ATTORNEY-ADVISOR (GENERAL) Job in Millington, TN

Vacancy No. DE-12785414-25-MCJ Department Bureau of Naval Personnel
Salary $88,621.00 to $137,000.00 Grade 12 to 13
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 8/22/2025 Close Date 9/8/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Millington, TN


Summary

There is an anticipated vacancy for the position of ATTORNEY-ADVISOR in the Office of Legal Counsel of BUREAU OF NAVAL PERSONNEL.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

U.S. Citizens

Duties

  • You will provide legal advice regarding promotions, separations, detailing, entitlements, retirements, separation pay, casualty, TSGLI, ethics, military justice, FOIA, Privacy Act, BCNR, and other related legal matters as assigned.
  • You will serve as the legal expert within the Navy on the administrative separation of service members, both officer and enlisted.
  • You will provide case assessment, legal memorandum, legal advice, legal briefings, and presentations.
  • You will serve as the subject matter expert in this complex and constantly evolving practice area.
  • You will review all proposed directives, instructions and regulations prepared by DoD, SECNAV, OPNAV and BUPERS that pertain to administrative separations, operation of naval correctional facilities, etc.
  • You will draft changes and complete revisions to existing DoD, SECNAV, OPNAV and BUPERS directives, instructions and regulations.
  • You will respond to inquiries on a daily basis from DoD, SECNAV, OPNAV, BUPERS, the Fleet, private bar, Congressional staff and individual service members, their spouses, parents and interested third parties.
  • You will independently conduct legal research pertaining to each area as well as prepare briefings and presentations.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • Must be a US Citizen.
  • Must be determined suitable for federal employment.
  • Must participate in the direct deposit pay program.
  • New employees to the Department of the Navy will be required to successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit e-verify.gov
  • Within the Department of Defense (DoD), the appointment of retired military members within 180 days immediately following retirement date to a civilian position is subject to the provisions of 5 United States Code 3326.
  • Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
  • You will be required to obtain and maintain an interim and/or final security clearance prior to entrance on duty. Failure to obtain and maintain the required level of clearance may result in the withdrawal of a job offer or removal.
  • This position may require travel from normal duty station to CONUS and OCONUS and may include remote or isolated sites. You must be able to travel on military and commercial aircraft for extended periods of time.

Qualifications

To qualify at the GS-12 level, applicants must have recent and relevant professional legal experience in excess of one (1) year that is commensurate with the duties and responsibilities of the position

To qualify at the GS-13 level, applicants must have recent and relevant professional legal experience in excess of two (2) years that is commensurate with the duties and responsibilities of the position

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (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.

Education

Must have a J.D. Degree from an ABA accredited law school and be a member in good standing of the bar of the highest court of a State of the United States or a Territory of the United States.

Additional information

This is a public notice flyer to notify interested applicants of anticipated vacancies. Applications will not be accepted through this flyer. Interested applicants must follow the directions in the "How to Apply" section of this flyer to be considered. There may or may not be actual vacancies filled from this flyer. Notice of Result letters will not be sent to applicants who respond to this flyer.

This position is not covered by the Department of the Defense Priority Placement Program.

This position is in the excepted service and does not confer competitive status.

A tentative offer of employment will be rescinded if the selectee fails to meet the pre-employment requirements, including failure to report to any of the scheduled appointments.

Federal annuitant information: The selection of an annuitant is subject to the Department of Defense and Department of the Navy policy on the employment of annuitants. Policy information may be found at: http://www.secnav.navy.mil/donhr/Documents/CivilianJobs/FedCivAnnuitants.pdf.

Certain incentives (such as Recruitment, Relocation or Student Loan Repayment) may be authorized to eligible selectees.

A relocation incentive is generally a single payment intended to offset some of the relocation costs experienced by the selectee. A relocation incentive may be authorized.

This position is in the excepted service and does not confer competitive status.

Vacancies filled from this announcement may be filled at any grade level listed.

If selected below the full performance level, you may be noncompetitively promoted to the next higher grade level after meeting all regulatory requirements, and upon the recommendation of management. Promotion is neither implied nor guaranteed.

Upon selections the following documents will be requested:

  • An official transcript of the applicant's law school record together with an official statement of his/her relative standing in his/her class. However, if the individual has been a member of the Bar for 5 years or more, the transcript requirement may be waived.
  • An official statement that his/her fitness to practice law or his/her conduct as an attorney have never been challenged. If either his/her fitness or conduct has been challenged, an official statement concerning the facts and circumstances together with any explanation that the applicant himself/herself may wish to submit.
  • Selectees may be required to successfully complete a probationary period, must have or be able to obtain a Secret Security Clearance, and meet all certification requirements (depending on the position to be filled) prior to appointment.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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.

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.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.


Applicants will be evaluated on: Eligible applicants will be evaluated based on a comparison of the position requirements against the quality and extent of the experience or related education as reflected in their resume. Candidates are encouraged to ensure work experiences clearly show possession of knowledge of the subject matter pertinent to the position, the technical skills to successfully perform the duties of the position, and the ability to communicate both orally and in writing.

