Summary
Merit Systems Protection Board decides Federal employee appeals on disciplinary, performance, whistleblower, discrimination, and veterans' employment matters. Office of Appeals Counsel attorneys are principal legal advisors to the Board members, conducting legal research and writing recommended appellate decisions on which the Board members vote, addressing novel legal issues and helping shape civil service law.
This job is open to
Clarification from the agency
Open to all U.S. Citizens
Duties
- The duties described are for the full-performance level. At developmental grade levels, assignments will be of more limited scope, performed with less independence and limited complexity.
- The duties may include, but are not limited to:
- Prepares decisions for the Board to consider in the form of draft Orders, Final Orders, and Opinions and Orders, together with supporting explanatory memoranda that will provide the basis for the Board to act.
- Reviews case record to determine whether the party who filed the petition for review has made a case warranting review by the Board, or whether the case should be reopened on the Board's own motion.
- Identifies and analyzes factual and legal issues embodied in the case records and carries out research to provide the Board a basis for its decision on all issues identified.
- Engages regularly in intensive research on novel legal issues, using whatever research tools are necessary.
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
- You must be a US Citizen.
- Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
- As a condition of employment, a background investigation may be required for this position.
- May be subject to satisfactory completion of a trial period.
- Direct Deposit : Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
- Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit E-Verify at https://www.e-verify.gov/
- This position is part of the bargaining unit represented by the Merit Systems Protection Board Professional Association.
Qualifications
To qualify, you must be duly licensed and authorized to practice as an attorney under the laws of a state, Territory, or the District of Columbia and meet the following requirements by the closing date of the announcement.
GS-905-11: a. The second professional law degree (LL.M.); or b. the first professional law degree (LL.B. or J.D.) plus one year of professional legal experience; or c. the first professional law degree (LL.B. or J.D.) plus superior law student work (i.e, academic standing in the upper 1/3 of an accredited law school graduating class; work or achievement of significance on the law school's official law review or moot court board; special high-level honors for academic excellence in law school-such as, election to Order of the Coif; winning of a moot court team which represents the law school in competition with other law schools, full-time or continuous participation in a legal aid program-as opposed to intermittent or prior to "casual participation"; significant summer law clerk experience; or other evidence of clearly superior achievement).
GS-905-12: The first professional law degree (LL.B. or J.D.) plus one of the following: a. One year of professional legal experience at the level of difficulty comparable to the GS-905-11; or two years of professional legal experience, one of which must be at the level of difficulty comparable to the GS-905-11; or b. Second professional law degree (LL.M.) plus one year of professional legal experience at the level of difficulty comparable to the GS-905-11; or c. One year of professional experience; plus superior law student work (i.e, academic standing in the upper 1/3 of an accredited law school graduating class; work or achievement of significance on the law school's official law review or moot court board; special high-level honors for academic excellence in law school-such as, election to Order of the Coif; winning of a moot court team which represents the law school in competition with other law schools, full-time or continuous participation in a legal aid program-as opposed to intermittent or prior to "casual participation"; significant summer law clerk experience; or other evidence of clearly superior achievement).
GS-905-13: The first professional law degree (LL.B. or J.D.) plus one of the following: a. Superior law student work plus two years of professional legal experience in employment law applicable to federal employees and agencies, one of which must be at a level of difficulty comparable to the GS-905-12; or b. Three years of professional legal experience in employment law applicable to federal employees and agencies, one of which must be at a level of difficulty comparable to the GS-905-12; or c. Second professional law degree (LL.M.) plus two years of professional legal experience in employment law applicable to federal employees and agencies, one of which must be at the level of difficulty comparable to the GS-905-12.
GS-905-14: The first professional law degree (LL.B. or J.D.) plus one of the following: a. Superior law student work plus three years of professional legal experience in employment law applicable to federal employees and agencies, one of which must be at a level of difficulty comparable to the GS-905-13; or b. Four years of professional legal experience in employment law applicable to federal employees and agencies, one of which must be at level of difficulty comparable to the GS-905-13; or c. Second professional law degree (LL.M.) plus three years of professional legal experience in employment law applicable to federal employees and agencies, one of which must be at the level of difficulty comparable to the GS-905-13.
***If you are found qualified for this position, you will ONLY be considered at the grade level(s) for which you apply.***
Education
Please see educational qualification requirement information above.
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.
Your resume must support the following:
- You are proficient in the areas described in the Major Duties section above.
- Your resume must include dates of employment and a detailed description of each position you held. Failure to do so may impact your eligibility and may remove you from consideration.
