Duties
1. Acts as a legal adviser and attorney for the state/territory National Guard, responsible for the formulation of state/territory legal policy and its execution legal representation; legal initiatives; interpretation and litigation of U.S. and state/territory(s) constitutional, civil, criminal, labor law; international law and treaty agreements; trial defense; and a full spectrum of expert legal advice. Assignments include some of the most diverse, complex, difficult and novel legal issues found in the emerging area of victims' right law and is responsible for the formulation of state/territory legal policy and its execution in the area of sexual assault accountability, prevention, and response; sexual harassment; domestic abuse and lines of duty and medical discharges for Army and Air personnel. Included in this duty is to assist the Adjutant General to publish the accountability actions taken associated with substantiated allegations of sexual assault, domestic sexual abuse, and sexual harassment (both formal complaints and violations of the UCMJ), to coordinate with local law enforcement and prosecutors to track cases of sexual assault involving National Guard perpetrators or victims, and to provide legal support to staff elements whose duties include sexual assault accountability, prevention, and response.
2. Responsible to advise on the legal, factual and other impacting aspects of drafting, interpretation and application of legislation, regulation, tasking orders, decision, opinions or other guiding, or lack thereof, instruments associated with emerging or highly conflicted, sensitive and emotionally charged issues relating to sexual assault/harassment and domestic violence/abuse. Other examples include intelligence oversight related to Homeland Security or advising on Federal and state/territory Executive Orders for the use of federalized troops in response to domestic emergencies and natural disasters. These include interagency (Federal-to-Federal, Federal-to state/territory and state/territory-to-local) homeland security & emergency management initiatives, policy, legislative proposals or implementation plans.
3. Serves as the state/territory National Guard litigation point of contact. Represents the state/territory National Guard in all legal matters in state/territory and Federal courts of original or appellate jurisdictions. The incumbent seeks to prevent avoidable litigation but may serve as Special Assistant to the U.S. Attorney or Assistant Attorney General at trial as cases dictate. Except for sexual assault and sexual harassment investigations (prohibited by law), the incumbent conducts investigations of fact and legal sufficiency; advising on administrative remedies; develops the trial strategy, content and means of presentation, and trial delivery; makes motions; and conducts post-trial duties.
4. Serves as an attorney/adviser providing acquisition and fiscal legal advice to the state/territory's assigned United States Property & Fiscal Officer, particularly in the area of emerging requirements in victim support and legal resourcing (the Chief of the National Guard Bureau's agent in the state/territory) and active-duty military advisers. Advises Army National Guard (ARNG) and Air National Guard (ANG) contracting officers, reviews contracts, procurement actions and real property matters involving Federal and state/territory funds (some involving substantial amounts of money) for legal sufficiency, appropriate titling and claim initiation or resolution actions.
5. Acts as the Adjutant General's representative in third-party proceedings under Federal labor management and equal employment opportunity statutes and regulatory provisions. Represents the state/territory National Guard as a trial attorney on all sexual assault, sexual harassment and domestic violence cases, administrative judges and arbitrators from various appellate bodies including, but limited to, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Federal Labor Relations Authority, the NG Office of Complex Investigations, the Federal Services Impasses Panel and Federal and State Courts.
6. Serves as the state/territory Ethics Adviser. Reviews sensitive financial disclosure statements for General Officers and other key personnel. Provides or participates in various training activities, prepares reports and provides counsel on complex ethics issues and policies; and ensures Federal and state/territory annual administrative reporting requirements are met.
7. Performs other related duties as assigned.
Contact the Human Resource Office (HRO) for a full copy of the Position Description (PD) and it's full duties.
Requirements
Conditions of employment
- Federal employment suitability as determined by a background investigation.
- May be required to successfully complete a trial period.
- Participation in direct deposit is mandatory.
- Must be able to obtain and maintain a secret security clearance.
- This position may be designated as Essential Personnel.
- Must meet specialized experience requirements by the closing of the announcement.
- Must possess the first law degree, LL.B or Juris Doctorate (J.D.) from an accredited ABA law school.
- If applying for the GS-13 must meet the 36 months of specialized experience at the GS-12 or equivalent experience.
- Must be admitted to practice law in the highest court of any U.S. state, commonwealth, territory or the District of Columbia (Preferred Delaware Bar within 15 months of appointment).
