Attorney-Adviser (Administrative Law) Job in Washington DC, DC

Vacancy No. FEC-12192900-OPM Department Federal Election Commission
Salary $117,962.00 to $181,216.00 Grade 13 to 14
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 11/1/2024 Close Date 11/30/2024
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Washington DC, DC


Summary

This position is located in the Administrative Law Team of the Office of General Counsel (OGC), at the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The FEC regulates the financial aspects of political campaigns for Federal office and administers the public financing of presidential campaigns. The FEC has exclusive jurisdiction over civil enforcement of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA).

This is a non-bargaining unit position.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open to all U.S. citizens

Duties

The Administrative Law Team (Admin Law) provides legal support and representation to the Commission and its components on a wide range of legal matters that are not directly related to the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA or the Act). Principal among Admin Law's areas of responsibility are the following: 1) Federal Disclosure Law; 2) Federal Personnel and Labor Law; 3) Equal Employment Opportunity Law; 4) Federal Fiscal and Procurement Law; 5) legal issues relating to the Inspector General; and 6) FBI Liaison. Admin Law is led by the Deputy General Counsel - Administration and the Assistant General Counsel for Administrative Law.

As the Attorney-Adviser (Administrative Law) in this position, you will:

  • Write legal reports, memoranda, and briefs.
  • Deliver oral presentations to the Commission in support of recommended actions.
  • Make appearances on behalf of the Commission in venues such as the Merit Systems Protection Board, Federal Services Impasse Panel, EEOC, and Office of Special Counsel (OSC).
  • Negotiate on behalf of the agency with the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU).
  • Advise agency and managers on federal employment law and labor relations matters.
  • Process FOIA requests and recommends action to the Commission.
  • Advise the Commission on all aspects of the Privacy Act.
  • Reviews agency enforcement matters and internal procedures and prepares them for public dissemination.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • You must be a U.S. citizen or national.
  • You must be able to pass a background investigation.
  • Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see Legal and regulatory guidance below).
  • You may be required to serve a 2 year probationary period.
  • Direct Deposit of Pay is required.
  • You must meet qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the Basic Requirements and the Experience Requirements described below. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience. A copy of your unofficial or official transcripts must be provided with your application.

Basic Requirements (applicable to both grade levels):

A. Education: Possess a J.D. or LL.B degree from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association.

AND

B. Bar Membership: Be an active member in good standing of a state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or territory of the United States.

In addition to meeting both of the Basic Requirements above, you must meet the experience requirements for the applicable grade level.

Experience Requirement for the GS-13 Level:

You must have at least 2 years of progressively responsible professional experience working as a practicing attorney in any of the following duty areas: compliance, litigation, investigations, legal review, regulations/policy, or other similar areas. At least one year of this experience must be comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-12 level participating in providing legal advice, analysis, research, or litigation work. This must include activities such as: (1) conducting legal research of policies, regulations, and/or compliance questions, including searching legal precedent; (2)assisting in administrative law matters, such as equal employment, labor, and personnel laws, procurement, fiscal and appropriations law. (3) conducting legal research; (4) drafting pleadings, motions, briefs, or other court documents; (5) developing strategies and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish projects or cases; and (6) assisting in oral presentations of legal arguments or results of legal research/analysis.

Experience Requirement for the GS-14 Level:

You must have at least 3 years of progressively responsible professional experience working as a practicing attorney in any of the following duty areas: compliance, litigation, investigations, legal review, regulations/policy, or other similar areas. At least one year of this experience must be comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-13 level providing legal advice, analysis, research, and/or litigation work. This must include activities such as: (1) conducting legal research of policies, regulations, and/or compliance questions, including searching legal precedent; (2) overseeing administrative law matters, such as equal employment, labor, and personnel laws, procurement, fiscal and appropriations law. (3) conducting extensive legal research; (4) independently drafting pleadings, motions, briefs, or other court documents; (5) developing strategies and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish cases; and (6) making oral arguments in a court or administrative hearing.

