Duties

Summary

This position is located in the Office of General Counsel, Administrative Law Division, Washington, DC

Relocation expenses will not be paid.
Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

The incumbent will serve as a Senior Attorney in the Office of General Counsel, Administrative Law Division, and is responsible for providing oral and written legal advice on a wide range of procurement matters involving contract formation and administration, as well as directly representing the agency in matters before procurement quasi-adjudicative fora. These procurement matters will often involve difficult, complicated, delicate, and novel issues arising during the acquisition lifecycle. The incumbent will be responsible for providing advice on procurement matters primarily to the FCC Office of the Managing Director. The incumbent will also be responsible for providing advice on related areas of law when they have a connection to the procurement process, such as the federal law of appropriations, intellectual property, ethics, disclosure, and delegations.

The incumbent will report directly to the Deputy Associate General Counsel for General Law, Administrative Law Division. Duties include but are not limited to the following:

• Provide oral and written advice on pre-award procurement issues, such as the legal sufficiency and clarity of: solicitations and supporting documentation (including work statements); justifications for limiting competition; exclusions; source selection; and proposed awards. This will involve providing advice on such matters as: small business considerations; sourcing and other acquisition planning; personal and organizational conflicts of interest issues; source selection factor application; price and cost analysis; particularly difficult negotiations with vendors; and other matters arising during the acquisition lifecycle, including the evaluation process or matters incident to decision making.
• Provide oral and written advice on all post-award contract matters such as: contract modifications; termination and cancellations; delays; complex claims; contractor bankruptcies; and suspensions and debarments of contractors.
• Provide close support to the agency in its resolution of agency protests and to contracting officers on their final decisions concerning contract claims.
• Represent the agency in bid protests filed with the Government Accountability Office (GAO), in contract appeals filed with Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA), and in other protests and matters filed with other, more specialized procurement administrative fora. The incumbent will also provide litigation support to the Department of Justice in bid protests and in contract appeals filed with the United States Court of Federal Claims (COFC).
• Consult with other Office of General Counsel and FCC personnel on FCC rulemaking and other decisions that may have a substantial impact upon, or that may be particularly dependent upon, the procurement process.
• Research and analyze applicable laws and regulations, and provide interpretations of those laws and regulations to the FCC General Counsel and other officials.
• Draft legal opinions and analyses and make recommendations to FCC officials at all levels.

Except in unusual or particularly sensitive circumstances, the incumbent will function with another attorney as attorneys of first and last resort for procurement legal issues arising from a twelve-person contracts office, as well as from bureau/office clients in a 1,400 person agency. The incumbent is expected to be an authority in procurement law and to provide well-reasoned and authoritative advice, opinions, and representation.

Travel Required

Not required

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
15

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Education and Bar Membership Required.
• Must submit a financial disclosure statement upon assuming the position.
• Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service.
• Suitable for employment as determined by a background investigation.
• Serve a probationary period of one year, if applicable.
• US Citizenship.

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.

Applicants must meet both professional law experience and specialized experience.

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 to be filled.

Specialized Experience

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: Interpreting and providing written and oral legal advice regarding federal procurement statutes (e.g., the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA)), regulations (including the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)), and Executive Orders; analyzing and preparing written comments regarding draft federal agency solicitations and contracts; providing written and oral legal advice regarding availability and advantages/disadvantages of various FAR acquisition procedures; resolving significant contract administration issues, including contract terminations and disputes; analyzing protest issues and preparing legal briefs in pre-award and post-award bid protests; and directly representing agencies or firms before the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA) or Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals on procurement and acquisition matters.

PART-TIME OR UNPAID EXPERIENCE: Credit will be given for appropriate unpaid and or part-time work. You must clearly identify the duties and responsibilities in each position held and the total number of hours per week.


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.

Additional information

EEO Policy Statement Reasonable Accommodation Policy Statement Veterans Information Legal and Regulatory Guidance

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

All candidates will be considered without regard to political or religious affiliation, marital status, race, color, sex, national origin, nondisqualifying physical or mental handicap, age, or any other nonmerit factor. THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.

All applicants will be rated on the extent and quality of experience and education relevant to the duties of the position. Applicants who do not respond to the application questions and/or do not submit a supporting resume will be rated ineligible. Please note your resume must thoroughly support your responses to the vacancy
questions.

There are several parts to the application process that affect the overall evaluation of your application including:

1. the core questions;
2. the vacancy questions;
3. supplemental documentation (e.g., DD-214, SF-50, SF-15, and bar certificate); and
4. your resume.

Applicants will be rated ineligible if they do not respond to job specific questions provide supplemental documents and submit a resume. For more information, please click on Rating Process

You will be evaluated for this position on the following Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Other characteristics (KSAOs):

1. Demonstrated multi-disciplinary legal skills and experience providing oral and written advice on complex legal issues with particular emphasis on acquisition and procurement laws.

2. Demonstrated knowledge of federal government acquisition and procurement laws, including policies, procedures, and regulations.

3. Demonstrated experience advising or representing Federal agencies or firms in dispute situations, such as bid protests before the GAO or appeals or disputes before the CBCA or Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals.

To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Not Required

Drug test required
No

Required Documents

***ALL SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENTS MUST BE RECEIVED IN THE FCC'S HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICE BY THE CLOSING DATE OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. ONCE YOU APPLY TO THIS VACANCY YOU WILL BE PROMPTED BY THE SYSTEM TO EITHER UPLOAD DOCUMENTS OR PRINT FAX COVERSHEETS - THE FAX NUMBER WILL BE LISTED ON THIS SHEET. IF FAXING, ALL DOCUMENTS REQUIRED SHOULD BE FAXED SEPARATELY ON THE FAX COVERSHEET PROVIDED. ONCE FAXED, YOU SHOULD RECEIVE AN EMAIL CONFIRMATION WITHIN AN HOUR. IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE AN EMAIL CONFIRMATION, YOUR FAX HAS NOT BEEN SUCCESSFULLY RECEIVED AND YOU SHOULD FAX AGAIN.

IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO FAX THE REQUIRED Documentation, CONTACT THE HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICE AT 418-0130 PRIOR TO THE CLOSING DATE OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.***

Hardcopy Supplement Documents Required:

Employees must provide a legible hardcopy of Personnel Action, SF-50, that verifies your status and highest permanently held grade along with your most recent annual performance appraisal.


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.