An official website of the United States government
This position is located in the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) located in New York, NY, Seattle, WA, Atlanta, GA and Cleveland, OH. The incumbent serves as a General Attorney in the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil rights (OCR). The position is responsible for participating on a civil rights compliance and enforcement team that supports the mission of the Department and OCR's Strategic Plan.
Learn more about this agency02/24/2020 to 09/24/2020
$66,697 - $115,251 per year
GS 11 - 12
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Occasional travel - 10% or less
No
Permanent
Full-Time
Excepted
13
No
No
OCR-HQ-2020-0017
560699400
This is an open continuous announcement with cutoff dates. Applications will be referred based on receipt of application and established cutoff dates as follows:
1st cutoff: March 24, 2020
2nd cutoff: April 24, 2020
3rd cutoff: May 24, 2020
4th cutoff: June 24, 2020
5th cutoff: July 24, 2020
6th cutoff: August 24, 2020
END DATE: September 24, 2020
We encourage you to read this entire vacancy announcement prior to submitting your application.
As a General Attorney, GS-0905-11/12, you will:
• Make civil rights determinations and ensure that complaints and proactive enforcement activities are processed in accordance with the Assistant Secretary's directives, regulations, policies, case law and conform to established case-processing procedures.
• Conduct legal research and provides legal advice to team members on matters of routine complexity relating to the investigation, negotiation, resolution of complaints and compliance reviews and directed investigations and the acceptance and monitoring of corrective action agreements. Assist in the conduct of enforcement actions through judicial or administrative litigation.
• Provide technical assistance to stakeholders.
• Participate in complaint and proactive enforcement investigations including on-site investigations.
This position may be filled in the New York Office, Atlanta Office, Seattle Office, Cleveland Office or all.
Office Location (based on selection):
New York Office:
32 Old Slip, 26th Floor
New York, NY 10005-2500
Atlanta Office:
61 Forsyth St. S.W., Suite 19T10
Atlanta, GA 30303-8927
Seattle Office:
915 Second Avenue Room 3310
Seattle, WA 98174-1099
Cleveland Office:
1350 Euclid Ave
Cleveland, OH 44115
You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement.
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. We will consider all qualifying experience, including any volunteer experience.
Minimum Qualifications Requirements.
A. Has obtained the first professional law degree or training which is permitted in some states in lieu of attendance at the law school AND
B. Is an active member in good standing in the Bar of a State, Territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
AND
GS-11:
GS-12:
Two Years professional legal experience at the level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to that of an attorney at the grade immediately below the one being filled.
Specialized Experience for the GS-11
One year of experience equivalent to the GS-9 performing all three (3) of the following duties or work assignments:
1. Knowledge of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act.
2. Skills in oral and written communications
3. Skills to analyze and resolve legal problems.
Specialized Experience for the GS-12
One year of experience equivalent to the GS-11 performing all three (3) of the following duties or work assignments:
1. Knowledge of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act.
2. Knowledge of investigative, analytical, negotiation, mediation and resolution techniques.
3. Skills in oral and written communications and ability to analyze and resolve legal problems.
Veterans’ Career Counseling: If you are a veteran interested in receiving tips on preparing a Federal resume and/or how to prepare for an interview, you may email Iwork@ed.gov to schedule a session with a career counselor (“Veterans Counseling Session” should be placed in the subject line of the email).
Student Loan Default: If selected for this position, we will verify that you have not defaulted on any loan funded or guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Education. If you are found to be in default, we will contact you to make arrangements for repayment prior to making an official offer of employment.
Suitability and Investigation: If selected for this position, you will be required to complete the Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306) to determine your suitability for federal employment and successfully complete a pre-appointment investigation/background check.
Essential/Non-Essential: This position is considered non-essential for purposes of reporting to work during federal government closures.
Financial Disclosure: This position does not require financial disclosure.
Telework: This position is telework eligible. At the discretion of the supervisor, generally employees may be authorized to telework one day per week if they are on regular 8-hour work schedule. Teleworkers may participate in some Alternative Work Schedules (AWS) in combination with a Telework Agreement. However, all employees must work from the official work site location a minimum of four (4) days per work week.
