Duties

The incumbent serves as a principal senior attorney in the Office of General Counsel, Administrative Law Division and is responsible for independently handling complex ethics matters. He/she has responsibility for issues under arising the FCC's government ethics programs, including: 1) financial disclosure programs and reviews; 2) ethics counselor program training, advice and assistance; 3) post-government employment program advice and assistance; 4) gift acceptance programs, including gifts of travel; and 5) gifts to the Commission and its employees. He/she reports to the Assistant General Counsel (Ethics).

Prepares opinions and furnishes advice on a wide variety of ethics issues arising under applicable laws and regulations, including post-employment restrictions, standards of conduct and conflict of interest issues, and issues associated with employee contact with prohibited sources.

Responsible for advising on specific ethics issues, including: (1) gifts offered to the agency under section 4(g)(3) of the Communications Act; (2) the hiring of student interns under 5 C.F.R. part 308 and staff exchanges with universities, state and local governments, under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act; (3) approval of events that fall within the "widely-attended gathering" exception to the prohibition on Federal employee's accepting gifts from outside sources found in Subpart B of the Office of Government Ethics' Standards of Ethical Conduct (5 CFR 2635); (4) the FCC regulations requiring employees to obtain prior approval for the outside practice of their profession (5 CFR 3901.102); and (5) avoiding conflicts of interest. Responsible for participating in the review of OGE Form 450s (Confidential Financial Disclosure Reports) filed by Commission employees and of OGE Form 278s (Public Financial Disclosure Reports) filed by senior Commission employees, the Chairman and Commissioners.

Reviews ethics matters as codified in the criminal conflict of interest laws, the government-wide Standards of Ethical Conduct, the Commission's supplemental standards and other employee conduct-related rules, the Communications Act, and ethics-related aspects of other applicable laws and regulations (e.g., Federal Travel Reimbursement Program, Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act, and the Government Employees Training Act).

Provides oral and written legal advice on ethics and general law matters which can be Commission-wide in scope and often involve difficult, complicated, delicate, and novel issues requiring sound judgment. Incumbent applies knowledge of FCC procedures, administrative law, and communications law as appropriate in his/her analysis of ethics-related issues, and coordinates advice with other attorneys in the Office of General Counsel as appropriate.

Reviews the work of the Program Analysts assigned to the Administrative Law Division's ethics team.

Conducts legal research using appropriate source materials, confers with staff specialists, and is responsible for analyzing all data and information researched. Based on interpretation of Commission policy, precedent, and other relevant factors, the incumbent determines appropriate Commission positions, and drafts recommendations and decisional items.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Bar Membership Documentation Required Upon Selection.
• Education-Transcripts Required Upon Selection.
• US Citizenship.
• Suitable for employment as determined by a background investigation.
• Serve a probationary period of one year, if applicable.
• Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service.
• Financial disclosure statement may be required upon assuming the position.
• Writing sample will be requested during the interview

Please note your resume must thoroughly support your responses to the vacancy questions. Your resume is an integral part of the process for determining if you meet the basic qualifications of the position and determining if you are to be among the best qualified.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet eligibility and qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement. Current Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Professional law experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position and is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled.

In order to be deemed as "BEST QUALIFIED" candidates must meet both the educational requirements AND the Specialized Experience.

A. Education

You must meet the minimum basic educational requirements for Attorney positions. Education requirements include: a professional law degree JD, LL.B., and/or LL.M.

NOTE-If you do not provide a transcript at the time of application, a transcript will be required to be provided at the time of selection.


AND

B. Specialized Experience

To Qualify for the GS-14: Applicant must possess at least three years of professional law experience and at least one year of that experience must be specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-13 grade level in the Federal Service performing the following:

Examples of specialized experience include: Experience interpreting and applying federal ethics statutes and regulations, including Title 18 of the United States Criminal Code, the Ethics in Government Act, the Hatch Act, the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act (STOCK Act), and the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch; skill in analyzing complex legal and technical issues; experience preparing comprehensive legal documents; communicating and interacting with individuals at varying levels of authority.

To Qualify for the GS-15: Applicant must possess at least four years of professional law experience and at least one year of that experience must be specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-14 grade level in the Federal Service performing the following:

Examples of specialized experience include: Experience researching, interpreting and applying federal ethics statutes and regulations, including Title 18 of the United States Criminal Code, the Ethics in Government Act, the Hatch Act, the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act (STOCK Act), and the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch, to novel situations; skill in analyzing complex legal and technical issues and providing recommendations or solutions; experience preparing comprehensive legal documents; the ability to communicate and interact with individuals at varying levels of authority both orally and in writing.

PART-TIME OR UNPAID EXPERIENCE: 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.

Education

Refer to Educational requirements outlined within the "Qualifications" section.

Additional information

EEO Policy Statement

Reasonable Accommodation Policy Statement

Veterans Information

Legal and Regulatory Guidance

Before hiring, an agency will ask you to complete a Declaration for Federal Employment to determine your suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation. The agency will also ask you to sign and certify the accuracy of all the information in your application. If you make a false statement in any part of your application, you may not be hired; you may be fired after you begin work; or you may be fined or jailed. If you are a male over age 18 who was born after December 31, 1959, you must have registered with the Selective Service System (or have an exemption) to be eligible for a Federal job.

Federal agencies may request information regarding the vaccination status of selected applicants for the purposes of implementing other workplace safety protocols, such as protocols related to masking, physical distancing, testing, travel, and quarantine.

*NOTE-This position is in the bargaining unit. The exclusive representative is NTEU Chapter 209.