note, set aside at least 3 hours to take these assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue at a later time, you can re-use the URL sent to you via email and also found on the Additional Application Information page that can be located in the application record in your USAJOBS account. To update your application, including supporting documentation, at any time during the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account. There you will find a record of your application, the application status, and an option to Update Application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To verify the status of your application both during and after the announcement open period, log into your USAJOBS account at https://www.usajobs.gov/ All of your applications will appear on the Welcome page. The application record in your USAJOBS account provides an Additional Application Information page that provides information regarding the documentation you submitted and any correspondence we have sent related to this application. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/