Paralegal Specialist Job in Washington, DC

Vacancy No. DE-25-005-SP Department U.S. International Trade Commission
Salary $68,405.00 to $88,926.00 Grade 9 to 9
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 11/18/2024 Close Date 11/29/2024
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Washington, DC


Summary

This position is located in the Office of Unfair Import Investigations. The incumbent in this position serves as a Paralegal Specialist and is responsible for carrying out assigned functions of the mission of the office.

This position is also being announced through merit promotion procedures under announcement MP-25-006-SP. Candidates who wish to be considered under both competitive (U.S. citizens) and merit promotion procedures must apply to both announcements.

Duties

As a Paralegal Specialist, you will provide paralegal support to attorneys in the Office of Unfair Import Investigations, who investigate unfair acts and unfair methods of competition under Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, by collecting , analyzing, synthesizing information and details from statutes, treaties, documents to update legal materials for reports compiled by the Office , including electronic databases and websites maintained by the office; thoroughly cite-checking, shepardizing, proofreading and preparing briefs and other legal documents for filing in administrative proceedings before the Commission; providing assistance in some of the duties and activities of the attorneys, including research and analysis and casebook preparation; preparing administrative records and assisting in litigation preparation; and maintaining litigation files.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • U.S. citizenship is required.
  • You may be required to serve a one-year probationary period.
  • Successful completion of a background investigation is required.

Qualifications

You must meet all the requirements below by the closing date of the announcement and they must be clearly identified in your application, resume, or supporting documents. This includes any general and specialized experience, education, and/or selective placement factors mentioned. These are used to determine if you possess the knowledge, skills, and/or abilities to successfully perform in this position.

BASIC REQUIREMENT

To qualify at the GS-9 level, applicants must have either specialized experience, education or a combination of experience and education as follows:

A. At least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 grade level or comparable pay band in the federal service or equivalent experience in the private sector. Specialized experience is preparing letters and draft affidavits/declarations documents and reports, utilize a variety of automated legal research tools and public information databases to perform legal research; OR

B. Master's or equivalent graduate degree, an LL.B or J.D. degree, or have completed two full years of graduate level education leading to such a degree from an accredited college or university. Closely-related degree programs include international trade law, legal studies and law; OR

C. Have a combination of graduate-level education and specialized experience (as described above), which, when combined, is equivalent to 100% of the qualification requirement. This experience and education together meets 100% of the qualification requirements for this position. To calculate your percentage of graduate education, first determine the total number of graduate hours that exceed 18 semester hours (or your school's definition of one year of graduate study), then divide the total number of your excess graduate semester hours by 18 (or your school's definition of one year of graduate study). To calculate your percentage of qualifying experience, divide your total number of months of qualifying experience by 12. Now, add the two percentages together. The sum of the percentages must equal at least 100%.

To preview the assessment questionnaire, click the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12597199

Education

NOTE: Only degrees from an accredited college or university recognized by the Department of Education are acceptable to meet positive education requirements or to substitute education for experience. For additional information, please go to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and U.S. Department of Education websites at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications and http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html.

Your resume serves as the basis for qualification determinations and must highlight your most relevant and significant work experience(s) and education (if applicable) as it relates to this job opportunity. In order to fully evaluate your application and receive proper credit, your resume should include: (1) paid and non-paid experience, job title, dates held (month and year for qualifying purposes to receive credit), number of hours worked per week, and salary (2) knowledge of the subject matter and technical skills pertinent to this position; (3) specific duties performed that fully detail the level and complexity of the work; and (4) names and phone numbers of your current and/or previous supervisor(s). Your resume should 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. This information should be clearly identified in your resume. Failure to provide information sufficient to determine your qualifications for the position will result in loss of consideration.

Special Instructions for Foreign Education: Qualifying education from colleges and universities in foreign countries must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part in foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree. A listing of these accredited organizations can be found on the Department of Education's website - US Department of Education. Another listing of services that an perform this evaluation is available at the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES). You must provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course by course listing along with your application. Failure to provide such documentation when requested will result in lost consideration.

Additional information

1. CTAP/ICTAP APPLICANTS: If you are a federal displaced employee as defined in 5 CFR 330.703 (b), you may be entitled to receive priority consideration under the Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP). You must be determined by the Agency to be "Well-Qualified' for the specific position. A well-qualified employee means an eligible employee who possesses the knowledge, skills and abilities, which clearly exceed the minimum qualification requirements for the position. Eligible employees receiving a score of 85 or higher will be determined to be well-qualified employees and will be advised in writing of the results. Eligible employees will be advised in writing if another well-qualified eligible is selected. When an eligible employee is found to be not well-qualified, a second independent review of the employee's application will be conducted and the employee will be advised in writing of the results of the second review.http://www.opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.asp

2. If you are a veteran with preference eligibility and you are claiming 5-point veterans' preference, you must attach a copy of your DD-214 or other proof of eligibility. If you are claiming 10-point veterans' preference, you must attach an SF-15, "Application for 10-Point Veterans' Preference" plus the proof required by that form.

