Summary About the Position: This is a permanent position with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mission Support Battalion, Office of Counsel. This is an excepted service position without time limitation and will not be filled by a competitive appointment. Service in this position may be fully creditable toward civil service retirement. Any selected applicant who is in the competitive service will be taken out of the competitive service. Responsibilities Identify, research, and address extremely complex and difficult legal questions affecting United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) missions. Represent the agency in administrative litigation, including matters before the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and Office of Special Counsel (OSC). Counsel management on workplace issues, including harassment, misconduct, whistleblower protections, and professional standards of conduct. Perform discovery, draft motions, prepare witnesses, and conduct hearings and appeals. Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications Who May Apply: US Citizens In order to qualify, you must meet the education and experience requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document. The minimum qualification requirements must be met before applicants are eligible for further consideration: Education Requirement: An applicant must have successfully completed a full course of study in a school of law accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) and have the first professional law degree (LL.B. or JD.). In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below: Specialized Experience: Applicant must have three or more years of professional legal experience, acquired after being admitted to the bar, commensurate with the duties and responsibilities of the position. Graduation from an ABA-Accredited Law School in the top 25% of the class or an advanced law degree such as an LLM may substitute for one year of the required professional legal experience. Professional legal experience includes: 1. Research complex legal issues involving federal and state laws, regulations, and policies to provide authoritative legal guidance supporting organizational missions; 2. Prepare legal opinions, memoranda, contracts, and other legal instruments addressing complex or novel legal questions with significant programmatic impact; 3. Represent the organization in negotiations, hearings, conferences, administrative litigation, and other legal proceedings with federal, state, local agencies, and private stakeholders; 4. Provide legal advice and interpret federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and policies to support management decisions, policy development, and daily operations; and 5. Conduct comprehensive legal research and develop legally sound recommendations to resolve high-impact matters involving significant financial, regulatory, or public interest considerations. Bar membership: Applicant must currently be a member in good standing of the bar of a state, territory of the United States, District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Fitness to Practice Law: An applicant must currently be fit to practice law. If your fitness to practice law, or your conduct has ever been challenged you must submit a sworn statement giving the facts and circumstances, together with any explanations you consider appropriate. The sworn statement should be notarized and dated within 3 months of the date of your application. (If you are currently employed as an attorney with The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, this requirement does not apply to you). Time In Grade Requirement: If currently employed as an attorney by the Federal Government you must have completed 1 year at the next lower level within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement, or previously served at the same or higher grade as the position being filled. Education An applicant must have successfully completed a full course of study in a school of law accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) and have the first professional law degree (LLB or JD). Only degrees from an accredited college or university recognized by the Department of Education are acceptable to meet positive education requirements or to substitute education for experience. For additional information, please go to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and U.S. Department of Education websites at - http://www.opm.gov/qualifications and http://www.ed.gov//admins/finaid/accred/index.html.Foreign education must be evaluated for U.S. equivalency in order to be considered for this position. Please include this information in your resume. Additional Information Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration. You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship. This position may require a trial period. Per CSR XI 11.3 The first year of continuous service in the position of a preference eligible in the excepted service, or the first 2 years of continuous service in the position of an individual in the excepted service (other than a preference eligible), is a trial period. Direct Deposit of Pay is required. This position requires you to submit a a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE450) upon entry, and annually thereafter. Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from Department of Defense referral system for displaced employees. If you have retired from federal service and you are interested in employment as a reemployed annuitant, see the information in the Reemployed Annuitant information sheet. This is a Legal Career Field position. Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement. Salary includes applicable locality pay or Local Market Supplement. Payment of Permanent Change of Station (PCS) costs is not authorized, based on a determination that a PCS move is not in the Government interest. This is a permanent position in the excepted service without time limitation and will not be filled by a competitive appointment. Service in this position may be fully creditable toward civil service retirement. Any selected applicant who is in the competitive service will be taken out of the competitive service when he or she occupies this position and will compete only with other excepted status employees in the event of a reduction-in-force.