Bargaining Unit: This position is included in the bargaining unit.
Selections: Agencies have broad authority under law to hire from any appropriate source of eligibles and may fill a vacancy in the competitive service by any method authorized. We may make additional selections from this vacancy announcement within 90 days from the date the selection certificates are issued, should vacancies occur. We may also share selection certificates amongst program offices across the agency.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
We will review your application and documentation submitted to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. We will refer the best qualified candidates to the Selecting Official of the job for further review and consideration. You will be evaluated to determine if you meet qualifications required, and on the extent to which your application shows that you possess the knowledge, skills and abilities associated with this position as defined below. Please be sure to give examples in your resume and explain how often you used these skills, the complexity of the knowledge you possessed, the level of people you interacted with, and the complexity and sensitivity of the issues you handled.
You must submit (REQUIRED FOR ALL APPLICANTS):
•A resume demonstrating your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiating your responses to the occupational questionnaire.
You are not required to submit bar card or transcripts to apply to the vacancy announcement, but you will be required to submit them upon request from hiring panel or the HR Specialist. Writing sample and/or list of references may be required of selected applicants at later stages in the selection process.
If you are claiming Veterans’ Preference you must submit:
•A copy of your DD-214 that shows active service and character of discharge, member copy 4 (Separated Members only); OR
•A certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions within 120 days from the date of application (Current Active Duty Members only); AND/OR
•The Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference (SF-15) AND all documents indicated on the form as proof of type of preference; AND/OR
•Proof of Sole Survivorship Preference (e.g., certificate of death or 100% disability as a result of serving in the armed forces).
Veteran's Preference: Department of the Education attorney positions are in the excepted service, not the competitive civil service. There is no formal system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of the Education considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor consideration in the attorney hiring process. If you are eligible for veterans' preference in hiring, you are encouraged to include that information in your application along with the supporting documentation, e.g., SF-15, DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, or other supporting documentation.
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.
Step 1: Create a USAJOBS account (if you do not already have one) at www.usajobs.gov.
Step 2: Create a resume using the USAJOBS resume builder or upload a resume into your USAJOBS account. Ensure that your resume demonstrates your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiates your responses to the occupational questionnaire.
Step 3: Upload any required documents into your USAJOBS account (must be less than 3MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, or Word (DOC or DOCX)).
Step 4: Click "Apply Online" and follow the prompts to complete the occupational questionnaire and attach any required documents. Verify that uploaded documents from USAJOBS transfer into the agency's hiring system. You will have the opportunity to upload any additional required documents in the agency's hiring system. Click “Finish” to submit your application.
NOTE: You may update your application or required documents at any time while the announcement is open by logging into your USAJOBS account, clicking on "Application Status," clicking on the position title, clicking "Update Application,” and following the prompts.
In order to receive consideration for this position, you must submit your complete application, including all required documents, by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on the closing date of the vacancy announcement. If the vacancy announcement has an application limit, we recommend that you submit your complete application at the time of initial application. We will not accept any required documentation after the closing date of the vacancy announcement.
As an applicant, you may check your application status through your USAJOBS account at any time. We will also notify you via email of your application status at three key stages in the recruitment process.
1. Once the vacancy announcement closes, we will inform you that your application has been received.
2. After we review your submitted resume and supporting documentation, we will inform you if you are eligible and qualified, if your application was referred to a subject matter expert or panel of subject matter experts for further evaluation, and if you were amongst the most highly qualified candidates referred to the selecting official.
3. Finally, we will inform you of your final disposition for this announcement (e.g., if/when a selection is made, if/when the announcement is cancelled).
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/560699400. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
Learn more about
This is an Excepted Service position. The job will be filled by alternative hiring process and is not in the competitive civil service. Applicants selected for an excepted service position are subject to a one-year trial period.
Join our Team! The U.S. Department of Education (ED), Office for Civil Rights (OCR), is looking for the best and brightest to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the nation.
