Supervisory Trial Attorney (Assistant Director)

Clarification from the agency

Open to current federal employees.

Attorneys in the Tax Litigation Branch, Trial Section, represent the United States in litigation in federal and state courts across the country. These cases involve a wide variety of substantive legal areas, including federal tax law, bankruptcy law, constitutional law, commercial and state property law, as well as unique evidentiary, procedural, and jurisdictional issues. The Trial Section is divided into regional groups, plus the Court of Federal Claims Section.

The Assistant Director helps the Deputy Directors and Director of the Trial Section to manage the regional groups. This includes handling personnel, budget, and administrative matters, as well as supervising trial attorneys, paralegals, and other section staff. The Assistant Director may assume the duties of the Deputy Director in the Deputy Director's absence. The Assistant Director works closely with trial attorneys, coaching them to develop their tax and litigation skills, reviewing and editing their written work, and advising them on case development and strategy. The Assistant Director also works closely with paralegals and other administrative professionals, coaching them to develop their skills and reviewing and evaluating their work.

The Assistant Director ensures that trial attorneys' legal work is of the highest quality, and the work is done effectively and efficiently. This includes working with section attorneys to develop appropriate legal theories, ensuring thorough fact development, making persuasive arguments, and developing sound trial strategies. The Assistant Director analyzes proposed settlements and concessions, and takes final action on settlement or concession proposals when delegated settlement authority.

The Assistant Director sometimes personally handles important and difficult cases. In addition to complex civil litigation, the Assistant Director will work on Branch-wide projects or initiatives. The Assistant Director will be involved in the Branch's work on comprehensive tax enforcement. This includes coordinating with criminal tax enforcement attorneys and becoming familiar with the doctrines and practices involved in comprehensive tax enforcement.

This is not a remote location position. You will be required to work in person five days a week.

Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National
• Must complete a Background Investigation to include drug testing
• Selective Service Registration is required, as applicable
• May require completion of a 2-year trial period. (Please refer to the trial period statement under Qualifications.)
• May be required to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance with eligibility for Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) access depending on organizational assignment / duty location.
• It is the policy of the Department to achieve a drug-free workplace and persons selected for employment will be required to pass a drug test which screens for illegal drug use prior to final appointment.
• Financial Disclosure: If selected, you will be required to disclose financial information in accordance with DOJ and Federal ethics guidelines.
• This position has supervisory/managerial responsibilities. A one-year supervisory/managerial probationary period is required upon selection. This may be waived if you have successfully completed the supervisory/managerial probationary period.

Qualifications

Interested applicants must possess a J.D., or equivalent degree, be duly licensed and authorized to practice as an attorney under the laws of any State, territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia, and be an active member of the bar in good standing.

Applicants must also possess at least four years of post-J.D. legal experience to qualify at the GS-15 level.

Preferred qualifications include:

• Experience handling tax controversy matters, including civil litigation in the federal district courts, federal bankruptcy courts, or the Court of Federal Claims;
• Experience investigating and litigating factually and legally complex civil cases;
• Knowledge of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Federal Rules of Evidence, and the Judicial Code (Title 28, U.S.C.);
• Knowledge of the policies and practices of the Department of Justice, the Civil Division, and the Internal Revenue Service applicable to civil tax enforcement;
• Ability to communicate effectively and clearly, both orally and in writing;
• Demonstrated ability to work well with attorneys and other employees, including providing coaching, training, guidance, and assistance; and
• Demonstrated commitment to gaining new skills, knowledge, and experiences and applying them to enhance results.
• For the regional trial sections, experience handling bankruptcy litigation, and knowledge of the Bankruptcy Code and the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure.
• Significant trial experience, including handling major bench and jury trials.
• Demonstrated ability to work on organization-wide or cross-section projects or initiatives.
• Prior work experience, of at least three years, in a Department of Justice role that included civil tax litigation.
• Experience and familiarity with automated litigation support resources, including Relativity, IPRO, Sanction, Case Map, Time Map, and Synthetic Search Databases.
• Significant familiarity with automated case management systems and document management systems.

Trial Period Statement
As a condition of employment for accepting this position in accordance with section 11.5 of Executive Order 14284, you will be required to serve a 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

How you will be evaluated

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

Applications received by June 23, 2026, will receive first consideration. Applications received after the first cutoff date will be reviewed after the announcement closes on July 7, 2026.

Applicants will be evaluated based on a comparison of the position requirements against the quality and extent of experience or related education as reflected in their application materials.

Applicants are encouraged to ensure their materials clearly demonstrate their knowledge of subject matter pertinent to the position and the technical skills necessary to successfully perform the duties of the position.

Please Note: The Selecting Official may select additional candidates if more positions become available within 120 days after the closing date of the vacancy.

You must submit the following documents:

• A cover letter not exceeding two single-spaced pages that describes your interest in the Assistant Director position and explaining how your background and qualifications make you well qualified;
• Resume (not to exceed two pages);
• Most recent SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action) or equivalent agency form (if applying from outside the Civil Division)
  • Do not submit a pay adjustment or an award SF-50, these do not contain sufficient information about your appointment.
  • SF-50 should list the full position title, series, grade and step, organization, duty location, service computation date, effective date, and your service type and tenure status.
• Most recent performance appraisal (dated within 18 months) showing the official rating of record, signed by a supervisor, or statement why the performance appraisal is unavailable. A performance plan is not an acceptable substitute.
• Law school and any advanced degree transcripts (if applying from outside the Civil Division)
• A list of three professional references.

Next steps