In addition, you must provide a cover letter of at least two pages summarizing your evidence of the following competencies:
  1. Legal Writing: Writes clear, concise, persuasive legal documents.
  2. Legal Analysis: Researches, analyzes, and explains complex legal issues such as constitutional, jurisdictional, and administrative-law issues.
  3. Administrative Law: Demonstrated experience in general administrative law matters, including Federal sector equal employment, labor, and personnel laws; procurement, fiscal and appropriations law; and laws pertaining to agency disclosure of information, including the Privacy Act and Freedom of Information Act.
  4. Oral Communication: Experience and demonstrated skill in making effective oral presentations, including experience in making oral arguments before administrative third parties (e.g., arbitrators, administrative law judges) and negotiations.
  5. Planning and Coordinating: Plans and organizes projects or cases; develops strategies and arguments in preparation for presentation of cases.
We recommend your cover letter include examples that are clear, concise, and emphasize your level of responsibilities, the scope and complexity of the functions, activities, or services you delivered; level of contacts; the sensitivity and criticality of the issues you addressed, and the results of your actions.

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

You must provide transcripts or other documentation to support your educational claims. Unless otherwise stated, unofficial transcripts are acceptable. Your transcripts must include all of your courses, grades, and semester or quarter hours. If you received a degree, the transcript must show the date the degree was awarded or conferred.

A self-created transcript or a list of courses you have prepared is not acceptable.

Additional information

FEC offers competitive salaries and an attractive benefits package, including: health, dental, vision, life, and long-term care insurance; retirement plan; Thrift Savings Plan [similar to a 401(k)]; Flexible Spending Account; Employee Assistance Program; personal leave days; and paid federal holidays. Other benefits may include: flexible work schedules, telework and transportation subsidies.

If you receive a tentative offer of employment for this position, you will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application, prior to entry on duty. False statements on any part of the application may result in withdrawal of offer of employment, dismissal after beginning work, fine, or imprisonment.

Veterans: There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Federal Election Commission considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. Although the "point" system is not used, per se, applicants eligible to claim 10-point preference must submit Standard Form (SF) 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, and submit the supporting documentation required by that form.

All materials must be submitted by the closing date of the announcement.

Additional selections may be made from this announcement.

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.

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 closes, we will conduct a review of your application package to verify your eligibility and qualifications.

If you are found qualified, your application will move forward to additional phases of the review process which will determine the best qualified candidates.

Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

Required Documents

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package including the documents listed below. We strongly encourage applicants to doublecheck that all required items are properly submitted to ensure consideration.

  1. Your Resume listing hours worked per week, dates of employment (month/year) and duties performed for each position held.
  2. Cover Letter addressing the competencies in the Qualifications section above.
  3. Unofficial law school transcripts to verify you meet the educational requirements of this position. All applicants are required to submit unofficial law school transcripts prior to the closing of this announcement. If selected for this position you will be required to submit official law school transcripts upon entry into duty.
  4. Bar License to verify you are licensed and in good standing to practice law as an Attorney under the laws of a state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or territory of the United States. You must submit a copy of your current Bar card, or letter of good standing.
  5. Veterans documents (if applicable): DD-214 including character of service, or certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions within 120 days, and if applicable, SF-15 Form, VA letter, or other documentation required by that form.

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

To apply for this position, you must complete the online application and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section.

The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 11/30/2024 to receive consideration.

To begin, click Apply Online. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account or you may need to create a new account.

You will be taken to an online application. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation, and submit the application. You will receive an email notification when your application has been received for the announcement.

To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account, https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the More Information link for this position. The Application Status page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and your responses submitted to the online application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.

Agency contact information

San Antonio Services Branch
Address
Federal Election Commission
1050 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20463
US
Learn more about this agency

Next steps

Once your complete application is received, we will conduct an evaluation of your qualifications. Additional phases of the review process will determine the best qualified candidates, and whether or not your application is referred to the selecting official. You will be contacted directly if further evaluation or an interview is required. You will receive notifications by email about the status of your application throughout this process.


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


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