Duties

Summary

The Office of Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service, is looking for enthusiastic individuals to join our General Legal Services (GLS), Ethics and General Government Law Branch and gain valuable experience in a legal environment. The Office of Chief Counsel's mission is to serve America's taxpayers fairly and with integrity by providing correct and impartial interpretation of the internal revenue laws and employing the highest quality legal advice and representation for the IRS.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

As an Attorney in the Ethics and General Government Law Branch, you will provide legal support to the Office of the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service and to the Office of Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service, and components reporting to those offices and perform assignments which may include, but are not limited to:

• Providing ethics advisory opinions and advice on issues arising under the conflict-of-interest provisions of 18 U.S.C Part I, Chapter 11; the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch; the Department of Treasury supplemental standards and employee conduct rules; and other standards of conduct or behavior, including Treasury Circular 230 (31 C.F.R. Part 10) and the rules governing the conduct of the legal profession. Providing other legal services related to the administration of the Ethics in Government Act, including ethics training and briefings, and reviewing financial disclosure reports of Service and Chief Counsel employees who are required to file such reports.
  
• Providing advisory opinions to agency officials on non-tax laws, regulations, and decisions governing the management of federal agencies with respect to matters such as appropriations and fiscal law, delegations of authority, records and property management, the Federal Advisory Committee Act, intellectual property, and a wide range of other general government issues.
  

Travel Required

Occasional travel - Less than 25% Travel.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
14

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Please refer to "Conditions of Employment".
• Click "Print Preview" to review the entire announcement before applying

• A one-year trial period is required.
• Must successfully complete a background investigation.
• Complete a Declaration for Federal Employment to determine your suitability for Federal employment, at the time requested by the agency
• 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.
• Have your salary sent to a financial institution of your choice by Direct Deposit/Electronic Funds Transfer.
• Go through a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) process that requires two forms of identification from the Form I-9 . Federal law requires verification of the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires in the U.S.
• Obtain and use a Government-issued charge card for business-related travel.
• Undergo an income tax verification.
• The employment of any candidate, including a current employee or a new hire, selected for this position may be conditional upon classification and/or audit of federal tax returns. This audit may include up to two years of returns.

Because of its tax-related mission, the Office of Chief Counsel requires fingerprinting, tax verification, and a background security investigation as part of the pre-employment process.

Qualifications

The Office of Associate Chief Counsel, General Legal Services (GLS) employs 65 attorneys, and has both field and National Office components. The Associate Chief Counsel is the Deputy Ethics Official under the Ethics in Governments Act. GLS attorneys in the Ethics and General Government Law Branch perform legal research and provide advice related to the conflict of interest statutes under Title 18, as well as the Office of Government Ethics regulations and departmental rules of conduct. GLS also has a robust practice in the area of advisory opinions on all general government matters (excluding FOIA and the Privacy Act), including appropriations, fiscal and grant law, intellectual property, delegations of authority, records and property management, as well as government contracts, information technology, and personnel and labor law.

You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement:

GS-12: Possess a J.D. plus a minimum of one year of general legal attorney experience (after receiving a J.D. degree) comparable to the GS-11 level in the Federal service.

GS-13: Possess a J.D. and a minimum of two years of attorney experience - one year of general legal attorney experience plus one year of specialized professional legal attorney experience (comparable to the GS-12 level in the Federal service) as defined below.

GS-14: Possess a J.D. and a minimum of three years of attorney experience - one year of general legal attorney experience plus two years of specialized legal attorney experience (one year comparable to the GS-13 level in the Federal service) as defined below.

Specialized experience for this positions at the GS-13 and GS-14 level includes: professional legal experience directly related to government and professional ethics, fiscal and appropriation law, and/or general administrative law; experience in the application of Federal statutes and regulations governing the administration and management of executive Branch agencies; or equivalent private sector experience such as an in-house counsel to a large organization.

• The J.D. and/or LL.M. must be from an ABA-accredited law school.
• Candidates must be admitted to practice law before the highest court of a state or territory of the United States; the District of Columbia; or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
• One year of professional legal experience refers to full-time work after admittance to the bar. Part-time work is considered on a prorated basis.
• Experience may have been gained in the public sector, private sector, or through Volunteer Service .
• To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate on your resume the dates of employment by month/year, as well as number of hours worked per week.

Education

You must have graduated with a J.D. and/or LL.M. from an ABA-accredited law school.

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 .

If you are qualifying based on foreign education, you must submit proof of credibility of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. Refer to the OPM instructions.

Additional information

• We may select from this announcement or any other sources to fill one or more vacancies.
• Relocation expenses are not authorized.
• This is a non-bargaining unit position.
• We offer opportunities for telework and flexible work schedules.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Your application includes your resume, responses to the online questions, and required supporting documents. Please be sure that your resume includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position. Failure to provide sufficient evidence in your resume may result in a "not qualified" determination.

Rating: Your application will be evaluated using the experience/education defined under the Qualifications section.

Referral: Professional Order will be used to refer and select eligible candidates. Veterans' preference is applied after applicants are assessed. Preference-eligibles will be listed at the top of the certificate in alphabetical order and considered before non-preference-eligibles. All other candidates will be listed in alphabetical order and be listed below those with preference.

If you are among the top qualified candidates, you may be required to participate in a selection interview. We will not reimburse costs related to the interview such as travel to and from the interview site.

To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
No

Required Documents

A complete application includes 1. A resume, 2. Vacancy question responses, and 3. Submission of any required documents. Please note that if you do not provide all required information as specified in this announcement, you may not be considered for this position (or may not receive the special consideration for which you may be eligible).

All applicants are required to submit a resume either by creating one in USAJOBS or uploading one of their own choosing. (Cover letters are optional.) To receive full credit for relevant experience, please list the month/year and number of hours worked for experience listed on your resume. We suggest that you preview the online questions, as you may need to customize your resume to ensure that it supports your responses to these questions. Please view resume tips .

In addition, applicants are required to submit the following documents:

An unofficial or official transcript(s) for your J.D. degree and LL.M. degree (if applicable). Official transcripts will be required if you are selected.

An 8-10 page legal writing sample.

VETERANS' PREFERENCE DOCUMENTATION: There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Office of Chief Counsel considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. If you are claiming veterans' preference, you must submit a copy of your Certificate of Release or Discharge From Active Duty, DD-214 (Member 4 copy), or other official documentation from a branch of the Armed Forces or the Department of Veterans Affairs showing dates of service and type of discharge. Ten-point preference eligibles must also submit an Application for 10-point Veteran Preference, SF-15 , along with the required documentation listed on the back of the SF-15 form. For more information on veterans' preference view FedsHireVets .

If selected, you will be required to submit an original Certificate of Good Standing from your State Bar.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

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.