Qualifications
SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE:
GS-13 - Must have at least 36 months work experiences as a professional Attorney Advisor. Knowledgeable of the Army National Guard mission requirements and Air National Guard mission requirements. Competent in providing legal interpretation and guidance to managers and senior leaders on Title 32 § 709, United States Code, National Guard Program. Able to recognize and identify complex constitutional, state-federal, and military-civilian jurisidictional issues frequently associated with the organization and administration of the Title 32 National Guard, and articulate them in the appropriate forum or context. Competent in providing legal interpretation and guidance to managers and senior leaders on 10 United States Code, and the state equivalent to the federal Uniform Code of Military Justice. Experienced in conducting legal research in connection with cases pending administrative hearings, trials before courts of original jurisdiction, or arguments in appellate courts. Experienced in addressing questions regarding the effects of provisions of proposed legislation or proposed changes in agency policies or regulations. Experienced in researching and providing legal advice in functional areas of Administrative, Labor, Medical and Physical Disability, and Ethics Law. Additionally, capable of providing legal assistance in accordance with prescribed instructions and within legal guidelines. Experienced in planning, coordinating, and formulating litigation strategies. Experienced in addressing complex and difficult legal questions and factual issues requiring extensive research, analysis and evaluation of available precedents. Experienced in dealing with issues in the functional areas and demonstrated abilities to quickly identify both the legal and judgmental issues. As a subject matter expert, experienced in determining the facts and recommending effective solutions with minimal guidance or supervision. Experienced in developing and providing solutions to conflicting or contradict-tory DoD regulations, directives, and policies, and other NGB or state 881legal guidance. Experienced in addressing and resolving complex and difficult legal case problems, legal questions, or issues involved in the drafting of interpretation or application of legislation, regulations, contracts, decisions, or opinions requiring a solution. Experienced in preparing memoranda of reports that outlined and analyzed the factual and legal issues. Experiences involved preparing legal documents or advisory opinions, participated in contract negations, and examined documents for legal sufficiency. Skilled as a legal litigator and experienced in preparing litigation reports, briefs, pleadings, and other papers associated with civil litigations. Experienced in reviewing programs that required analysis of interrelated issues of effectiveness, efficiency, or productivity; and, developed recommendations to resolve issues and problems. Competencies were gained in developing recommendations for overall detailed plans, goals, and objectives for implementation and evaluation of the legal program. Experienced in addressing issues, problems or concepts and skilled in observations and analysis projections. Experiences included addressing difficult and sensitive issues based on variations in the nature of the processes evaluated, the diverse missions of the units assigned, and resource limitations. Experienced in compiling, reconciling, and correlating data from a various sources, separate service programs, and integral record systems. Experienced in researching, cross-checking information, and interpreting data to obtain accurate and relevant information. Experienced and skilled in collecting information, documenting data to substantiate and validate findings, facts, or violations of government policies, procedures, and instructions. Skilled in negotiating with those who resist responding or cooperating, due to such issues as organizational conflict, competing objectives, or limited resources. Skilled in influencing managers or other staff officials to accept and implement findings or recommendations. Competent to meet with senior military and civilian leadership, high-ranking managers to include Adjutants General, commanders, other staff judge advocates, or other external agencies such as, representatives of the local community and private support organizations, state and local government authorities, or attorneys on an ad-hoc basis.
Quality of Experience: Qualifications are not based solely on time. Qualification factors include experiences in previous Series GS-0905, Attorney-Advisor, program positions. The applicant's record of experience, training, and education must show possession of the competencies needed to fully perform the duties of the applicable position description's duties and responsibilities. The applicant's experience levels, training background, and education must demonstrate a comprehensive competency needed to perform GS-0905 position at its designated grade-level.
Qualifications are based on your ability to demonstrate in your resume that you possess one year of the specialized experience for this announcement at a comparable scope and responsibility. To ensure all of the essential information is in your resume, we encourage you to use the USAJOBS online Resume Builder (https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/account/documents/resume/build/). If you choose to use your own resume, it must contain the following information organized by experience/position: (1) job title, (2) name of employer, (3) start and end dates of each period of employment (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY), (4) detailed description of duties performed, accomplishments, and related skills, and (5) hours worked per week (full-time employment and part-time employment will be prorated in crediting experience). Federal experience/positions must also include the occupational series, grade level, and dates in which you held each grade level.
Determining length of General or Specialized Experience is dependent on the above information. Failure to provide the above information in your resume may result in your application being found "not qualified."
Do not copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.
Your resume serves as the basis for experience related qualification determinations, and you must highlight your most relevant and significant work experience and education (if applicable), as it relates to this job opportunity. Please use your own words, be clear, and specific when describing your work history. We cannot make assumptions regarding your experience.
