Summary
At Federal Student Aid (FSA), we are proud sponsors of the American mind. As a principal office of the U.S. Department of Education (ED), FSA provides students and families financial assistance for higher education, and we promote the value of postsecondary education to society. We ensure that all eligible students and families can benefit from federal financial aid for education or training beyond high school.
Clarification from the agency
Applications will be accepted from any U.S. Citizen. This position is in the Excepted Service. For information on the Excepted Service, please visit: Excepted Service Appointing Authorities@ https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/excepted-service/ This is a Bargaining unit position.
Duties
We encourage you to read this entire vacancy announcement prior to submitting your application. Multiple positions are located in the Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, and Borrower Defense Group within the Enforcement Directorate.
The Borrower Defense Group considers and issues recommendations or decisions on claims by borrowers who assert a defense to repayment of Federal student loans based on an act or omission of an Institution of Higher Education that gives rise to a cause of action under State law or Federal regulations, as applicable.
As a General Attorney, GS-0905-11, with significant oversight you will be responsible for:
• Prepares preliminary memoranda/reports outlining facts and legal issues, analyzing the factual and legal issues involved, explaining the application of legal principles and precedents to the relevant facts, and justifying recommendations or conclusions.
• Conducts research in connection with legal questions, such as questions concerning the interpretation and application of statutes, rules, and regulations as they pertain to Enforcement matters.
• Reviews and synthesizes evidence to support legal theories.
• Investigates and/or adjudicates borrower defense claims involving varied factual and legal issues.
As a General Attorney, GS-0905-12, you will be responsible for:
• Prepares preliminary memoranda/reports outlining facts and legal issues, analyzing the factual and legal issues involved, explaining the application of legal principles and precedents to the relevant facts, and justifying recommendations or conclusions.
• Conducts research of statutes, regulations, Education (ED) and Federal Student Aid (FSA) policies and legal opinions bearing on the legal issues involved in the development and implementation of investigation activities and borrower defense decisions.
• Gathers, reviews, and analyzes evidence to support case development.
• Investigates and/or adjudicates borrower defense claims involving varied factual and legal issues.
Conditions of Employment
- Must be a US Citizen
- Background investigation and fingerprint check (if applicable).
- Law degree
- Be an active member of the bar (any U.S. jurisdiction) in good standing
You must submit (REQUIRED FOR ALL APPLICANTS):
•A resume demonstrating your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiating your responses to the occupational questionnaire.
You are not required to submit bar card or transcripts to apply to the vacancy announcement, but you will be required to submit them upon request from hiring panel or the HR Specialist. Writing sample and/or list of references may be required of selected applicants at later stages in the selection process.
If you are claiming Veterans’ Preference you must submit:
•A copy of your DD-214 that shows active service and character of discharge, member copy 4 (Separated Members only);
OR
•A certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions within 120 days from the date of application (Current Active Duty Members only);
AND/OR
•The Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference (SF-15) AND all documents indicated on the form as proof of type of preference; AND/OR •Proof of Sole Survivorship Preference (e.g., certificate of death or 100% disability as a result of serving in the armed forces). Veteran's Preference: Department of the Education attorney positions are in the excepted service, not the competitive civil service. There is no formal system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of the Education considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor consideration in the attorney hiring process. If you are eligible for veterans' preference in hiring, you are encouraged to include that information in your application along with the supporting documentation, e.g., SF-15, DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, or other supporting documentation.
Qualifications
You must meet the following Selective Placement Factor:
Must be a graduate from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association.
Proof of admission to the Bar of the highest court of a state, territory, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and a current membership in such Bar as would permit the practice of law. You must be a member in good standing of a state, territory of the United States, District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico bar.
AND
Preferred Qualification: Experience relating to Title IV programs of the Higher Education Act (HEA), Borrower Defense regulations, other loan discharge regulations, and/or consumer protection statutes highly desirable, as well as journal and/or clerkship experience.
