Clarification from the agency

Federal Administrative Law Judges, and lawyers with 10 years' experience. Applicant should have at least 7 years of litigation experience in labor law or related employment law. (E.O) 13843 titled "Excepting Administrative Law Judges from the Competitive Service" (83 FR 32755). More than one selection may be made from this vacancy notice.

As anAdministrative Law Judge, GS-0935-3, your typical work assignments may include:

• Presiding at hearings and issuing decisions in cases that are often complex and sensitive and involve hotly contested and controversial issues. All hearings are adversarial, with parties usually represented by counsel.
• Conducting pre-trial conferences to simplify the issues in a case, petitions to revoke subpoenas, and ruling on other motions both before and during the hearing.
• Conducting hearings involving contested issues, regulating the course of hearings, governing the conduct of attorneys and witnesses, and controlling the questioning of witnesses.
• Receiving and ruling on admissibility of evidence and, as necessary, examining witnesses; determining when the record is complete and requiring the production of additional evidence as necessary to establish an adequate record.
• Analyzing and evaluating the evidence, determining the credibility of witnesses, and resolving disputed issues of fact and conflicts in testimony; considering all arguments and briefs and rendering a written decision that defines the issues, resolves conflicts and makes findings of fact and conclusions of law, applying the relevant legal principles under the NLRA and decisions of the NLRB.
• Writing and issuing decisions in a timely manner without the assistance of a full-time law clerk, and achieving a reasonable number of dispositions, including both settlements and decisions issued.
• Traveling to sites throughout the United States and its territories. Travel is required and may be considerable. The ALJ may be required to remain in travel status for a week at a time. On occasion, particularly at the beginning of their tenure, an ALJ may be required to travel for several consecutive weeks.

Conditions of employment

• U. S. Citizenship Required.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for Selective Service.
• Relocation expenses are not authorized.
• Subject to a background investigation prior to appointment.
• Subject to financial disclosure requirements.
• Subject to frequent travel throughout the US and its territories.
• Locality pay will be determined upon selection.
• This position is in the Excepted Service; however, if you are currently an ALJ in the Competitive Service, you will remain in the Competitive Service after selection.
• Submit complete application package online by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date.

Qualifications

All qualifications and eligibility requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement.

MANDATORY QUALIFICATIONS
To qualify for an Administrative Law Judge, AL-0935-03, position, an applicant must be a judge or attorney with at least 10 years of experience, at least 7 years of which are litigation experience. Must also have substantial experience litigating NLRB cases as counsel for the General Counsel, Respondent, and/or Charging Parties.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS
Experience and knowledge of the substantive law, rules, regulations, and procedures of the NLRA, as well as general litigation and administrative law principles. Experience in litigating adversarial cases is strongly preferred.

Through experience as a practicing lawyer or judge, demonstrated ability to preside over and manage an adversarial hearing in which parties are generally represented by counsel.

Through experience as a practicing lawyer or judge, demonstrated ability to work independently, analyze applicable facts and law, and write and issue timely, logical, and comprehensive decisions without law clerk or supervisory assistance.

Through experience as a practicing lawyer or judge, demonstrated ability to: settle or mediate disputes involving adversarial parties; maintain proper judicial temperament and demeanor; and communicate and cooperate with counsel, witnesses, chief judges responsible for assigning cases, administrative support staff, court reporters, interpreters, as well as other agency and government officials.

Experience with using a computer to communicate, write decisions, and perform research through electronic means, such as Lexis and/or Westlaw.

This experience must be fully supported and articulated in your resume to receive consideration.

BAR MEMBERSHIP AND CERTIFICATION
Applicants must have a J.D. or its equivalent from an accredited law school; licensure and authorization to practice law under the laws of a state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territorial court established under the U.S. Constitution.

An "active" bar status and/or membership in "good standing" for at least ten years total in at least one jurisdiction in which the applicant is admitted (an active "judicial" Bar membership is acceptable). Your active Bar license must reference Bar number and indicate the status of good standing. Agency's Internal Self-Certification Forms are not acceptable for verification. This requirement is for applicants that are not currently serving as an Administrative Law Judge.

How you will be evaluated

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

All applicants will be evaluated on the Qualifications for this position. Suitability for the position will be determined from review of the application documents, including applicant's resume and writing samples.

