Attorney Adviser- (General) Job in Washington, DC

Vacancy No. OIG-2025-0027 Department Department of State - Agency Wide
Salary $167,603.00 to $195,200.00 Grade 15 to 15
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 1/17/2025 Close Date 2/3/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Washington, DC


Summary

This position is in the Office of General Counsel (OGC). The OGC provides legal advice to the Inspector General, senior staff, and others in OIG on the full range of activities within OIG. This position is in the Excepted Service and appointments are made without regard to the requirements of the Competitive Service by laws, Executive order, or OPM regulations.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

Applicants who meet the qualification requirements will be forwarded to the selecting official for consideration. More than one selection may be made from this announcement.

Duties

The DOS OIG has statutory oversight responsibility over DOS, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), and the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission (USIBWC). DOS OIG responsibilities include conducting and reporting on inspections, investigations, audits, evaluations, and reviews involving overseas Posts, domestic DOS, USAGM, and USIBWC organizations.

The incumbent is an experienced attorney, and this position will be specifically responsible for analyzing and providing cogent and concise verbal and written legal counsel, advice, recommendations, and reviews on a variety of issues of law relevant to (1) general OIG operations (e.g., HR, IT, Procurement, Appropriations, Ethics, Financial Disclosure, and other areas) and (2) to particular OIG work products such as reports of audits, investigations, inspections, special projects and evaluations.

The incumbent will provide legal sufficiency reviews of reports created after OIG audits, evaluations, investigations, and inspections and review OIG reports to assure that markings and redactions are supported by law, regulation, and/or policy.

In addition, the incumbent may be required to handle litigation; and to draft and review agreements, subpoenas; provide legal support to criminal and civil investigations, and conduct ethics, independence, and financial disclosure reviews.

Such work also involves analyzing and providing advice on Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Privacy Act requests, appeals, and litigation.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • U.S. Citizenship is required.
  • Must be able to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance.
  • Statement of Employment & Financial Interest required prior to appointment.
  • Incumbent will be subject to random drug testing.
  • Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit: www.dhs.gov/E-Verify/
  • Bar Membership: You must be an active member in good standing of the bar of a state, territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
  • Copy of license to practice law.
  • Time-in-Grade requirements apply to current Federal employees.

Qualifications

BASIC REQUIREMENT:  All applicants must possess a J.D. degree from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association (or have an LL.M. degree or other graduate law school degree in addition to J.D.) and be an active member of a bar (in good standing) in any US jurisdiction. 

All applicants must verify completion of this basic requirement by submitting both proof of JD degree and proof of bar membership within US jurisdiction. Please see the “Required Documents” section of this announcement for additional information. 

Specialized Experience: 

You must possess a minimum of 5-years of full-time legal post-licensure experience.

Examples of adequate “post licensure legal practice experience”, minimum 5-years, include: 

  • Working as a federal government lawyer, or equivalent in state or local government with experience in one or more areas of government law below; OR as a licensed private sector lawyer; and
  • Providing legal counseling, legal written and verbal opinions/memoranda, and/or handling litigation (including discovery) and/or drafting and negotiating agreements; and 
  • Expertise in one or more areas of law applicable to federal agency practice, such as employment, ethics, FOIA and Privacy rules and regulations, whistleblower, procurement, fiscal, appropriations, civil and criminal fraud, civil or administrative or criminal litigation.

Additional highly desired/preferred experience and/or skills:

  • 10 years of full-time legal post-licensure experience, as described above.
  • Prior OIG or oversight experience.
  • Strong partnering, influencing and negotiating skills with a record of successfully building relationships with customers, peers, and colleagues.
  • The successful incumbent will be self-motivated, with a high degree of initiative and resourcefulness; exercise sound judgment in the accomplishment of responsibilities and demonstrate strong organizational capabilities. They must also be able to demonstrate excellent written and oral communication.
  • Although this position in non-supervisory, a candidate with experience supervising and has an interest in acting in a supervisory role is desirable.

There is no substitute of education for the specialized experience for the GS-15 position. 

Education

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; applicant's resumes and supporting documentation should only reflect education received from schools accredited by such institutions. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following Website: https://ope.ed.gov/dapip/#/home.

Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. For a list of accredited organizations recognized as specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials, visit: www.naces.org/members.php.

Additional information

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.  Acceptance of an excepted service appointment from applicants in the competitive service will require a written statement of understanding when voluntarily leaving the competitive service.

Merit promotion procedures do not apply.

Applicants must possess a J.D. degree, be duly licensed and authorized to practice as an attorney under the laws of any State, territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia, and be an active member of the bar in good standing.

To be eligible for Federal employment, male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must certify at the time of appointment that they have registered with the Selective Service System, or are exempt from having to do so under Selective Service law.

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.

If found to be in the best interest of the government and agency, recruitment or relocation incentives may be authorized.

More than one selection may be made from this announcement if additional vacancies occur.

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER - Your Social Security Number is requested under the authority of Executive Order 9397 to uniquely identify your records from those of other applicants who may have the same name. As allowed by law or Presidential directive, your Social Security Number is used to seek information about you from employers, schools, banks, and others who may know you. Failure to provide your Social Security Number on your application materials will result in your application not being processed.

BUYOUT - If you previously left federal employment and received a separation incentive (buyout) and you are selected for this position, you may be required to repay the full amount of the buyout to the agency that paid you.

PRIVACY ACT - Your application contains information subject to the Privacy Act (p.L. 93-579.5 USC 552a). This information is used to determine qualifications for employment and is authorized under Title 5 of the U.S. Code, Sections 3302 and 3361.

FALSE STATEMENT - If you make false statements in any part of your application, you may not be hired; you may be fired after you begin work; or you may be subject to fine, imprisonment, or other disciplinary action.