Specialized Experience for GS-11:
One year of experience equivalent to the GS-09 performing at least two (2) of the following three (3) duties of work assignments:
1. Training and/or experience in legal analysis and writing.
2. Training and/or experience in conducting legal research.
3. Training and/or experience in reviewing and analyzing evidence.
Specialized Experience for GS-12:
One year of experience equivalent to the GS-11 performing at least two (2) of the following three (3) duties of work assignments:
1. Experience in legal analysis and writing.
2. Experience in conducting legal research.
3. Experience reviewing and analyzing evidence.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs)
The quality of your experience will be measured by the extent to which you possess the following knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs). You do not need to provide separate narrative responses to these KSAs, as they will be measured by your responses to the occupational questionnaire (you may preview the occupational questionnaire by clicking the link at the end of the Evaluations section of this vacancy announcement).
1. Skill in legal analysis and legal writing.
2. Legal research skills.
3. Skill in analysis of evidence.
4. Skill in applying the law to specific facts, cases, or claims.
Education
This position has a positive education requirement.
Must be a graduate from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association.
Foreign Education:
Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must submit a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, please click Foreign Education.
Benefits
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
FSA is a great place to work. We offer a comprehensive benefits package, including paid vacation and sick leave, federal holidays, health and life insurance, and participation in the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), including the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). For more information about the many benefits available to Federal employees, please visit:
https://help.usajobs.gov/index.php/Pay_and_Benefits
As an FSA employee, you will also benefit from our family-friendly work environment. As part of our commitment to maintain a productive balance between work and home, we offer excused leave for Parent/Teacher Conferences (3 hours); excused leave for annual health screenings (4 hours); and matching leave for community volunteer service. Other flexibilities that may be available to you, may include teleworking and alternative work schedules.
Review our benefits
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
We will review your application and documentation submitted to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. We will refer all qualified candidates to the Selecting Official of the job for further review and consideration. You will be evaluated to determine if you meet qualifications required, and on the extent to which your application shows that you possess the knowledge, skills and abilities associated with this position as defined below. Please be sure to give examples in your resume and explain how often you used these skills, the complexity of the knowledge you possessed, the level of people you interacted with, and the complexity and sensitivity of the issues you handled.
THIS IS AN OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT WITH ESTABLISHED CUTOFF DATES. APPLICATIONS WILL BE REFERRED BASED ON RECEIPT OF APPLICATION AND ESTABLISHED CUTOFF DATES AS FOLLOWS:
1ST CUTOFF: December 12, 2023
2ND CUTOFF: January 12, 2024
3RD CUTOFF: February 12, 2024
4TH CUTOFF: March 12, 2024
5TH CUTOFF: April 12, 2024
6TH CUTOFF: May 13, 2024
7TH CUTOFF: June 13, 2024
8TH CUTOFF: July 12, 2024
9TH CUTOFF: August 13, 2024
10TH CUTOFF: September 13, 2024
Final CUTOFF: September 27, 2024 You may preview questions for this vacancy.
You must submit (REQUIRED FOR ALL APPLICANTS):
• A resume demonstrating your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiating your responses to the occupational questionnaire
• A completed occupational questionnaire
• Transcripts showing course titles, number of credits, and dates of completion. A copy of your degree is not sufficient. You may submit unofficial transcripts as part of your application; however, if you are selected, you will be required to submit official transcripts prior to appointment.
• Bar card (at time of offer)
• Writing samples may be requested of the candidates who are selected for interviews. Candidates will be asked to provide any representative legal memo that demonstrates writing style and analytical ability. The sample should be written entirely by candidate, light editing by others if any. Will be considered as part of overall candidate assessment.
We strongly recommend you submit a Cover Letter highlighting your relevant skills and experience, describing your interest in enforcement issues generally and pertaining to higher education such as borrower defense or federal student loans specifically (if applicable), and explaining how your professional experiences relate to the qualifications listed above.
