Paralegal Specialist Job in Denver, CO

Vacancy No. 25-HUD-273-P Department Office of General Counsel
Salary $66,670.00 to $125,685.00 Grade 9 to 12
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 11/27/2024 Close Date 12/10/2024
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Denver, CO


Summary

This position is located at Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of General Counsel.

This opportunity is also open to Status eligibles under announcement 25-HUD-272. Please refer to that announcement for details on open period, eligibility, and how to apply.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

U.S. citizens or U.S. Nationals; no prior Federal experience is required.

Duties

The following are the duties of this position at the GS-12. If you are selected at a lower grade level, you will have the opportunity to learn to perform all these duties, and will receive training to help you grow in this position.

As a Paralegal Specialist, you will:

  • Perform a comprehensive range of legal duties which involve legal research, analysis, and evaluation; as well as support in the areas of legal document review or preparation, correspondence control, preparation and processing of documents and records releases, exhibits and report preparations, and responses to litigation and inquiries under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
  • Perform substantive independent legal research, analysis, and evaluation, which requires detailed knowledge of a diverse combination of case law, government policies, federal regulations, legal texts, legislative history, and state and federal statutes.
  • Formulate legal documents which reflects substantive and detailed evidentiary research. Analyze and summarize legal decisions, opinions, and other legal matters for use by attorneys; and based on specialized paralegal background, sherardize case law and evaluate the status of statutes or judicial opinions.
  • Review, analyze, and prepare detailed summaries of transcripts of hearings or congressional testimony.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

The official duty station for this position will be in Denver, Colorado. Failure to report to duty at this location may be grounds for a disciplinary action, including removal.

Key Requirements:

  • Must be U.S. Citizen or U.S. National.
  • A one year probationary period may be required.
  • Must successfully complete a background investigation.
  • Complete a Declaration for Federal Employment to determine your suitability for Federal employment, at the time requested by the agency.
  • Have your salary sent to a financial institution of your choice by Direct Deposit/Electronic Funds Transfer.
  • If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System or are exempt from having to do so.
  • Go through a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) process that requires two forms of identification from the Form i-9. Federal law requires verification of the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires in the U.S.
  • Obtain and use a Government-issued charge card for business-related travel.
  • Please refer to "Additional Information Section for additional Conditions of Employment."

Qualifications

You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Specialized Experience: For the GS-12 grade level, you must have one year (52 full weeks) of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized Experience for this position includes:

  • Work experience where the applicant has regularly performed legal research and prepared necessary documentation in the course of real estate closings, real estate transactions, foreclosures, litigation, or other HUD Program areas; and analyzes relevant statutes, regulations, and case law using on-line resources such as Westlaw/Lexis.

Specialized Experience: For the GS-11 grade level, you must have one year (52 full weeks) of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized Experience for this position includes:
  • Work experience where the applicant has regularly performed legal research and prepared necessary documentation in the course of real estate closings, real estate transactions, foreclosures, or other housing areas; and responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
OR Education: You may substitute education for general or specialized experience as follows: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, OR 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, OR LL.M. if related, in an accredited college or university that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work.

OR Combination: You may qualify by a combination of experience and education. To combine education and experience, the total percentage of experience at the required grade level compared to the specialized experience requirement, as well as the percentage of completed education compared to the education requirement must equal at least 100 percent. Only graduate level education in excess of 36 semester hours (54 quarter hours), may be used to combine education and experience.


Specialized Experience: For the GS-09 grade level, you must have one year (52 full weeks) of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized Experience for this position includes:
  • Experience where the applicant performed legal research and prepared necessary documentation in support of legal recommendations and responses to legal proceedings, contracts, foreclosures, or real estate closings.
OR Education: You may substitute education for general or specialized experience as follows: Masters or equivalent graduate degree, OR 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, OR LL.B or J.D. in an accredited college or university that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work.

OR Combination: You may qualify by a combination of experience and education. To combine education and experience, the total percentage of experience at the required grade level compared to the specialized experience requirement, as well as the percentage of completed education compared to the education requirement must equal at least 100 percent. Only graduate level education in excess of 18 semester hours (27 quarter hours), may be used to combine education and experience.


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 resume.

Education

The education generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. 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.

Additional information

OTHER INFORMATION:

  • We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies.
  • Relocation expenses will not be paid.
  • Relocation incentive will not be paid.
  • Recruitment incentive will not be paid.
  • This is a bargaining unit position.
  • This position is Non-Exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
  • HUD offers alternative and flexible work schedules.
  • This announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies for similar positions across HUD. During the online application process, you will be asked to specify if you would like your application information shared with other hiring managers in the Program Office listed in this announcement or in other HUD Program Offices. Opting to share your application information will not impact your application for this announcement, nor will it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT (CONTINUED):

HUD employees are subject to a number of government-wide and HUD specific ethics laws and regulations, including restrictions on working in a real estate related business, and having Section 8 tenants, along with other prohibited interests and activities. To review applicable ethics rules and HUD specific restrictions, please visit https://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/general_counsel/ethics.

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 includes your resume, responses to the online questions, and required supporting documents. Please be sure that your resume includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position; failure to provide sufficient evidence in your resume may result in a "not qualified" determination.

Rating: Your application will be evaluated in the following areas: Analytical, Communication, and Research and Analysis.

Category rating will be used to rank and select eligible candidates. If qualified, you will be assigned to one of three quality level categories: Best (highest quality category), Better (middle quality category), or Good (minimally qualified category) depending on your responses to the online questions, regarding your experience, education, and training related to this position. Your rating may be lowered if your responses to the online questions are not supported by the education and/or experience described in your application.

Veterans' preference is applied after applicants are assessed. Preference-eligibles will be listed at the top of their assigned category and considered before non-preference-eligibles in that category.

Qualified preference-eligibles with a compensable service-connected disability of 10% or more will be listed at the top of the highest category.

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.

If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee (eligible for the Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)/Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP)) you must receive a score in the middle quality category or better to be rated as "well qualified" to receive special selection priority.

Required Documents

A complete application includes:

1. A resume: All applicants are required to submit a resume 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 resume.
  • It is suggested that you preview the online assessment questionnaire, to ensure that your resume thoroughly describes how your skills and experience align to the criteria defined in the "Qualifications" section of this announcement and support your responses to the online assessment questionnaire.
  • For resume writing guidance, please visit USAJOBS Resources Center.

2. Vacancy assessment question responses: All applicants are required to complete vacancy question responses by clicking the apply online button of this vacancy announcement.

3. Submission of any required documents identified below, if applicable: 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).
  • VETERANS' PREFERENCE DOCUMENTATION:
    • If you are claiming veterans preference, please see applicant guide for required documentation In order to be considered for veterans preference, you must submit all required documentation as outlined in the applicant guide.
  • CAREER TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PLAN (CTAP) OR INTERAGENCY CAREER TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PLAN (ICTAP) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS:
    • If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee, in order to be eligible under one of these authorities you must submit all required documentation as outlined in this link: CTAP/ICTAP
  • EDUCATION DOCUMENTATION:
    • For positions with an education requirement, or if you are qualifying for this position by substituting education or training for experience, you MUST 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

HUD 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.

Please review the entire announcement before applying.

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.

HUD 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 resume 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) A list of announcements in which you have applied will be at the Welcome screen
  • 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/12623246

Agency contact information

Applicant Call Center
Address
Office of General Counsel
Administrative Resource Center
Parkersburg, WV 26101
US
Learn more about this agency

Next steps

Once the online questionnaire is received, you will receive an acknowledgement email that your submission was successful. We will review your resume 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.


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


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