Budget Analyst - Recent Graduate

Budget Analyst - Recent Graduate at Department of Energy Headquarters · Department of Energy. Grade: 7-9. Applications close 2026-11-17.

Summary

The Recent Graduates Program is a dynamic, one-year developmental program that promotes careers in the Federal Government to recent graduates. Recent Graduates who successfully complete Program requirements may be eligible for non-competitive conversion to a term or permanent position in the civil service.

Duties

• This position offers varying full performance levels (e.g., GS-11, GS-12, or GS-13 equivalent) depending on the specific needs of the selecting Program Office.
• Further details regarding specific grade levels and responsibilities will be discussed during the interview process.
• As a GS-7 Budget Analyst you will: Ensure that reports are accurate, concise, comprehensive, and on time.
• Coordinate formulation of budgets as well as execution of funding transactions in accordance with DOE budgetary policy and guidelines.
• Conduct a variety of routine, limited analyses requiring knowledge of budget formulation and execution.
• Prepare a variety of routine and recurring budget reports relative to the availability of funds, and the status of expenses, and obligations.
• Assist in the preparation, review and consolidation of budget formulation narratives, estimates, and justifications.
• As a GS-9 Budget Analyst you will: Perform budget formulation, execution and administration work involving the monitoring of obligations incurred and the actual expenditures of funds as well as development of budget materials.
• Monitor, track, and review obligations, expenditures, reimbursable orders, and requests for allotments, identifying and reporting differences that are not aligned with annual work plans and actions taken regarding budget requests.
• Review organizational historical data and/or matches funding requests or projected costs of select line items with past records to determine trends in spending and forecasts annual funding needs.
• Analyze budget estimates and narratives for reasonableness and adequacy as related to increases, decreases, or change in project scope or outcome.
• Assist in preparing supporting data, documentation, and narrative and quantitative budget justification estimates and statements.
• Please note there may be many vacancies that may be filled in any of the below locations.
• This is NOT a remote position.
• You will have to report to the duty station you are selected for.
• Please select the top 2 locations you are willing to report to and/or relocate to.

Qualifications

You must meet the eligibility and qualifications within 2 months of the closing date of this announcement. To be eligible for the Pathways Recent Graduate program you must be a: Recent graduate who has completed, within the previous two years, a qualifying associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational, technical degree, or certificate from a qualifying educational institution or completed a qualifying career or technical education program that awards a recognized postsecondary credential (such as a Registered Apprenticeship Program or Job Corps). -OR- Student who within 2 months of the closing date of this announcement will meet the education requirements and will graduate with a qualifying associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational, technical degree, or certificate from a qualifying educational institution or completed a qualifying career or technical education program. A student may not be appointed to a position until they have graduated. -OR- Preference eligible veterans who have been precluded from applying due to their military service obligation begin their two-year eligibility period upon release or discharge from active duty. Eligibility for these veterans cannot exceed six years after degree or certificate completion. You MUST submit a copy of the DD214 showing the duration and dates of service that precluded you from applying due to the military service obligation.

For the GS-07: You must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-05 grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience for this position at the GS-7 includes: Assisting in identifying financial or budget errors. OR YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR THE GS-7 BASED ON EDUCATION: 1 full year of graduate level education in finance, accounting, business administration, economics, or similarly related major that provided the knowledge, skills, or abilities to perform the work of this position. OR YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR THE GS-7 BASED ON SUPERIOR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: Bachelor's degree with superior academic achievement is defined as:(1) Class standing -- You must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision based on completed courses, (2) Grade-point average (G.P.A.) -- You must have 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum OR 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum, or(3) Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society -- You are a member of one of the national scholastic honor societies recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies (https://www.achshonor.org/). The Bachelor degree must still show the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform in this position. OR YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR THE GS-7 BASED ON A COMBINATION OF EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE: You may qualify on a combination of education and experience, the total percentage of experience at the required grade level compared to the specialized experience requirement, as well as the percentage of completed education compared to the educational requirement must equal at least 100 percent.

For the GS-09: You must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience for this position at the GS-9 includes: Assisting in identifying and resolving financial or budget issues. OR YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR THE GS-9 BASED ON EDUCATION: Master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree in finance, accounting, business administration, economics, or similarly related major that provided the knowledge, skills, or abilities to perform the work of this position or LL.B. or J.D., if related to the work of the position. OR YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR THE GS-9 BASED ON COMBINATION: You may qualify on a combination of education and experience, the total percentage of experience at the required grade level compared to the specialized experience requirement, as well as the percentage of completed education compared to the educational requirement must equal at least 100 percent. Only graduate level education in excess of the first 18 semester hours (27 quarter hours) may be combined to be considered for qualifying education. Education must be obtained from an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Education

FOREIGN EDUCATION: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the requirements. You must show proof the education credentials have been deemed to be at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. education program. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. For special instructions pertaining to foreign education and a list of organizations that can evaluate foreign education, see the Department of Education website. If you are qualifying on foreign education, you MUST submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. Refer to OPM Instructions.

What constitutes a valid certificate program: The Pathways Programs regulation (see 5 CFR 362.102) defines certificate program as post-secondary education at either: A qualifying educational institution (trade or vocational school, 2-year or 4-year college or university, or graduate or professional school) equivalent to at least one academic year of full-time study that is part of an accredited college-level, technical, trade, vocational, or business school curriculum.; OR A qualifying career or technical education program of at least one year that awards a recognized postsecondary credential.

What types of programs would meet the eligibility criteria for a qualifying career or technical education program? Three types of programs meet these criteria: Federally administered educational programs that provide rigorous academic content, technical skill proficiency, and a recognized postsecondary credential to prepare the individual for further education and/or a career in a current or emerging profession.; Registered Apprenticeship Programs; and Federally administered local, state, national, or international volunteer service programs.

What is a Federally administered career or technical education program? A Federally administered career or technical education program is subject to programmatic oversight by a federal agency that includes: The nature and scope of work to be performed by participants, The type(s) and scope of training to be provided to participants, The types of skills participants will acquire or develop during the program (e.g., teaching, environmental, business, scientific, public health/health care, languages), The level and extent of mentoring participants will receive, and The metrics for successful completion of the program. Programmatic oversight may be reflected in partnership or cooperative agreements.

How to apply

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 submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section. A complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on the announcement closing date to receive consideration. The application process is as follows: Read all instructions before you begin. Click "Apply Online." Complete the application and attach all required documents. Submit by 11:59 PM ET on the 11/17/2026.

If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside about two (2) hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. The online assessments must be completed within 48 hours following the closing date of this announcement. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us.

Managing Your Application: Update: 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. Status: Log into USAJOBS to view your application status. Learn more here: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. Support: USAJOBS Help: Visit https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/ for login.gov or USAJOBS assistance. Application Issues: If you have difficulty applying online, contact the Agency Contact listed in this announcement during business hours. Take screenshots of any system errors.