PART-TIME OR UNPAID EXPERIENCE: Credit will be given for appropriate unpaid and or part-time work. You must clearly identify the duties and responsibilities in each position held and the total number of hours per week.
VOLUNTEER WORK EXPERIENCE: Refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service Programs (i.e., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student and social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge and skills that can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
Education
It is mandatory to have a Bachelor of Laws or Juris Doctor degree in law issued by an ABA-accredited law school; and, must be admitted to practice law in the highest court of the state of Delaware within 15 months of appointment.
You must provide transcripts or other documentation to support your Educational claims. To receive credit for Education, you must provide documentation of proof that you meet the Education requirements for this position.
Additional information
If you are a male applicant who was born after 12/31/1959 and are required to register under the Military Selective Service Act, the Defense Authorization Act of 1986 requires that you be registered or you are not eligible for appointment in this agency (https://www.sss.gov/RegVer/wfRegistration.aspx).
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.
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.
Once the announcement has closed, your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine if you meet the qualifications listed on this announcement. If you are minimally qualified, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses on the assessment questionnaire to determine your level of experience. If you rate yourself higher than is supported by your application package, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this position.
This vacancy announcement will be qualified using Category Rating procedures as defined the Delaware National Guards Merit Placement Plan.
Assessment. Prior to initiating hiring and promoting competitive procedures through USAJOBS for NG T32 Technicians and positions; NG T5 Excepted Service Employees and positions, the JFHQ-State HR specialist must complete a formal job analysis and crediting plan to ensure the position's competencies are correctly assessed.
Numeric Value Groups. The position's multiple numeric groups, defined as at least two groups (see below), are established to assess each candidate against job-related criteria defined by the job analysis and crediting plan. Applicants who meet the basic qualification requirements, established for the position, are placed in a numeric group. The position's job analysis and credit plan's ranking factors are knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors that are expected to significantly enhance performance in a position; however, are not essential for satisfactory performance. Applicants who possess such competencies are ranked above those who do not; but, no one is rated ineligible solely for failure to possess all defined competencies.
Highly-Qualified: The numeric value rating normally ranges from 90-100 points. This higher numeric value group is applied for those candidates who possess the type and quality of experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position, including all selective placement factors and appropriate numeric ranking factor(s) as determined by the job analysis and crediting plan. To be Highly-Qualified, the candidates are considered, by the human resources specialist (staffing), as highly proficient and fully competent to effectively perform all the job requirements; and, can successfully perform in the position almost immediately, or with a minimum amount of training and/or orientation.
Well-Qualified: The numeric value group normally ranges from 80-89 points. This next lower numeric value group is used for those candidates that meet the minimum qualifications of the position and are proficient in most, but not all, of the requirements of the position. Candidates may require some training and/or orientation in order to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position.
Qualified: The numeric value group normally ranges from 70-79 points. This lowest group is used for those candidates who meet the minimum qualifications of the position and are proficient in some, but not all, of the position's requirements. Candidates will require extensive training and/or orientation in order to satisfactorily perform the position's duties.
Required Documents
To apply for this position, you must submit a complete Application Package which includes:
1. Your resume showing work schedule, hours worked per week, dates (including Month and Year, e.g., 02/2017, Feb 2017, etc.) of employment and duties performed.
2. Required Documents: Resume, Certificate of Good Standing, Proof of Law Degree
3. Online Application: Questionnaire
4. Resume: Your resume may NOT exceed two pages, and the font size should not be smaller than 10 pts. You will not be considered for this vacancy if your resume is illegible/unreadable. Additional information on resume requirements can be located under "How To Apply".
5. Transcripts/Registration/License: If qualifying on education/position requires education, you must submit copies of your transcripts and if required for the position, submit an active, current registration/license.
6. Current or Former Federal Civilian Employees (includes current Air Force employees): You must submit a legible copy of a SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action.
7. Promotion Consideration: If you wish to be considered as a promotion candidate and your SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you meet the one-year time-in-grade requirements. You will need to provide additional SF-50s which clearly demonstrates you meet the time-in-grade requirements (examples of appropriate SF-50s include Promotions, Within-Grade, Grade/Range Increases, and SF-50s with an effective date more than one year old).
OPTIONAL DOCUMENTS: Performance Appraisals for Current Federal Civilian Employees - Most recent performance appraisals (dated within last 3 years) showing the official rating of record, signed by a supervisor, or statement why the performance appraisal is unavailable. Awards for Current Federal Civilian employees - List any awards received within the last 3 years on the resume. Note: Applicant must not submit award Notification of Personnel Actions (SF50s).
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.