Summary
OIG is organized into seven operational units: the Immediate Office of the Inspector General, Office of the Counselor, Office of Audits and Evaluations, Office of Healthcare Inspections, Office of Investigations, Office of Management and Administration, and Office of Special Reviews. In addition to the Washington, DC, headquarters, OIG has offices located in more than 60 locations throughout the country.
Duties
Attorneys in OSR have significant investigative and writing experience gained from public or private sector and have often previously served as internal investigations counsel, trial litigators (civil and criminal), appellate attorneys, and federal agency counsel. The day-to-day work includes:
- designing investigative plans
- drafting subpoenas and other formal requests for information
- managing and examining large document sets using E-Discovery tools
- conducting legal research and briefing management on legal analysis
- examining and summarizing evidence, laws, regulations, and VA policies
- conducting on-the-record witness interviews
- writing reports that will be scrutinized by stakeholders including Congress, VA leaders, and the public
- drafting recommendations to promote accountability of VA employees and tangible improvements in VA operations
Investigative Attorneys serve on and lead multidisciplinary teams, conducting work that blends the skills of lawyers, administrative investigators, program analysts, and writers. These teams work independently with supervisory support, and the work is stimulating, varied, and collaborative. Attorney Advisors also maintain a close working relationship with outside groups, including other OIG components, agency officials, and Congressional stakeholders.
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
The experience may have been gained in either the public, private sector or volunteer service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/day/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week on your résumé.
Key Requirements:
- Click "Print Preview" to review the entire announcement before applying.
- Must be a U.S. Citizen or U.S. National.
Qualifications
You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
Be a current member of a bar with a valid license to practice law in a state or territory of the United States, District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Specialized experience: For the GS-15, you must have four years (48 months) or more of post-J.D. legal experience, of which two years must include the following specialized experience at, or equivalent to, the GS-14 grade level. Specialized experience for this position includes assisting with planning and executing investigative, analytical, or legal reviews. Examples of such experience could include:
- Representing entities or agencies in regulatory enforcement matters or litigation; OR
- Conducting investigations and making presentations about the subject matter to various audiences; OR
- Providing independent legal advice or guidance on programmatic responsibilities; OR
- Serving as liaison with high-level or other entity program officials.
Education
Must be a graduate of a law school accredited by the American Bar Association at the time of graduation (a copy of your transcript will be required if selected).
A college or university degree generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools which meet these criteria, please refer to Department of Education Accreditation page.
If you are qualifying based on foreign education, you must submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. Refer to the OPM instructions.
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Your application includes your résumé, responses to the online questions, and required supporting documents. Please be sure that your résumé includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position; failure to provide sufficient evidence in your résumé may result in a "not qualified" determination.
Rating: This announcement is issued under excepted service hiring authority for Attorney positions (5CFR 213.3102): all candidates who meet all the qualification and other eligibility requirements may be referred for consideration. Competitive examining rules providing for rating and ranking and veterans' preference do not apply.
Referral: If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application may be referred to a selecting official for consideration. You may be required to participate in a selection interview and/or a writing assessment. Applicants who are selected for an interview may ask questions about the evaluation process at the time they are contacted for an interview.
Required Documents
A complete application includes 1. A résumé, 2. Vacancy question responses, and 3. Submission of any required documents. Please note that if you do not provide all required information, as specified in this announcement, you may not be considered for this position (or may not receive the special consideration for which you may be eligible).
It is anticipated that there will be significant interest in the announcement. As a result, the announcement will close at 11:59 p.m. ET on the date of receipt of the 200th application or at 11:59 p.m. ET on the date of closure; whichever occurs first. Any required documents should be submitted at the time that you apply as documents will not be accepted after the vacancy closes.
All applicants are required to submit a résumé either by creating one in USAJOBS or uploading one of their own choosing. (Cover letters are optional.) To receive full credit for relevant experience, please list the month/date/year and number of hours worked for experience listed on your résumé. We suggest that you preview the online questions, as you may need to customize your résumé to ensure that it supports your responses to these questions. Please view résumé tips.
VETERANS' PREFERENCE DOCUMENTATION: Even though veteran's preference does not apply to this excepted service authority you are still encouraged to submit your documentation. Please see applicant guide for required documentation.
EDUCATION DOCUMENTATION: Submit a copy of your transcripts or equivalent. An official transcript will be required if you are selected. A college or university degree generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools which meet these criteria, please refer to Department of Education Accreditation page. If you are qualifying based on foreign education, you must submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. Refer to the OPM instructions.
How to Apply
VAOIG has partnered with the Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service to provide certain personnel services to its organization. Fiscal Service's responsibilities include advertising vacancies, accepting and handling applications, and extending job offers.
The following instructions outline our application process. You must complete this application process and submit any required documents by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. ET, Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, please contact us by noon ET on the announcement's closing date.
The Bureau provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us if you require this for any part of the application and hiring process.
- 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 will need to create one before beginning the application.
- Follow the prompts to select your résumé and/or 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.
- You will be taken to the online application which you must complete in order to apply for the position. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation is included with your application package, and submit the application.
To verify the status of your application:
-Log into your USAJOBS account (
USAJOBS Login)
-Under "application status," click "Track this application" and you will be taken to the agency website where you can check your application status.For more information regarding the job and applicant status, please refer to
https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/ If you wish to make changes/updates to your application and the vacancy is still open, you can click on the job announcement and "Update Application" to be taken back to your application. No updates can be made once the announcement has closed. Please notify us if your contact information changes after the closing date of the announcement. Also, note that if you provide an email address that is inaccurate or if your mailbox is full or blocked (e.g., spam-blocker), you may not receive important communication that could affect your consideration for this position.
For additional information on how to apply, please visit the Partnership for Public Service's
Go Government website.
To preview the assessment questionnaire:
https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12651701
Next steps
Once the online questionnaire is received, you will receive an acknowledgement email that your submission was successful. We will review your résumé and transcript(s) (if appropriate) to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. We will evaluate each applicant who meets the basic qualifications on the information provided and may interview the best-qualified applicants. After making a tentative job offer, we will conduct any required suitability and/or security background investigation.