Clarification from the agency

This vacancy announcement is open until filled. Applications will be reviewed every two weeks beginning October 2, 2024. This position allows for recurring and situational telework, but does not qualify for full-time or remote telework.

This position will report to the Deputy General Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel (OGC). The OGC is seeking an Assistant General Counsel specializing in providing legal and policy advice with respect to cyber law in the federal Judiciary. The incumbent will be providing analysis and legal advice on laws and regulations governing the Judiciary's information technology (IT) operations and monitoring and assessing the potential impact of emerging technologies and cyber threats on laws, regulations, and policies to the AO Director and staff, the Judicial Conference and its committees, such as Committee on Information Technology, judges, and other senior court officials. The incumbent must have excellent legal research and analytical skills; the ability to write clearly and succinctly; the ability to plan, organize, and work effectively under demanding circumstances and time constraints; the ability to identify and resolve problems effectively; and the ability to communicate effectively with AO management, judges and other senior court personnel, and employees of the Executive and Legislative Branches.

The duties of this position include, but are not limited to:

1. Researching and providing analysis and legal advice on laws, regulations, policies, and ethics related to IT, cybersecurity, data science, artificial intelligence and machine learning, cloud computing, and privacy.
2. Responding to written, telephonic, and other inquiries from judges, court executives, AO personnel and other Judiciary officials on cyber law issues.
3. Reviewing and authoring pertinent sections in the Guide to Judiciary Policy and the AO Manual.
4. Analyzing and advising on proposed legislation, Judiciary regulations, policies, and similar material related to cyber law.
5. Evaluating contracts to ensure compliance with funding, legal, and program requirements.
6. Developing legal guidance for implementation pertaining to cyber initiatives and programs.
7. Providing legal analysis and guidance to auditors, assessors, privacy specialists, and oversight and compliance personnel regarding compliance with cybersecurity policies and relevant legal and regulatory requirements.
8. Providing legal oversight and guidance on cyber response actions to mitigate or reduce risk and assist in developing an appropriate partnership strategy for law enforcement investigations.

Conditions of employment

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

1. All information is subject to verification. Applicants are advised that false answers or omissions of information on application materials or inability to meet the following conditions may be grounds for non-selection, withdrawal of an offer of employment, or dismissal after being employed.
2. Selection for this position is contingent upon completion of OF-306, Declaration of Federal Employment during the pre-employment process and proof of U.S. citizenship for competitive status positions or conversion to a competitive status position with the AO. If non-citizens are considered for hire into a temporary or any other position with non-competitive status or when it is confirmed by the AO Human Resources Office there are no qualified U.S. citizens for a competitive status position (unless prohibited by a law or statue), non-citizens must provide proof of authorization to work in the U.S. and proof of entitlement to receive compensation. Additional information on the employment of non-citizens can be found at USAJOBS Help Center | Employment of non-citizens/. For a list of documents that may be used to provide proof of citizenship or authorization to work in the United States, please refer to Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.
3. All new AO employees will be required to complete an FBI fingerprint-based national criminal database and records check and pass a public trust suitability check.
4. New employees to the AO will be required to successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights/responsibilities, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/.
5. All new AO employees are required to identify a financial institution for direct deposit of pay before appointment.
6. You will be required to serve a trial period if selected for a first-time appointment to the Federal government, transferring from another Federal agency, or serving as a first-time supervisor. Failure to successfully complete the trial period may result in termination of employment.
7. If appointed to a temporary position, management may have the discretion of converting the position to permanent depending upon funding and staffing allocation.

Qualifications

Applicants must have demonstrated experience as listed below. This requirement is according to the AO Classification, Compensation, and Recruitment Systems which include interpretive guidance and reference to the OPM Operating Manual for Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions.

Bar Membership: Applicants must currently be an active member in good standing of the bar of a state, territory, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or a federal court of general jurisdiction. Applicants are responsible for citing minimum qualifications such as J.D. and bar membership information (institution name, state(s) for bar, and dates) on their respective resumes. Failure to supply details will constitute an incomplete application. All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Post J.D. Experience: Applicants must also possess at least 4 years of post J.D. experience.

Specialized Experience: Subsequent to graduation from law school, applicants must have at least one full year (52 weeks) (preferably 4 years) of specialized experience which is in or directly related to the line of work of this position. Specialized experience for this position must demonstrate experience in ALL areas defined below:

• Experience as a practicing attorney for the federal government or private sector providing legal advice in the areas of cyber law and related compliance issues;
• Knowledge of laws, regulations, policies, and ethics related to cybersecurity and privacy disclosure statements; and
• Knowledge of insider threat investigations, reporting, investigation tools, laws, and regulations.

• Experience with federal procurement law and evaluating contracts to ensure compliance with funding, legal, and program requirements.

How you will be evaluated

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

We will review your resume and supporting documentation and compare this information to your responses on the occupational questionnaire to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for this job. If you meet the minimum qualifications for this job, we will evaluate your application package, to assess the quality, depth, and complexity of your accomplishments, experience, and education as they relate to the requirements listed in this vacancy announcement.

You should be aware that your ratings are subject to evaluation and verification. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your resume and/or narrative responses, you will be assigned a rating commensurate to your described experience. Failure to submit the mandatory narrative responses will result in not receiving full consideration and/or rating credit. Deliberate attempts to falsify information may be grounds for not selecting you, withdrawing an offer of employment, or dismissal after being employed.