Applications will be reviewed and eligibility determined based on the qualifications listed above. Applicants who fail to provide the required information will be determined ineligible. All eligible applications will be referred for further evaluation by subject-matter experts. The selecting official may select any eligible applicant with consideration of an individual's veteran's preference status as a positive factor. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your eligibility. Deliberate attempts to falsify information may be grounds for not selecting you.
To preview the application questionnaire, please visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12390398
Required Documents
The following documents are required for your application to be complete. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, illegible fax transmissions, delays in mail service, your system failure or downtime, etc. Encrypted and digitally signed documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration.
- Resume that includes: 1) job information for which you are applying; 2) personal information; 3) education; 4) work experience including the work schedule and hours worked per week as well as dates of employment; and title, series and grade if applicable; 5) supervisors phone number and e-mail address for each work period listed and whether or not we may contact them for reference checks; and, 6) other qualifications.
- Law School Transcripts or List of Coursework: An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application; however, if selected, an official law school transcript will be required prior to entering on duty. All education must have been successfully completed and obtained from an accredited school, college, or university. Foreign education must be evaluated by an approved organization. For additional information, refer to the U.S. Department of Education web site at http://www.ed.gov. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.
- Writing Sample: A legal writing sample such as a brief, memorandum of law, decision letter, or other material demonstrating proficiency in written legal analysis.
- Cover Letter: A cover letter explaining your interest and qualifications is preferred, but not required.
- DD-214 (Member 4 Copy): If you are an honorably discharged veteran who wishes to claim veteran's preference as a positive factor in your application. Please also submit an SF-15 with any other documentation required on the form, if applicable.
- Current/Former Career/Career-Conditional: MUST submit a copy of an SF-50, non-award Notification of Personnel Action, which preferably shows your current grade/position. If your current grade is not your highest permanent grade, submit a copy of an additional SF-50 showing your highest grade. AND current Federal employees must also submit your most recently completed annual performance appraisal (dated within 18 months) which identifies the employee's official rating of record, signed by the supervisor, or a statement advising why the performance appraisal is unavailable (e.g., length of time in current position, personnel system outage, etc.).
How to Apply
Please read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement.
Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00a.m. - 4:00p.m., Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, contact the Agency Contact listed below well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages must be complete and submitted no later than noon ET on the closing date of the announcement in order to be entered into the system prior to its closing.
This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis; contact the Agency Contact to request this.
Step 1: Create a USAJOBS account (if you do not already have one) at www.usajobs.gov. It is recommended that as part of your profile you set up automatic email notification to be informed when the status of your application changes. If you choose not to set up this automatic notification, then you will have to log into your USAJOBS account to check on the status of your application.
Step 2: Create a Resume with USAJOBS or upload a Resume into your USAJOBS account. You may want to customize your resume to ensure it documents duties and accomplishments you have gained that are directly related to this position in order to verify that qualifications are met. In addition, your resume must support your responses to the online questionnaire (you may preview the online questionnaire by clicking on the link at the end of the How You Will Be Evaluated section of the job announcement).
Step 3: Click "Apply Online" and follow the prompts to complete the Occupational Questionnaire and attach any additional documents that may be required. You can update your application or documents anytime while the announcement is open. Simply log into your USAJOBS account and click on "Application Status." Click on the position title, and then select "Update Application" to continue.
NOTE: Please verify that documents you are uploading from USAJOBs transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded documents must be less than 5MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, TXT or Word (DOC or DOCX). Do not upload Adobe Portfolio documents because they are not viewable.
Next steps
If you set up your USAJOBS account to send automatic email notifications, your will receive an email acknowledging: 1) the submission of your online Occupational Questionnaire and resume was successful, 2) if you were referred to the selecting official for consideration, and 3) if you were selected or not selected. Your application will be reviewed to verify that you meet the eligibility and qualification requirements for the position prior to issuing referral lists to the selecting official. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted. Log in to your USAJOBS account to check your application status. We expect to make a final job offer approximately 40 days after the deadline for applications.
Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
Under the Fair Chance Act, agencies are not allowed to request information about an applicant's criminal history until a conditional offer of employment has been made, except as allowed for access to classified information; assignment to national security duties or positions; acceptance or retention in the armed forces; or recruitment of a Federal law enforcement officer. An applicant may submit a complaint or any other information related to an organization's alleged noncompliance with the Fair Chance Act. The complaint must be submitted within 30 calendar days of the date of the alleged noncompliance. To make a Fair Chance Act inquiry or complaint, send an email with the appropriate information to pervis.lee@mspb.gov, subject line: Fair Chance Act.
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