Summary
The Office of the General Counsel (GC) provides legal advice, counsel, and services to the Agency and ensures that USAID programs are administered in accordance with legislative authorities and legal requirements. GC serves as the Agency's chief legal officer and is the principal advisor to the administrator on Agency-wide legal and policy matters. GC also advises on legal matters concerning the operation and administration of USAID programs, and on matters relating to legislation.
This job is open to
Clarification from the agency
All U.S. Citizens, no prior Federal experience is required.
Duties
- Provide written advice and analysis on legislative, administrative, and fiscal legal topics to clients and other attorneys.
- Serving as a subject matter expert for other Agency attorneys, including those advising missions overseas, on legislative, administrative, and fiscal matters.
- Orally present information and analysis to diverse stakeholders clearly.
- Collaborate with representatives from other U.S. departments and agencies and bilateral and multilateral organizations.
- Conduct thorough legal research, including legislative history, GAO opinions, and relevant case law.
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
- United States Citizenship is required.
- Relevant experience (see Qualifications below).
- Must be able to obtain and maintain a top secret security clearance.
- Males born after 12/31/1959, must be registered with the Selective Service.
- You may be required to serve a one-year probationary period.
- You must be a member in good standing of the bar of a state, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, or a territory of the United States.
- 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.
- You must possess a J.D. or LL.M. degree from an ABA-accredited law school.
Qualifications
GS-12: At least one (1) years of post J.D. or LL.M. legal experience, to include one year of post Juris Doctorate (J.D.) legal experience in the Federal Service or private sector performing work related to the duties of the position described in the vacancy announcement. One year of experience refers to full-time work. Part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. Examples of qualifying experience for this position include: a) rendering legal advice on law related to foreign affairs or international development, b) rendering legal advice on legislative or administrative law matters; c) conducting legal research and writing related to the duties of the position.
GS-13: At least two (2) years of post J.D. or LL.M. legal experience, to include experience: a) rendering legal advice on law related to foreign affairs or international development, b) rendering legal advice on legislative or administrative law matters; c) conducting legal research and writing related to the duties of the position.
GS-14: At least three (3) years of post J.D. or LL.M. legal experience, to include: a) rendering legal advice on law related to foreign affairs or international development, b) rendering legal advice on legislative or administrative law matters; c) conducting legal research and writing related to the duties of the position.
GS-15: At least five (5) years of post J.D. or LL.M. legal experience, to include: a) rendering legal advice on law related to foreign affairs or international development, b) rendering legal advice on legislative or administrative law matters; c) conducting legal research and writing and oral presentation related to the duties of the position.
Thorough knowledge of canons of statutory interpretation and administrative law highly preferred. Experience in legislative drafting is preferred. Familiarly with statutes such as the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Evidence Act, and the Fiscal Transparency and Accountability Act desirable. The successful applicant will possess superior oral and written communication skills as well as strong interpersonal skills, exhibit good judgment and function with minimal guidance in a highly demanding environment.
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). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, relevant to the duties of the position to be filled, including volunteer experience.
CTAP/ICTAP candidates will be referred to the selecting official if they are found well qualified. Well-qualified means an eligible employee who possesses the knowledge, skills, and abilities which clearly exceed the minimum requirements of the position. A well-qualified employee must meet the qualification and eligibility requirements of the position, including any medical qualifications, suitability, and minimum education and experience requirements, meet all selective factors (where applicable); meet quality ranking factors and are assigned to the Silver Category or higher Category; be physically qualified with reasonable accommodation to perform the essential duties of the position; meet any special qualifying U.S. OPM-approved conditions; AND be able to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position upon entry without additional training.
A well-qualified candidate will not necessarily meet the definition of highly or best qualified when evaluated against other candidates who apply for a particular position. In the absence of selective and quality ranking factors, selecting officials will document the job-related reason(s) for qualification determinations.
Education
You must be a graduate of an accredited law school. Transcripts to support your education are required for the Agency to consider you for this position. Transcripts are Required.
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.
BASIS OF RATING: Once the announcement closes, your application will be automatically evaluated and rated by the system and a Human Resources Specialist. To determine if you are qualified for this job, a review of your application and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the assessment questionnaire. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above. This position is being announced under Direct Hire authority, veteran's preference and Category Rating procedures do not apply. Attorney positions are in the excepted service, not the competitive service. There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, USAID considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor consideration in the attorney hiring process. If you are eligible for veterans' preference in hiring, you are encouraged to include that information in your application along with the supporting documentation, e.g., SF-15, DD-214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, or other supporting documentation.
It is the Government's policy not to deny employment simply because an individual has been unemployed or has had financial difficulties that have arisen through no fault of the individual. USAID will use information about an individual's employment experience only to determine their qualifications and assess their relative level of knowledge, skills, and abilities. Although an individual's conduct may be relevant in any employment decision, including behavior during periods of unemployment or evidence of dishonesty in handling financial matters, financial difficulty that has arisen through no fault of the individual will generally not be the basis of an unfavorable suitability or fitness determination.