3. If you are a male applicant who was born after 12/31/59 and are required to register under the Military Selective Service Act, the Defense Authorization Act of 1986 requires that you be registered or you are not eligible for appointment in this agency.

4. You can apply for a non-competitive appointment if you meet the basic eligibility requirements and you are eligible for special appointment such as those authorized for the severely disabled; certain Vietnam-era and disabled veterans; returned volunteers from the Peace Corps or Vista, etc. Please indicate the type of special appointment you are seeking, if any, on your application and follow all other instructions for applying shown in this announcement.

5. All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review in our office, in other Federal agency personnel offices, and on OPM's web site at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications.

6. Transcripts - Applicants must submit college transcripts from a U.S. Department of Education accredited college or university, if using education to qualify for this position. (The U.S. International Trade Commission does not recognize academic degrees from schools that are not accredited by an accredited institution recognized by the Department of Education. Any applicant falsely claiming an academic degree from an accredited school will be subject to actions ranging from disqualification from federal employment to removal from federal service.)

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.

Your application will be rated by our applications system using the Category Rating procedure. A quality review will then be conducted by the HR Office and/or Subject Matter Expert (SME). Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs) and/or competencies in the following area:

  • ABILITY TO PROVIDE LEGAL SUPPORT FOR COMPLEX LITIGATION
  • ABILITY TO PROVIDE LEGAL SUPPORT FOR IP LITIGATION
  • KNOWLEDGE OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS AND SOFTWARE
We will evaluate your relevant education and/or work experience as they relate to the competencies, knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) mentioned above. If you rate yourself higher than is supported by your application materials, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job. Based on the results of this evaluation, you will be placed in one of the following categories:

Best: This category indicates you have the type and quality of experience and/or education that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position, including any selective placement factors and/or appropriate quality ranking factor(s).

Better: This category indicates you have the type and quality of experience and/or education that exceed the minimum qualifications of the position.

Good: This category indicates that you meet the minimum qualifications and/or education of the position and are proficient in some, but not all, of the requirements of the position. You may require extensive training and/or orientation in order to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position.

Candidates in the Best category will be the first ones sent to the hiring manager for interview consideration. Within each category, those with veterans' preference eligibility will receive selection priority over non-veterans.

Required Documents

1. Resume - Your resume may be in any written format you choose, and to be sufficient, should contain the required information as specified in the How You Will Be Evaluated section. Insufficient resumes, or resumes that contain inappropriate information, such as privacy information, detailed security clearance documents, copies of driver's licenses or passports, any photographs, etc., will result in an ineligible rating.

2. Occupational questionnaire - A completed job-specific occupational questionnaire submitted through your Application Manager, via the methods outlined in the How to Apply section.

3. Transcripts - If applying based on education, a copy of your transcript(s) for all course work completed is required. If you received a degree from an academic institution, be sure that your transcript reflects the same. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable for initial application purposes. If your education is from a foreign university, it should include an evaluation of the education by an accredited U.S. source that specializes in interpretation of foreign education credentials. If selected, your academic credentials are verified as part of the security clearance process.

Notice of Veterans' Preference: Applicants eligible for veterans' preference must include that information in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documents (e.g. DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active duty) to their submissions. Applicants eligible to claim a 10-point preference must submit a Standard Form (SF-15), Application for 10-point Veteran's Preference, and supporting documentation required for the specific type of preference claims. The SF-15, which lists the type of 10-point preference and the required supporting documents, is available from the Office of Personnel Management website at: http://www.opm.gov.

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

To apply for this position, you must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below.

The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 11/29/2024 to receive consideration.

1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.

2. Click the Submit My Answers button to submit your application package. It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation are submitted prior to the closing date.

3. To verify that your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account, https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the More Information link for this position. The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.

4. To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.

The Vacancy ID is 12597199.

Agency contact information

Steve Parker
Address
Office of Unfair Import Investigations
500 E St SW
Washington, DC 20436
US
Learn more about this agency

Next steps

Once the occupational questionnaire is received, you will receive an acknowledgement email that your submission was successful. After a review of your complete application, you will be notified of your rating and/or referral to the hiring official. If further evaluation or interviews are required you will be contacted.

To check the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account, select Application Status, and click on the More Information link under the application status for this position.

You will be notified up to four times during the hiring process:

  1. Upon receipt of your application
  2. Upon minimum qualifications determination
  3. After candidates have been referred to the hiring official
  4. Once a selection has been made


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


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