Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Identify and track relevant bills through the legislative process.
• Analyze and prepare summaries of relevant legislative issues, including the introduction of bills, hearings, and other legislative actions of the Congress related to the federal criminal justice system.
• Evaluate pending and proposed legislation to determine the impact on Commission work.
• Facilitate effective and ongoing communications between the Commission and Congress, other federal agencies, and stakeholder organizations.
• Develop and maintain relationships with congressional staff. Engage in regular outreach to congressional staff through periodic briefings and communications.
• Assist in coordinating and preparing responses to congressional staff regarding the federal sentencing guidelines and sentencing data.
• Manage the tracking and archiving of congressional correspondence, reporting and other related memoranda in the agency's electronic document management system.
• Serve as internal advisor to senior staff regarding congressional relations and legislative issues.
• Support efforts to develop and implement strategies for communications with the press, outside groups, and the public.
• Draft memoranda, talking points, electronic communications, and policy analysis aimed at publicly disseminating Commission policy priorities, publications, and actions.
• Attend and/or review congressional hearings, public symposia, and other events related to the Commission's work, as needed, and write summary memoranda of events.
• Identify and analyze emerging policy issues and problems.
• Participate on policy teams and staff working groups that focus on new legislation and other sentencing issues.
• Other duties as assigned by the Director of OLPA.

Conditions of employment

• All employees must serve a one year probationary period

Qualifications

MANDATORY QUALIFICATIONS
Applicants must have three years of specialized experience which is in or directly related to the line of work of this position and which has equipped the applicant with particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position. This specialized experience must have been at, or equivalent to, the next lower grade from the grade being considered. For example, to qualify for the GS-12, one year of specialized experience must have been gained at, or equivalent to, the GS-11. Ability to develop a working knowledge of the federal sentencing guidelines and related data and an ability to communicate such information.

Applicants must have demonstrated work experience related to the mandatory requirements listed below and must address the qualification requirements in an attached cover letter or narrative statement.

1) Effective oral and written communication skills and an ability to serve as a representative for the agency;

2) Thorough understanding of the federal legislative process;

3) Demonstrated skill in researching and preparing well-written, organized and persuasive legal memoranda;

4) Ability to make effective oral presentations in a clear and concise manner;

5) Excellent ability to analyze, understand, and convey to others the effect of proposed legislation;

6) Ability to maintain effective working relationships with agency staff at all levels as well as with key individuals in a variety of other federal organizations and interest groups;

7) Ability to multi-task in a complex and fast-paced inter-disciplinary environment, entailing timely collection of facts, identification and resolution of issues, enumeration of options and formulation of recommendations; and

8) Working knowledge and proficiency in Excel.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
The following qualifications are preferred:

• A law degree (J.D.) from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association.
• Membership of the bar of a state, territory, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a Federal court of general jurisdiction.
• Hill experience, preferably with criminal laws and federal sentencing policy issues.
• Experience in the federal criminal justice system.
• Knowledge of the federal sentencing guidelines.

How you will be evaluated

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

The Commission evaluates applicants through a structured interview. Applicants may also be screened for some jobs through a narrative/application review, and/or a preliminary telephone interview. Applicants who do not address the qualification requirements (mandatory and preferred) in his or her application materials as stated in the vacancy announcement are automatically disqualified from consideration and must re-apply before the closing date to be considered for employment.

The Office of Human Resources:

1. Reviews the applicant's application to ensure the proper materials are submitted.
2. Ensures that the application addresses all of the qualification requirements (mandatory and preferred) as stated in the vacancy announcement.
3. Determines whether the applicant meets the qualification requirements for the particular position and notifies the applicant about the status of his or her application.