Required Documents
- Resume showing relevant experience.
- Veterans' documentation, if requesting consideration under any Veterans' hiring eligibilities (veterans' preference and Veterans Recruitment Appointment). To verify the type of veterans' preference you are eligible for, we recommend using the Department of Labor's Veterans' Preference Advisor.
- If seeking eligibility based on any other special hiring authority (e.g., disabled veteran, Schedule A, special hiring programs), you must provide supporting documents to verify that you are eligible under the selected authority.
- ICTAP Eligibles: Must submit a copy of the appropriate documentation such as a reduction-in-force (RIF) separation notice, an SF-50 reflecting your RIF separation, or a notice of proposed removal for declining a direct reassign or transfer of function to another commuting area. You MUST also submit documentation to reflect your current (or last) performance rating of record of at least "fully successful" (Level III) or equivalent, along with your application/resume package.
- If this position requires proof of higher education, you must submit a copy of your transcript(unofficial transcript) or a list of courses that includes the following information: name of accredited institution, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours rated. You may use education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the requirements. Please refer to http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/policy/ApplicationOfStds-04.asp for more information. Please be advised that an official transcript will be required if the hiring manager selects you for the position.
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
The following instructions outline our application process. You must complete this online application process and submit any applicable required documents by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. If applying online poses an extreme hardship, you must contact the human resources office no later than two business days before the closing date of this vacancy announcement. Our Office will provide an alternative application method upon approval of the hardship notification. After the advertisement has closed, we will not grant requests to apply via alternative plans.
Please note, we must receive all required documents by the closing date via online or alternative methods. We will determine your eligibility and qualifications based solely on the material received by the closing date.
Step 1 - Review the Job Announcement (https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12382459)
Before you apply, we suggest you review the entire job announcement. Pay close attention to the Major Duties section and the How You Will Be Evaluated section, where you will see the areas upon which an HR Specialist or Subject Matter Expert will evaluate your application and a link for previewing online questions.
Step 2 - Create or Upload a resume with USAJOBS (www.usajobs.gov)
Create or upload a resume in USAJOBS. You may wish to customize your resume to ensure it supports your responses to the online questions and addresses the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section of the job announcement. For resume tips, click here.-Although you must enter your Social Security Number (SSN) for USAJOBS, we will only see the last four digits for identification purposes.
Step 3 - Apply Online
Click the "Apply Online" button on this announcement and then select the resume you wish to submit with your application. You will be redirected to the Department of the Treasury's CareerConnector website to complete the application process.
Step 4 - Answer the Online Questions and Submit Your Online Application
If this is your first time on Treasury's CareerConnector website, the system will prompt you to register by answering questions about your eligibility for Federal employment. Select "Take me to the assessment" and click on the "Next" button to answer the job-specific questions. The system will save these responses and take you back to the main screen so that you can answer the job-specific questions. You must answer all the questions and click the "Finish" button.
Step 5 - Review and Confirm Your Submission
You will now have the option to upload a document or print fax cover sheets for documents (see Step 6 for details). Once you click "Done," you will see a summary of your application for your review, and you may also print a copy for your records. When you click "Finish" at the bottom of the page, our system will then direct you back to USAJOBS, where you can confirm that you correctly submitted your application, and you can track your application status.
Step 6 - Submit Documents
You can submit any applicable required or optional documents (see below) by document upload, fax, or e-mail. Whichever method you choose, please include the job announcement number with your records. To protect your privacy, we encourage you to remove your SSN from any documents that you submit.
Document Upload: You may upload documents in one of two ways:
- Once you finish answering the questions in the job announcement, the system will prompt you to upload your document(s) to your application. You will be given a choice to either upload the document as part of the application process or select a copy that you've already loaded on USAJOBS. Or
- You can upload a document to an existing application by logging into your USAJOBS account profile. Click on "My Applications" and search for the vacancy. Once you've located the vacancy, click on the vacancy and select "Apply Online." Move through your existing application to the Documents page and select upload to add a document to your application. Be sure to review your complete application for confirmation that you uploaded the document.
Next steps
You must complete the online application/Occupational Questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below to apply for this position.
You must submit a complete application package by 11:59 PM (EST) on the announcement's closing date to receive consideration.
To begin, click Apply to access the online application. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account to apply. If you do not have a USAJOBS account, you must create one before beginning the application.
Follow the prompts to select your resume and other supporting documents to be included with your application package. You will have the opportunity to upload additional documents to include in your application before it is submitted. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
After acknowledging you have reviewed your application package, complete the Include Personal Information section as you deem appropriate and click to continue with the application process.
Our automated system will take you to the online application you must complete to apply for the position. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation is included with your application package, and apply.
To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account (https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login), all of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/.
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