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This position is located in the Little Rock, Arkansas Branch Office of the Office of the General Counsel (OGC), Department of Agriculture. The office is physically located in the Federal Building at 700 West Capitol Street, in Little Rock. The incumbent serves as Associate Regional Attorney and supervises and manages a Branch Office, which, under the direct supervision of the Regional Attorney, provides legal services to field offices of USDA agencies administering programs within a geographical area assigned to the office.
Major Duties Include:
07/09/2018 to 07/30/2018
$121,280 - $157,663 per year
GS 15
Occasional travel - Occasional travel may be required.
No
Permanent
Full-Time
15
Yes
AG-OGC-2018-0057B
504279000
As a Supervisory General Attorney (Associate Regional Attorney), you will be responsible for the following:
Participates in the interpretation, application, implementation and resolution of legal issues and office policies, and directing, supervising, and participates in the provision of all types of legal services for USDA agencies performing activities in the assigned area. The Associate Regional Attorney also supervises the staff of the Branch Office.
Provides oral and written advice; preparing and reviewing documents; researching and analyzing pertinent law; developing legal theories, tactics and procedures; conducting litigation and litigation-related activities; advising client agencies on dealing with special interest groups; assisting client agencies in negotiations; advising in the development of training programs for client agencies; and ensuring legal support for the operation of programs of the Department within the assigned geographical area.
Interpreting federal, state and local laws; preparing numerous types of legal documents such as deeds, easements, rights-of-way, leases, mortgages, deeds of trust, contracts, subordination agreements, assignments, and powers of attorney; preparing documents for litigation by Assistant United States Attorneys and Department of Justice Attorneys, including complaints, answers, motions, briefs, and memoranda of law, and providing litigation assistance to these attorneys and their staffs, including participating in trials.
Reports to the Regional Attorney who occupies an SES-level position. The incumbent is directly responsible for supervision of office staff and management of the Branch or Regional Office. This includes responsibility for civil rights, fair and unprejudiced employment practices, affinitive action on EEO objectives, training, promotion, awards, and career development.
Directs legal work and activities, supervises Branch or Regional Office staff and manages the resources of the office; is responsible for developing plans, preparing budget requests, establishing internal office procedures, and assigning and evaluating work; provides reports to the Regional Office and senior staff in the Washington Office as requested; ensures that written work is of the highest professional quality and is timely in relation to the issues presented; assures that oral presentations in courts, before public bodies, or in other forums are of high quality; and is responsible for personnel management and practices, equal employment opportunities, recommending promotions and employee selection, and training, motivation, and evaluation of the staff.
Communicates frequently with numerous officials including senior agency field personnel, United States Attorneys and their staffs, senior field officials in other federal departments, the Attorney General and staff for states within the assigned Branch or Regional Office area, members of federal regional councils, client agency constituents including persons and organizations, persons at high management levels in the private sector and their attorneys and persons in interest group organizations and their attorneys. Through these contacts, information is obtained and exchanged, negotiations occur, and the legal basis for client agency decisions is furnished and analyzed.
The position directs the work of GS-14 and GS-15 level attorneys and support staff that may include paralegals, legal assistants and administrative officers. The work of the organization is accomplished through supervision of non-supervisory positions.
Legal advice and opinions issued by the Associate Regional Attorney and by the Branch or Regional Office staff embrace many fields of law, may affect large areas of land, and influence to a significant degree the actions and decisions of agency officials in meeting statutory obligations. Faulty legal advice could result in unlawful actions by agency officials adverse to the statutory purposes for the programs and/or the policies of the Department, and failure to recover substantial amounts on debts due the United States.
An applicant must have successfully completed a full course of study in a school of law accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) and have the first professional law degree (LLB or JD). (Law School transcript required)
Bar Membership: An applicant must currently be an active member in good standing of the bar of a state, territory of the United States, District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Foreign Education: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.
New supervisors/managers who have never held a supervisory appointment in the USDA, or documented successful completion of either a USDA agency or Department-level approved new supervisor program must complete the USDA-wide approved new supervisor training program. This training must be completed according to all regulations, within one year of beginning the appointment and before the end of their probationary period. Failure to complete the required training and assessment may result in failure to complete probation and reassignment to another position in compliance with 5 CFR Part 315, Subpart I. Employees who have previously been a supervisor within USDA and have documented completion of a new supervisor training program approved by their agency training officer are not required to complete the USDA-wide new supervisor’s training program. This documentation must be provided to their agency’s training officer.
• 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.
• Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc) should contact: USDAs TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD).
• Relocation expenses are not authorized.
• BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION AND FINGERPRINT CHECK: Selection and retention in this position is contingent on a successfully adjudicated FBI National Criminal History Check (fingerprint check) and a background investigation.
• Direct Deposit - Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of your choosing.
• E-Verify: Federal law requires agencies to use the E-Verify system to confirm the employment eligibility of all new hires. If you are selected as a newly hired employee, the documentation you present for purposes of completing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Form I-9 on your entry-on-duty date will be verified through the DHS E-VERIFY' system. Under the system, the new hire is required to resolve any identified discrepancies as a condition of continued employment.
• Obtain and use a Government-issued charge card for business-related travel.
• This announcement may be used to fill multiple vacancies.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Attorney positions are in the excepted service. There is no formal rating system for applying veterans preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service.
However, if you are eligible for veterans preference, you are encouraged to include that information in your application along with the supporting documentation (e.g., DD-214, SF-15, letter from the VA documenting disability, or other supporting documentation). Please visit OPMs Vet Guide for more information.
You will be evaluated based on your qualifications for this position as evidenced by the education, experience, academic record and training you described in your application package. Your application package must include: a cover letter, resume, law school transcripts, most recent performance appraisal, and a written narrative, not to exceed 1,200 words, showing you possess the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies listed below.
You will also be evaluated on the degree to which you possess the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies listed below:
Your application will be reviewed in order to ensure you meet the job requirements and assess your ability to perform this job. The supporting documents are reviewed to ensure that (a) minimum qualification requirements are met and (b) all required documentation have been submitted.
Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your rating may be lowered to more accurately reflect the submitted documentation. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action up to including removal from the Federal service.
Clicking the link below will present a preview of the application form; i.e. the online questionnaire. The application form link below will only provide a preview and does not initiate the application process. To initiate the online application process, click the "Apply Online" button to the right.
The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, illegible fax transmissions, delays in the mail service, your system failure, etc. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration.
All applicants must submit:
Other required documents may include:
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.
Please read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement.
Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00a.m. - 4:00p.m., Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, contact the Agency Contact listed below well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages must be complete and submitted no later than noon ET on the closing date of the announcement in order to be entered into the system prior to its closing.
This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis; contact the Agency Contact to request this.
To begin, click "Apply Online" and follow the instructions to complete the Assessment Questionnaire and attach your resume and all required documents.
NOTE: You must verify that uploaded documents from USAJOBS transfer into the Agency's staffing system. Applicants may combine all like required documents (e.g., all SF-50s) into one or more files and scan for uploading into the application. Each file must not exceed 3MB. Grouping like documents into files will simplify the application process. Documents must be in one of the following formats: GIF, JPEG, JPG, PDF, PNG, RTF, or Word (DOC or DOCX). Uploaded documents may not require a password, digital signature, or other encryption to open.
Your application will be reviewed to verify that you meet the eligibility and qualification requirements for the position prior to issuing referral lists to the selecting official. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted. Log in to your USAJOBS account at https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login to check your application status. We expect to make a final job offer approximately 40 days after the deadline for applications.
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/504279000. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
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