Clarification from the agency

U.S. Citizens and U.S. Nationals; no prior Federal experience is required.

A Senior Counsel of the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division Counsel (TEGEDC) serves as a senior litigator with significant legal expertise on matters under the jurisdiction of the office and acts as a consultant to the Division Counsel, the Deputy Division Counsel, Area Counsel, or other designated Division Counsel personnel. TEGEDC provides legal services on program matters, including tax issues relating to employee benefits (including qualified retirement plans, deferred compensation arrangements, and health and welfare programs), executive compensation, exempt organizations, federal, state, local and Indian tribal governments, tax-exempt bonds, and employment tax. As a General Attorney (Tax) - Senior Counsel, you will:

• Be responsible for independently working on and reviewing some of the office's most complex, important, or novel trial/case/project assignments, particularly those with broad or potentially controversial ramifications.
• Serve as team leader on large-scale TEGEDC litigation that may include representatives from other Counsel Divisions or IRS offices.
• Research complex issues and trends affecting TEGEDC legal services and determine likely legal ramifications on TEGEDC, TE/GE and, when applicable, SBSE and LB&I programs.
• Act as a recognized legal resource specialist to other office staff for the purpose of providing substantive guidance and assistance to junior attorneys to facilitate the development and completion of legal work assignments.
• Serve as a TEGEDC representative and advocate in senior-level meetings and conferences with IRS and Treasury personnel, as well as in meetings with Congressional staff or the staff of other Federal agencies.

This is not an all-inclusive list.

Conditions of employment

• Refer to "Additional Information"
• Click "Print Preview" to review the entire announcement before applying.
• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements detailed below by the closing date of this announcement. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application.

To qualify for this position of General Attorney (Tax) - Senior Counsel, you must meet the qualification requirements listed below by the closing of this announcement:

Basic Requirements for: General Attorney (Tax) - Senior Counsel

• Possess at least the first professional law degree (LL.B. or J.D.) from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association; AND
• Applicants must be an active member in good standing of the bar of a State, U.S. Commonwealth, U.S. territory, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico;

GS-15 Experience Requirements:

• 1 year of general professional legal experience from any area of expertise; plus
• 3 year(s) of professional legal tax experience

Professional Legal Tax Experience is defined as: (1) Comprehensive professional knowledge and understanding of Federal tax statutes and regulations as well as relevant Treasury and IRS guidance in one or more of the following areas: exempt organizations, employee plans, employment tax, health and welfare benefits, executive compensation, tax-exempt bonds, Indian and Tribal Governments, and/or government entities AND (2) Extensive experience with cases or projects while having primary responsibility for conducting complex research and in-depth legal analysis, such as decision-making, providing advisory opinions, and reviewing, training, or advising others on specific cases or complicated issues.

At least one year of this experience must be equivalent to the work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-15). Note: Only experience gained after Bar Admission may be credited as Professional Legal Experience.

Education Substitution: An LL.M. degree in the field of the position (tax, GLS-related, orP&A- FOIA/Disclosure related field) may be substituted for the one year of the general legal experience listed above.

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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. 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/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week, on your resume.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Applicants will be considered based on their overall background as it relates to the position to be filled. Interviews may be held at the option of the office. All application materials and interviews, if conducted, will be used in the final evaluation and selection process.

Referral: Professional Order will be used to refer and select eligible candidates. Veterans' preference is applied after applicants are assessed. Preference eligibles will be listed at the top of the certificate in alphabetical order and considered before non-preference eligibles. All other candidates will be listed in alphabetical order. If you are among the top qualified candidates, you may be required to participate in a selection interview. We will not reimburse costs related to the interview, such as travel to and from the interview site.

If you are a GS-14 applying for a promotion or you are a GS-15 reassignment (non-hardship), please apply to the announcement. In regard to this announcement, the MFCL is only for hardship reassignments of employees currently occupying GS-15 Senior Counsel positions. Current GS-15 Senior Counsel employees seeking reassignment due to a hardship will be given first consideration and must be on the Master First Consideration List.

A complete application includes items described below. 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).

1. RESUME - All applicants are required to submit a resume either by creating one in USAJOBS or uploading one of their own choosing. Please limit your resume to two pages. Applicants with resumes exceeding two-pages will be removed from consideration. Resumes MUST contain specific information that can be used to make a qualification determination, including employment beginning and ending dates for each position (ex. MM/YY - MM/YY), whether employment is Full-time or Part-time, or average number of hours worked per week, and position titles. If the position is/was in the Federal government, you will need to detail the position series and grade level. The resume should detail relevant experience and education, as well as support the required specialized experience. Please view resume tips.

Note: Resume must be presented in a font size and font style that is legible, no less than 10-point size with no less than half an inch margin all around.

2. VACANCY QUESTION/ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONSES:Responses are automatically submitted through USA Jobs when you apply to this vacancy.

3. ADDITIONAL REQUIRED DOCUMENTS:Applicants are required to submit the following supporting documentation if applicable:

• An unofficial or official transcript(s) for your J.D. degree or LL.M. degree (an official transcript is required if you are selected). Transcripts must detail degree awarded/conferred including date.
• Proof of active bar admission
• A memorandum of interest summarizing your interest in the position

Current Chief Counsel Employees are also required to submit:

• A copy of your most recent, signed, completed annual performance appraisal which includes the final rating. If it is not dated within the last 12 months or if you have not received a performance appraisal, please explain why in your application
• A Supervisory Report regarding your suitability for the position as completed by your current supervisor. You are responsible for notifying your supervisor that this report must be received no later than five workdays after the closing date of this announcement.

Education Documentation: For positions with an education requirement, or if you are qualifying for this position by substituting education or training for experience, submit a copy of your transcripts or equivalent. An official transcript will be required if you are selected. See "Education" for more details.

Certificate of Good Standing: A certified original copy of your certificate of good standing from your State Bar will be required if you are selected.

VETERANS' PREFERENCE DOCUMENTATION: There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Office of Chief Counsel considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. If you are claiming veterans' preference, you must submit a copy of your Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, DD-214 (Member 4 copy), or other official documentation from a branch of the Armed Forces or the Department of Veterans Affairs showing dates of service and type of discharge. Ten-point preference eligibles must also submit an Application for 10-point Veteran Preference, SF-15, along with the required documentation listed on the back of the SF-15 form. For more information on veterans' preference, view FedsHireVets.

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