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION - This agency provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the Office of Employee Relations, Work/Life Programs, at (202) 261-8180. The decision on granting reasonable accommodation will be on a case-by-case basis.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY: The Department of State is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Candidates will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, marital status, age, political affiliation, union or non-union affiliation, sexual orientation, disability, or any other non- merit factors.

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.

There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of State considers veterans' preference eligibility a positive factor in the hiring process. For this announcement, all applicants will be reviewed to determine if they meet the qualifications for this position, specifically, the education and specialized experience requirements. Applicants will not be rated or ranked. All applicants that are verified to meet the required qualifications will be referred to the selecting official.

Your resume will be evaluated to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications required; and on the extent to which your application shows that you possess the knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs), and other characteristics that are relevant to the duties of this position as defined below:

- Knowledge of civil, criminal, and administrative law.

- Skills in partnering, influencing, and negotiating.

- Skills in successfully building relationships with customers, peers, and colleagues.

- Ability to provide legal counseling, legal written and verbal opinions/ memoranda to customers.

- Ability to provide clear and concise verbal and written communication.

Your resume serves as the basis for qualification determinations and must highlight your most relevant and significant work experience and education (if applicable) as it relates to this job opportunity. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Your resume should include the dates of all qualifying experience (from month/year to month/year) and the number of hours worked/volunteered per week. For assistance with creating a resume, please click here.

Applicants must meet all the qualification requirements and submit any supporting documentation by the closing date of this announcement. Your application package must contain sufficient information to make a valid determination that you fully meet the basic/specialized experience requirements as stated in this job opportunity announcement for each grade level(s) for which you are applying.


You may preview questions for this vacancy.

Required Documents

All required documents listed below, that are applicable to you, must be submitted to OIGAttyHiring@StateOIG.gov by 11:59 Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement.  Note: This announcement may be extended at any time without notice and does not indicate/imply a determination on applications has been made.

1.  Resume showing relevant work/volunteer experience, education and training. Include the start and end dates (from month/year to month/year) and the number of hours per week worked/volunteered. Your resume serves as the basis for qualification determinations and must support your answers to the completed online assessment questions. 

2. Writing Sample – you must submit a writing sample (maximum 5 pages) with your application. This sample should be a short legal memo or opinion, or equivalent writing sample.  The 5 pages limit includes coversheets, tables of content, and subsequent pages, etc. Any pages after page 5 will be discarded and not considered. The sample should demonstrate the applicant's ability to write clearly, concisely, and ability to provide sound legal advice (preferably to client).

3. Transcripts - you must submit a copy of your college and law transcript(s) from an accredited college and law school with your application. If selected, an official/sealed college/law transcript(s) will be required to verify education prior to employment.  

4. Proof of bar membership – you must submit proof of bar membership from any state or territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico with your application.

5. References – you must submit three professional references with your application.

6. Current Federal employees if applicable, must submit their most recent SF-50 and most recent signed performance appraisal.

7.  Veterans' Preference Documentation, if applicable. Veterans’ preference does not apply to this vacancy or as an Attorney Appointment within the Excepted Service. While there is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service, the Department of State considers veterans' preference eligibility a positive factor in the hiring process.  If claiming veteran's preference, you must indicate the type of veteran's preference you are claiming on your resume. Any supporting documentation received from veterans will be retained to document veteran’s status if selected.

  • To claim 5-point preference, submit a copy of your DD-214 Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty.
  • To claim 10-point preference, submit all required documentation outlined on the SF-15 (Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference) to support your claim (e.g., DD-214, official statement from the Department of Veterans Affairs, etc.).  If we cannot verify your 10-point preference claim, your application will be reviewed for 5-point preference.
  • To claim 10-point derived preference (i.e., spouses, widows, widowers or mothers of veterans), submit a completed SF-15 and all required documentation listed on the SF-15 to support your claim.
  • To claim 0-point Sole Survivorship preference, submit a copy of your DD-214 or another form of official documentation showing that your discharge or release from active duty occurred on or after August 29, 2008 and was based on a sole survivorship discharge.
  • For all preference claims:
    • DD-214 Member 4 copies are preferred and must show the dates of service, type of discharge, and any qualifying service campaign medals.
    • If you are currently on active duty and applying based on eligibility under the Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) Act, you must provide a certification on letterhead from your military branch which contains your military service dates, expected date of discharge or release, and the character of service to show that your military service was performed under honorable conditions. The expected date of discharge or release must be no later than 120 days after the certification is submitted for consideration for this vacancy announcement.
  • For more veterans’ preference information, visit the USAJOBS Help Center.  

How to Apply

The APPLY button is deactivated on this announcement, application packages are being accepted directly by OIG. 

Although this notice will remain posted for 18 days, applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and before the closing date of this announcement. 

Interested applicants must submit resumes/application package to the below email: 

  • Resumes and required documents should be sent directly to OIGAttyHiring@StateOIG.gov 
  • Email subject line MUST include: Announcement Number: OIG-2025-0027.

Please note: This is a Public Notice that vacancies may exist, however applicant notifications will NOT be sent.  If a hiring official determines you have the needed skillset for the vacancy, a member of the OIG team will contact you.  Due to the large number of applications received for all vacancies, status inquiry emails will not be answered.  Thank you for your interest in employment with Department of State, Office of Inspector General.

Agency contact information

Human Capital
Phone
000-000-0000
Fax
703-284-1821
Email
OIGAttyHiring@StateOIG.gov
Address
U.S. Department of State
1700 N Moore St
SA-39, rm 840
Attn: OIG
Rosslyn, Virginia 22209
United States
Learn more about this agency

Next steps

For the selected candidates who receive a tentative job offer, we will conduct a suitability review and/or security background investigation that generally takes an average of at least two to six months.

If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted.


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


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