If you are a current or former federal employee (including current or former U.S. Department of Education employees), you must also submit:
• A Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50), which demonstrates your competitive status eligibility. To verify your eligibility, we will review your SF-50 to determine your tenure (block 24) and position occupied (block 34). Examples of sufficient SF-50s include appointments, promotions, within-grade increases, and pay adjustments.
If you currently hold or previously held a federal position at or above the highest grade of this position or you have/had promotion potential at or above the highest grade of this position, you must also submit an SF-50 documenting your highest grade level held or promotion potential. Examples of sufficient SF-50s include appointments and promotions.
If you are claiming eligibility under the Veterans Preference, you must submit:
• A copy of your DD214, member copy 4 (Separated Members only).
• Current Active Duty members must submit a certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions dated within the last 120 days.
• A certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions. A “certification” is any written document from the armed forces that certifies the service member is expected to be discharged or released from active duty service in the armed forces under honorable conditions within 120 days after the certification is submitted by the applicant. The certification letter should be on letterhead of the appropriate military branch of the service and contain (1) the military service dates including the expected discharge or release date; and (2) the character of service. (Current Active Duty Members only)
• The Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference (SF-15) • The Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference (SF-15) https://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/SF15.pdf AND all documents indicated on the form as proof of type of preference (e.g., a letter from the Department of Veterans' Affairs certifying the service-connected disability and percentage of disability) (if VEOA eligibility is based on a service-connected disability or derived preference).
• Certain Military Spouses Eligible under E.O. 13473: Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders, issued within the last 2 years, that lists you as authorized to accompany the Military member to the new duty permanent station; OR verification of the member's 100% disability (VA Letter); and/or verification of the member's death while on active duty (DD-1300 and Death Certificate) AND verification of the marriage to the service member (i.e., a marriage license or other legal documentation verifying marriage).
If you are claiming selection priority under Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), please visit:
CTAP: http://www.ed.gov/about/jobs/open/edhires/ctap.html
ICTAP: http://www.ed.gov/about/jobs/open/edhires/ictap.html
If you are claiming eligibility under any Special Hiring Authority, you must submit:
• Adequate proof of your eligibility (e.g., Documentation of noncompetitive eligibility as a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, Documentation of noncompetitive eligibility for employment under Schedule A as a person with severe physical disabilities, psychiatric disabilities, and intellectual disabilities.)
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
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. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from
schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
Step 1: Create a USAJOBS account (if you do not already have one) at www.usajobs.gov.
Step 2: Create a resume using the USAJOBS resume builder. Ensure that your resume demonstrates your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiates your responses to the occupational questionnaire.
Step 3: Upload any required documents into your USAJOBS account (must be less than 3MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, or Word (DOC or DOCX)).
Step 4: Click "Apply Online" and follow the prompts to complete the occupational questionnaire and attach any required documents. Verify that uploaded documents from USAJOBS transfer into the agency's hiring system. You will have the opportunity to upload any additional required documents in the agency's hiring system. Click “Finish” to submit your application.
NOTE: You may update your application or required documents at any time while the announcement is open by logging into your USAJOBS account, clicking on "Application Status," clicking on the position title, clicking "Update Application,” and following the prompts.
In order to receive consideration for this position, you must submit your complete application, including all required documents, by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on the closing date of the vacancy announcement. If the vacancy announcement has an application limit, we recommend that you submit your complete application at the time of initial application. We will not accept any required documentation after the closing date of the vacancy announcement.
Next steps
As an applicant, you may check your application status through your USAJOBS account at any time. We will also notify you via email of your application status at three key stages in the recruitment process.
1. Once the vacancy announcement closes, we will inform you that your application has been received.
2. After we review your submitted resume and supporting documentation, we will inform you if you are eligible and qualified, if your application was referred to a subject matter expert or panel of subject matter experts for further evaluation, and if you were amongst the most highly qualified candidates referred to the selecting official.
3. Finally, we will inform you if and when a selection is made.
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