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As an Attorney Advisor in the Development Law Office, you will advise on matters relating to FRA’s financial assistance programs, compliance with environmental and historic preservation laws, FRA’s broad legal and financial interests relating to Amtrak, and other matters to advance the agency’s interests in railroad development.
Learn more about this agency11/14/2024 to 05/09/2025
$82,764 - $191,900 per year
Salaries for all areas are available on the OPM website at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/2024/general-schedule/
GS 11 - 15
Many vacancies in the following location:
Yes - This position may be eligible for remote work, which does not require reporting to the agency worksite location on a regular basis. If selected for a remote work location, you will be required to sign a remote work agreement detailing agency remote work policy requirements, working conditions, and expectations for the position.
Not applicable, this is a remote position.
Occasional travel - Occasional travel may be required.
No
Permanent
Full-time - Full Time
Excepted
15
No
No
No
FRA.CC-2025-0003
820992700
Applications will be accepted from any U.S. Citizen. This position is in the Excepted Service. For information on the Excepted Service, please visit: Excepted Service Appointing Authorities@ http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-authorities/excepted-service/
As an Attorney Advisor, you will:
The ideal candidate should have knowledge of and experience in a wide range of legal practice areas affecting the transportation industry DOT, including specifically: administrative law; financial assistance programs, including grants; legislation and regulations; and environmental and historic preservation laws, regulations, and guidance.
PLEASE NOTE: This announcement establishes an open continuous vacancy announcement. Given our continuing need for top professionals in this field, we will review applications on an as needed basis. We will give equal consideration to all applications we receive. Duty locations will vary. The difference in salary is determined by the locality pay in each location. Salaries for all areas are available on the OPM website at:https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/2024/general-schedule/.
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:
To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet technical qualifications (all grades) AND the specialized experience qualifications for the grade at which you are requesting consideration.
TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS (All grades):
To qualify for the GS-11 on Experience, you must have at least one year of experience equal or equivalent to the GS-09 it must include:
To qualify for the GS-11 on Education alone, you must have:
You can also qualify based on a combination of higher level graduate education and experience. This must be fully supported by your resume and transcripts, provided with your application.
To qualify for the Grade 12, you must have at least one year of experience equal or equivalent to the GS-11 it must include:
You cannot qualify for the GS-12 on education alone; you must also have experience.
To qualify for the Grade 13, you must have at least one year of experience equal or equivalent to the GS-12, it must include:
You cannot qualify for the GS-13 on education alone; you must also have experience.
To qualify for the Grade 14, you must have at least one year of experience equal or equivalent to the GS-13, it must include:
You cannot qualify for the GS-14 on education alone; you must also have experience.
To qualify for the Grade 15, you must have at least one year of specialized experience equal or equivalent to the GS-14, it must include:
You cannot qualify for the GS-15 on education alone; you must also have experience.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas:
For all types of consideration, 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. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
For additional information about applying to Federal positions, please click on the following link: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-policies/#url=e4
All applicants must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
In order to qualify for this position, candidates must have successfully completed a full course of study in a school of law accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) and have a professional law degree, and must currently be a member in good standing of the bar of a State or Territory of the United States or the District of Columbia.
The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act prohibits the Department of Transportation and its Operating Administrations from requesting an applicant's criminal history record before that individual receives a conditional offer of employment. In accordance with 5 U.S. Code § 9202(c) and 5 C.F.R § 920.201 certain positions are exempt from the provisions of the Fair Chance to Compete Act. Applicants who believe they have been subjected to a violation of the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act, may submit a written complaint to the Department of Transportation by email at, FairChanceAct@dot.gov. To learn more, please visit our page at: The Fair Chance to Compete Act | US Department of Transportation
This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if similar vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE: PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume/ application does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). Your resume must contain sufficiently detailed information upon which to make a qualification determination. Please ensure that your resume contains specific information such as position titles, beginning and ending dates of employment for each position, average number of hours worked per week, and if the position is/was in the Federal government, you should provide the position series and grade level
For this announcement, all applicants will be reviewed to determine if they meet the basic qualifications for this position, specifically the educational and specialized experience requirements.
Applicants will not be rated or ranked.
All applications that are verified to meet the basic qualifications will be referred to the selecting official.
The answers you select in the on-line process must be substantiated in your application package. If upon review, it is determined that your described work history, competencies, and/or supporting documents do not support your answer choices, you may not be referred to the selecting official. Please ensure that your work history provides enough details to support your answers.
PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS/INCENTIVE AWARDS: If applicable, performance appraisals and/or Incentive award documentation may be submitted and will be forwarded to the selecting official as support in consideration of your application in the evaluation process. To receive credit, you must submit a recent performance appraisal (dated within 18 months) showing the official rating of record, signed by a supervisor, or statement why the performance appraisal is unavailable (do not submit a performance plan) and/or incentive award documentation dated within the last 18 months (i.e. superior performance awards, special act or achievement awards, quality step increases, etc.).
TRANSCRIPTS - Transcripts are REQUIRED as there is a stated education requirement for the series. The transcripts need not be official, but must show that you meet the stated education requirements, including specific major or class requirements. Provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
VETERANS: Department of Transportation attorney positions are in the excepted service, not the competitive civil service. There is no formal rating system for applying veterans’ preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of Transportation considers veterans’ preference eligibility as a positive factor 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 supporting documentation, e.g., SF15, DD214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, or other supporting documentation.
DISPLACED EMPLOYEES: If requesting consideration under the Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or Interagency CTAP program (ICTAP), you must meet the well qualified standards for this vacancy (meeting minimum requirements for position and scoring at least an 85) and provide all of the following documents:
Displaced employees may be eligible for ICTAP or CTAP priority consideration. For more information, please review the OPM Employee's Guide to Career Transition.
Additional Required Documents:
Failure to submit any of the required documents by the closing date of the vacancy will result in your removal from consideration for this position. Please review your application prior to final submission and ensure you have submitted all appropriate documents. Uploading documents to USAJobs does NOT ensure inclusion with your application to our system. You must verify that the documents are in the system with your application prior to final submission.
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.
You must submit a complete application package (including resume, vacancy questions and supporting documents) no later than 11:59 pm (EST) on the closing date of the announcement.
If you are having difficulty applying online, please contact the DOT Automated Staffing Office via email at: Transjobs@dot.gov
Within two weeks of the closing date, a Human Resources Specialist will evaluate your application. You may check your application status by logging into USAJobs.com. (Select "My USAJOBS" and click "Applications").
Ratings will be determined based on the documents and information received by the closing date.
If you are selected for an interview, the hiring agency will contact you directly. Once the position is filled, we will notify all applicants of their final status.
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/820992700. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
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