In order to qualify for this position, your resume must provide sufficient experience and/or education, knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of the specific position for which you are being considered. Your resume is the key means we have for evaluating your skills, knowledge, and abilities as they relate to this position. Therefore, we encourage you to be clear and specific when describing your experience.

As vacancies occur, the Human Resources Office will review your resume to ensure you meet the hiring eligibility and qualification requirements listed in this flyer. You will be rated based on the information provided in your resume, along with your supporting documentation.

If selected, you may be required to provide additional supporting documentation.

If after reviewing your resume and supporting documentation, a determination is made that you inflated your qualifications and/or experience, you may be found ineligible/not qualified.

Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

All qualification requirements must be met before being considered for any vacancies.

Required Documents

A complete resume is required. Resume showing relevant experience and a cover letter that addresses the evaluation criteria of this position. Resume should also include the following:

  • Full name, mailing and email addresses, day and evening telephone numbers. (Do NOT include your SSN or personal photo on your resume.)
  • Country of citizenship.
  • Educational information, including the name, city and state of colleges or universities you attended, as well as the type of degree received.
  • Information about your paid and nonpaid work experiences related to this position including: job title, duties and accomplishments, employer's name and address, duration of employment, and salary.
  • References list with contact information.
  • You may also include information about honors, awards, and special accomplishments.
  • Current federal government employees should indicate their current GS and step level or equivalent grade and salary.
Writing sample of ten pages or less. The writing sample may be an excerpt of a longer document but shall not exceed ten pages in actual length.

An official certificate issued within the past 3 months showing the applicant is a member in good standing of the Bar of the highest court of a State of the United States or a Territory of the United States or sufficient proof that the same has been requested with the appropriate licensing authority.

Are you using education as a substitute for some or all of the experience requirement? Is there a basic education requirement for this position? Check the Education section above to see what is allowed and what is required. Any claims you make in your resume or assessment questionnaire regarding education or degrees MUST be supported by submitting with your application official or unofficial transcripts or a list of courses, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned issued from your school. While unofficial transcripts are acceptable for initial application, an official transcript will ultimately be required if you are selected for the position. You may submit a copy of your degree(s) if specific coursework does not have to be verified.

Are you a veteran claiming veterans' preference?
There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of the Navy Office of the General Counsel considers veterans' preference eligibility a positive factor for attorney hiring. Applicants eligible for veterans' preference must specifically claim such eligibility in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documentation (e.g., DD Form 214, "Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty") to their submissions.

Although the point-preference system is not used, applicants eligible to claim a 10-point preference must submit a Standard Form (SF) 15, "Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference," and supporting documentation required for the specific type of preference claimed. (SF-15, which lists the types of 10-point preference and the required supporting documents, is available from the Office of Personnel Management Website at www.opm.gov.)

Not all veterans are preference eligible. For a summary of time periods, campaigns, and conditions that entitle an applicant to preference eligibility, please visit https://www.fedshirevets.gov/index.aspx, https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/unique-hiring-paths/veterans, and see the Veterans' Preference Advisor, operated by the Department of Labor at http://www.dol.gov/elaws/vets/vetpref/vetspref.htm.

Are you an active duty service member? Active Duty Service Members will be required to submit a statement of service printed on command letterhead and signed by the command during processing of any hiring action. The statement of service must provide the branch of service, rate/rank, all dates of service, the expected date of discharge and anticipated character of service (Honorable, General, etc.).

Documents submitted as part of the application package, to include supplemental documents, may be shared beyond the Human Resources Office. Some supplemental documents contain personal information such as SSN and DOB and some documents such as military orders and marriage certificates may contain personal information for someone other than you. You may sanitize these documents to remove said personal information before you submit your application. You must provide an un-sanitized version of the documents if you are selected.

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.

How to Apply

Interested Applicants must submit resumes/application packages to:

Sherry Schaarschmidt | sherry.l.schaarschmidt.civ@us.navy.mil

Facsimile applications will not be considered.

All resumes/applications must be received no later than the close date of this flyer.

It is the applicant's responsibility to verify that all information in their resume and documents, are received, legible, and accurate. HR will not modify answers/documents submitted by an applicant.

Failure to submit a complete application package will result in an ineligible rating and loss of consideration.

Agency contact information

Sherry Schaarschmidt
Address
BUREAU OF NAVAL PERSONNEL
Chief of Naval Personnel
Millington, TN 38055
US

Next steps

Qualified applicants will be referred to the hiring manager. The selecting official may choose to conduct interviews.

Our evaluation will be based on the information you provide. You should expect that we will verify performance, suitability, and security information and take that information into account in making employment offers.


Note: We cannot accept applications on behalf of Federal Agencies. Application instructions are listed within the Job Description.


© 2006-2025, exclusive of U. S. government job opportunity announcements