• Experience in relevant NLRB law or related labor and employment law.
• Experience in evidentiary and procedural rules in adversary administrative or court proceedings.
• Ability to fairly preside over and control adversary proceedings.
• Ability to write clear and cogent decisions, including factual statements resolving credibility resolutions and application of those factual statements to the applicable law with appropriate analysis.
• Ability to work independently and issue timely decisions without supervision or law clerk assistance.

In assessing the above, references provided by the applicant, as well as other persons knowledgeable about the applicant's experience, skill and ability may be consulted.

Optional Four Essay Questions
At the time of application, applicants will be provided with four short, free-response essay questions designed to ascertain their dedication to public service for the hiring manager and agency leadership (or designee) to review. Responses are not required and will not be scored. If applicants choose to provide a response to the essay questions, they will be required to certify that they are using their own words and did not use a consultant or AI (such as a large language model [LLM]). The responses to each question cannot exceed 200 words per question. In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process.

For evaluating the quality of applicants for referral to the selecting official, a three-phased process will be used.

Phase 1: Applicants resume and supporting documents are reviewed by Human Resources (HR) to ensure they meet the basic qualification requirements.

Phase 2: Applicants who are minimally qualified will be advanced to a Structured Resume Review assessment conducted by a Subject Matter Expert (SME) panel. SME will review your resume to determine your technical qualifications for this position based on the required experience.

Phase 3: After a review of your resume is complete, the selecting official will review all qualified applicant packages. The finalists may be interviewed as part of the review process. The Chief Administrative Law Judge will make recommendations to the Board, who in turn, will make the final selections and appointments to the position.

To preview the assessment questionnaire, please click here:https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12965116

RESUME
In compliance with Executive Order 14170, Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government Service resumes must not be longer than two pages in length. The resume must address minimum qualifications and other requirements listed in the job announcement. If the two-page resume criteria and/or the resume formatting requirement is not met, candidates will be rated as ineligible and will not be referred for hiring consideration.

Resumes must include all of the following information outlined below:

Contact Information: Name and how best to contact you, including email address and phone number.

Relevant Work Experience

• Job Title and Employer (including series and grade for any Federal positions)
• Start and end dates with month/year (e.g., 05/2019 -08/2022 or present)
• The number of hours you worked per week

Ensure work experience descriptions are aligned with the job announcement and address all required qualifications. Brief descriptions should demonstrate your ability to perform the tasks at the required level as stated in the job announcement.

TWO WRITING SAMPLES
Samples must be either decisions in cases where adversarial parties were represented by counsel, or briefs in such cases which the applicant participated as counsel before a judge or court. If available, briefs addressing NLRB law are encouraged.

THREE REFERENCES
Must include the names, titles, addresses, including email addresses of references who are able to vouch for above stated relevant abilities and experience. Judges and supervisors who worked closely with applicant are preferred.

PROOF of BAR CERTIFICATION
A copy of your Bar License that certifies you are an active member of the Bar in good standing of any state, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or any Territorial Court under the US Constitution (An active "judicial" Bar membership is acceptable). Your active Bar license must reference Bar number and indicate the status of good standing. Agency's Internal Self-Certification Forms are not acceptable for verification. This requirement is for applicants that are not currently serving as an Administrative Law Judge.

TRANSCRIPTS
An unofficial copy of your transcripts is sufficient for this application package. The unofficial transcripts must be verifiable; contain the name of the institution, applicant's name, list of completed courses (with grades), semester hours, and GPA. If the position has a positive education requirement as indicated under the "Education" section, the unofficial transcripts must show type of degree and degree date received (conferred). If selected, an official copy of the transcripts is required and must be received before employment.

Other Documents (if applicable)

Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) (Current or Previous Federal Employee)
Most recent SF-50 showing your current grade and tenure (you may be removed from consideration if not submitted). An SF-50 showing highest (permanent) grade ever held, if different from your current grade. Realignment/Reassignment, Name Change and Detail SF-50s will not be accepted as proof of grade and tenure. If you are applying for a higher grade, provide an SF-50 or SF-50s which show the length of time in the current/highest grade (i.e., Promotions, With-in Grade/Range Increases, and SF-50s with dates that show proof of you holding the grade for at least a year) to support meeting time-in-grade requirements.


Failure to submit any of the required or applicable documents by the closing date of the vacancy will result in your removal from consideration for this position. Please review your application prior to final submission and ensure you have submitted all appropriate documents. Uploading documents to USAJOBS does NOT ensure inclusion with your application to our system. You must verify that the documents are in the system with your application prior to final submission.

All materials must be received by 05/27/2026 to be considered for this announcement.

Next steps