Clarification from the agency

This position is open to: U.S. Citizens

The Division of Investment Management (IM), Disclosure Review and Accounting Office (DRAO) is seeking an Associate Director to serve as the head of the office, based in Washington, DC. In this senior leadership role, you will oversee and direct a high-performing team that is responsible for recognizing, analyzing and resolving complex disclosure issues in registration statements, periodic reports and other filings submitted by investment companies to the Commission.

Typical duties include:

• Lead comprehensive reviews of statutes, regulations, and disclosure documents for registered investment companies, business development companies, and certain insurance products, providing expert legal analysis and guidance on complex issues
• Provide executive leadership for staff and deliver high-quality work products; ensure expertise in specialized market segments; monitor emerging and innovative financial techniques and offerings; build strategic relationships with relevant agencies and registrants; and represent the Commission through public outreach to fulfill its mission and vision.
• Advise SEC senior leadership on complex and sensitive disclosure and policy issues, including matters involving high-stakes decisions and nuanced regulatory challenges.
• Analyze complex factual or policy issues requiring extensive research, analysis, and coordination in order to recognize and evaluate precedent and assess their impact on mission.
• Resolve challenging legal questions requiring innovative approaches to balance competing interests in policy and regulatory development.
• In the capacity of senior legal adviser and counselor, attend and participate in meetings and conferences where critical disclosure policy formulation, procedural development, and program planning matters are discussed and agency positions are developed.

Conditions of employment

• CITIZENSHIP: You must be a US Citizen.
• You must possess a J.D. or LL.B Degree and you must be an active member of the bar in good standing.
• This position is open to the public
• Application procedures are specific to this vacancy announcement. Please read all the instructions carefully. Failure to follow the instructions may result in you not being considered for this position.
• Supplementary vacancies may be filled in addition to the number stated in this announcement and may be filled from any division or office within the agency.
• This position has promotion potential to the SO-02.
• Consistent with 5 U.S.C. § 7511, you will be required to serve a two-year trial period (one year for preference eligible veterans) if the position to which you have applied is not the same or similar to your current position of record.
• SECURITY CLEARANCE: Entrance on duty is contingent upon completion of a pre-employment security investigation. Favorable results on a Background Investigation may be a condition of employment or selection to another position.
• DRUG TESTING: This position may be subjected to drug testing requirements.
• PERMANENT CHANGE OF STATION (PCS): Moving/Relocation expenses are not authorized.
• DIRECT DEPOSIT: All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.
• This position is not in the collective bargaining unit.

Qualifications

All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Qualifying experience may be obtained in the private or public sector. 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, including volunteer experience. Qualifying education must have been obtained from an accredited college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Applicants are responsible for confirming all required materials are submitted by the deadline. Please check the 'How You Will Be Evaluated' and 'Required Documents' sections carefully, as missing documents will render the application incomplete and ineligible for review.

BASIC REQUIREMENT: All applicants must possess the following

• J.D. or LL.B. degree --AND--
• Active membership of the bar in good standing in any state, territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the commonwealth of Puerto Rico. (Note: proof of bar membership will be required before entry on duty.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: In addition to meeting the basic requirement, applicants must also meet the minimum qualification requirement.

• SO-01: Applicant must have at least four years of post J.D. work experience identifying legal issues, providing legal analyses, recommendations, and preparing complex legal documents, which also includes at least three years of specialized experience:
  1. Interpreting and applying the provisions and providing sound advice regarding the Investment Company Act and Investment Advisers Act, as well as familiarity with the Securities Act and Exchange Act;
  2. Independently preparing and/or reviewing investment company SEC filings;
  3. Conducting second level reviews of filings; and
  4. Recommending resolution to a variety of disclosure reporting issues.

How you will be evaluated

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

Your resume and application package will be reviewed to determine whether you meet the qualification requirements outlined in this announcement. If you are found minimally qualified, a rating panel will review your Resume and Accomplishment Record narratives.

