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This supervisory attorney position is located in the Office of the General Counsel, the Postsecondary Education Division. In this capacity, the incumbent will provide leadership and supervision on behalf of the Assistant General Counsel for Postsecondary Education and the incumbent’s immediate supervisor, with respect to enforcement matters, assisting with the management of the Division's legal work.
Learn more about this agency07/26/2022 to 08/15/2022
$148,484 - $176,300 per year
GS 15
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Occasional travel - Occasional travel may be required.
No
Permanent
Full-time
Excepted
15
Yes
No
OGC-2022-0008
667482100
This announcement is open to current U.S. Department of Education employees.
We encourage you to read this entire vacancy announcement prior to submitting your application and refer to the Required Documents section to ensure your application is complete.
As a Supervisory General Attorney, GS-905-15, the incumbent will perform the following duties;
-Supervises and assists with the development of legal advice to Department officials relating to the Department’s higher education programs, including the preparation and delivery of legal opinions in a variety of formal and informal means, the review of draft correspondence, testimony and official filings and reports
-Handles or supervises the handling of litigation relating to program issues through all levels of appeal. With regard to court litigation, the Deputy Assistant General Counsel assists with the drafting of briefs, trial memoranda, and other documents for submission in court by the Department of Justice, and in some cases, directly represents or supervises the representation of Departmental officials.
-Represents or supervises the representation of client offices before Administrative Judges, the Secretary, and courts in actions relating to the Department’s higher education grant programs.
-Resolves legal issues which require knowledge of all relevant facts and circumstances and the exercise of independent judgment, often under emergency circumstances.
-Is relied upon to determine the issues, distinguish relevant from irrelevant facts, and make judgments as to strategy and approach, while being sensitive to Administration policies and concerns. In addition, exercises independent judgment to identify issues which require attention at a higher level and to present alternatives in a manner which facilitates an informed and expeditious decision.
-Prepares or supervises the preparation of written legal advice and renders oral advice in response to questions raised internally and outside the Department on the interpretation of applicable law, including statutes, regulations, other issuances, and Federal and State court cases
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.
Basic Requirements:
1. You must be a graduate from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association.
2. Proof of admission to the Bar of the highest court of a state, territory, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and current membership in such Bar as would permit the practice of law. You must be a member in good standing of a state, territory of the United States, District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico bar.
PROOF MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH APPLICATION.
Specialized Experience for the GS-15:
One year of experience in either federal or non-federal service that is equivalent to at least a GS-14 performing two (2) out of three (3) of the following duties or work assignments:
1. Experience in preparing or supervising the preparation of written legal advice and renders oral advice in response to questions raised internally and outside the Department on the interpretation of applicable law, including statutes, regulations, other issuances, and Federal and State court cases.
2. Experience in providing legal advice and representation on enforcement issues involving the Federal Student Aid (FSA) programs administered by the Department’s FSA office.
3. Experience representing and/or supervising the representation of the Department's position at administrative hearings, including the drafting and filing of pleadings and responses; discovery.
For appointment at the GS-15 level, the following qualification requirements are needed: Five (5) or more years of professional legal experience acquired after being admitted to the Bar. You must have one year of specialized experience commensurate with the duties and responsibilities of the position at a level close to the work of this job that has given you the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities required to successfully perform.
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 sro_recruiting@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 requires financial disclosure.
Telework: This position is telework eligible. Telework must be requested and approved by the supervisor.
Bargaining Unit: This position is not 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. You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications and competencies listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the Monster Competency Based Assessment(s) required for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):
Supervisory: Oral Communications, Interpersonal Skills, Problem Solving, Decision Making, Customer Service, Leadership, Planning and Evaluating, Influencing/Negotiating, Strategic Thinking and Human Capital Management
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.
1. 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.
2. Interest letter
3. Bar card verifying that you are an active member of the Bar in Good Standing of any State, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or any Territorial Court under the U.S. Constitution.
4. Transcript if you have been a graduate of a law school for fewer than 5 years.
5. Writing sample.
6. SF-50 to verify your eligibility to apply as a current ED employee.
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/667482100. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
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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 General Counsel (OGC), is looking for the best and brightest to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the nation.