Accomplishment Record narratives should clearly demonstrate your proficiency in the following competencies:

1. Leading the Organization: Build and support the vision, create strategies to achieve the vision, support and lead innovative and creative initiatives to meet organizational goals.
2. Leading and Developing People: Recruit, lead, develop and manage the workforce, manage differences and potential conflicts between employees, build teams that meet and exceed an organization's mission, strategic plan, and goals.
3. Results Orientation: Meet organizational goals by managing a program, identifying and solving important problems, making sound and timely decisions, and managing and sharing information.
4. Building Coalitions: Build coalitions by partnering with others to build strategic relationships and influencing and negotiating to achieve favorable outcomes.
5. Disclosure Examination: Reviews and analyzes investment company disclosure documents in accordance with relevant rules, regulations, accounting principles, standards, and Commission, Division, and Office positions and interpretations to determine compliance with SEC regulations.
6. Disclosure Guidance and Advice: Applies legal and accounting expertise, and knowledge of industry issues and current topics, to provide guidance and recommendations to others relating to investment company disclosures.

Your resume must provide evidence that supports the claims made in your Accomplishment Record narratives; both documents must effectively showcase your qualifications. Each competency narrative should detail one specific, relevant example from your training or experience. Please limit each response to a maximum of 300 words. Text beyond this limit will not be considered during the evaluation. Upload one pdf or Word document with your responses to each of the four competencies. Your responses must be in the below format:

Competency Title
Position title and dates from your resume that this experience was obtained

• Describe the situation (i.e., the challenged faced, the problem solved)
• Describe the specific actions you took
• State the outcome, results, or long-term impact of your accomplishment
• Name and email address of someone who can verify this information

Basis for Rating: The rating panel will evaluate applicants' accomplishment records and resume, then place them into one of the following categories: Highly Qualified, Well Qualified and Qualified.

• Highly Qualified - Meets the minimum qualification requirements and has extensive skills and experience in most of the job related competencies above.
• Well Qualified - Meets the minimum qualification requirements and has a moderate amount of skills and experience in most of the job related competencies above.
• Qualified - Meets the minimum qualification requirements but minimal experience in several of the job related competencies.

Top ranked applicants will be referred to the hiring office for further review and consideration. The hiring office may directly contact recommended candidates for interview(s). When the selection is made, applicants will be sent a referral status notification and a final disposition notification.

You must provide a complete Application Package, which includes:

• Required: Your responses to the Questionnaire. To preview the Questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12903692
• Required: Resume - To meet the minimum qualification requirements for this position, you must show that you possess the specialized experience related to this position within your two-page resume - NOT TO EXCEED 2 PAGES. Resumes over the 2-page limit, will not be reviewed beyond page 2. Your resume should highlight the competencies required for the position and include examples of experience, education, and accomplishments applicable to the qualification(s) and include specific employment dates (month and year and start and ends dates) and differentiate between full-time and part-time work. To help ensure the resume review fully credits your relevant experience, we recommend clearly referencing the competency and specialized experience demonstrated in each position or example you include in your resume. If your resume does not reflect demonstrated evidence of these qualifications, you may not receive consideration for the position. Candidates external to the SEC will be allowed to submit a comprehensive resume for pay setting purposes after a tentative offer is made. If the applicant fails to provide the comprehensive resume by the specified deadline, the resume submitted at the time of application will be used to determine pay. No additional documentation will be accepted after the deadline. Note: Your resume must NOT contain pictures. If you are a current SEC employee selected for this position, the standard percentage increases will be applied (i.e., 6% for non-supervisory and 10% for supervisory positions) if your selection results in a promotion. If your selection results in lateral movement (i.e. no change in grade) you will maintain your current salary. If your selection results in a change in grade from an SK-15 to an SK-16 you will maintain your current salary. For helpful guidance for writing a two-page resume, click here.
• Required, if applicable: Veteran's documentation (DD-214, member 4 copy or other documentation containing dates of service and character of discharge.)
• Required: Accomplishment Record - For each competency, applicants must provide a 300 word or less written narrative describing one example of competency-related experience. Each example should document the position title and dates when the experience was obtained, detailed information about the problem or situation, the specific actions taken by the applicant, and the results or outcomes achieved by those actions. The applicant will also provide the name and contact information of an individual who can verify the provided information. This document must be uploaded to the application under Accomplishment Record. An accomplishment record submitted outside the USA Staffing system will not be accepted. Failure to provide the Accomplishment Record will result in a rating of IFFM: You were not considered because you did not submit all required documents and/or they were not in English as specified in the announcement.
• Required: Unofficial Transcripts/Registration/License - If education is a qualification for this position, you must submit a copy of your unofficial transcripts with your application. If the position requires an active professional license or registration, you must submit a copy with your application. Official documents, and a Certificate of Good Standing, if applicable, will be required if selected.

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