Duties

Summary

The Office of Chief Counsel, IRS, the largest tax law firm in the country, is looking for enthusiastic individuals to join our team and gain valuable experience in a legal environment. Our mission is to serve America's taxpayers fairly and with integrity by providing correct and impartial interpretation of the internal revenue laws and the highest quality legal advice and representation for the Internal Revenue Service. It's a great place to work and a family-friendly atmosphere.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

The incumbent in this position serves as a Branch Chief in the Office of the Associate Chief Counsel (International) (INTL). This office is responsible for the international provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. As Branch Chief, the incumbent serves as the first-line supervisor who plans, directs, and coordinates the activities of a group of highly trained professionals. The incum­bent provides technical and administrative supervision to an average of seven GS-14 and GS-15 attorneys. The primary work of the Branch involves assisting in the development and drafting of regulations, the preparation of private letter rulings, technical advice memoranda, and other technical memoranda dealing with tax problems submitted by taxpayers and their representatives, state and federal agencies, representatives of foreign governments, and offices within the Internal Revenues Service (IRS), including Large Business and International and Small Business/Self-Employed Divisions. The Branch also assists Department of Justice and Field Counsel in tax litigation. Issues presented cover a broad range of questions requiring interpretation of the Internal Revenue Code, tax regulations, published rulings, court cases, and other technical materials. The Branch also prepares Revenue Rulings and Revenue Procedures for publication.

Duties:

• Leads and participates in the resolution of some of the most complex technical problems presented by taxpayers or their representatives and gives advice on important technical, legal and position matters to the Deputy or Associate Chief Counsel (International). Assignments typically involve legal matters that are likely to have broad legal ramifications, require for their solution a high order of original and creative legal endeavor in order to obtain a reasonable balance of conflicting interests in assigned matter, and represent some of the most complex and/or controversial legal issues handled by INTL.
• Conducts conferences and represents the Service on specific issues of the most complex nature with taxpayers and their representatives who are highly skilled tax practitioners. In this connection, analyzes the transactions or issues in­volved in light of the Internal Revenue Code sections or applicable legislation, examines voluminous data submitted, court exhibits, briefs, etc., questions attorneys, taxpayers or representatives and makes a determination or recommendation for the Service.
• Serves as the first-line supervisor for the Branch composed an average of 7 GS-14 and GS15 attorneys. Plans work to be accomplished by subordinates, determines work priorities and prepares schedules for completion of work products. Assigns work to subordinates based on priorities, selective consideration of the difficulty and requirements of the assignment, and the capabilities of the employees.
• Motivates and develops subordinates to increase their effective­ness, productivity, quality of performance, and potential for advancement. Stimulates accomplishment of work products and suggests ways of research on novel and uncertain points of law.
• Reviews work products of subordinates. Accepts, revises, or rejects work. Conducts such reviews as necessary to ensure and maintain an orderly flow of work and to ensure timely performance of a satisfactory amount and quality of work. Uses the review process as a means of training and evaluating personnel.
• Assures that the full range of personnel activities are properly and timely addressed as necessary (i.e., recruitment, training, performance evaluation, disciplinary or adverse action, and management reporting). May designate personnel to act in key positions during temporary vacancies and may delegate certain authorities as appropriate in this regard.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - 5% or greater

Supervisory status
Yes

Promotion Potential
15

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Please refer to "Conditions of Employment".
• Click "Print Preview" to review the entire announcement before applying.
• Applications will be accepted on-line via Career Connector.
• If unable to apply on-line please contact careerconnectorhelp@do.treas.gov
• Public Trust-Background Investigation required

Condition of Employment:

• Have your salary sent to a financial institution of your choice by Direct Deposit/Electronic Funds Transfer.
• Must prepare an annual OGE 450, Confidential Financial Disclosure Report.
• Subject to a 1-year trial period (unless already completed).
• 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.
• 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.
• If selected, you will be required to submit an original Certificate of Good Standing from your State Bar.

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

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

To qualify for this position at the GS-15 grade level, you must have one year of specialized experience, equivalent in scope and effect to the GS-14 level.

Specialized experience: You must possess the following specialized experience which is directly related to the work of the position to be filled. Specialized knowledge and experience includes comprehensive knowledge and expertise in international tax matters, in particular, the taxation of multinational organizations with U.S. and foreign based personnel or activities. Experience includes areas such as multilateral tax treaties, advance pricing agreements, international reorganizations, foreign tax credits, foreign joint ventures, refund litigation, subpart F (including sections 951A and 965 and previously taxed earnings and profits and related reporting requirements), PFICs, Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (§911), Country-by-Country Reporting and issues relating to international tax policy, legislation and litigation.

• 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 legal experience plus three years of professional legal tax 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 .
• GS-15: You must have been at the GS-14 level for 52 weeks. (time-in-grade requirement).
• To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week, on your resume.

Education

Applicants must possess a J.D. and have one year of general legal experience plus three years of professional legal tax experience. An LL.M. degree in the field of the position (tax) may be substituted for one year of general legal experience listed above.

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 source to fill one or more vacancies.
• This is a non bargaining unit position.
• We offer opportunities for telework.
• We offer opportunities for flexible work schedules.

The salary range indicated in this vacancy includes base pay only. Salary will be set with respect to the location of the position.

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 and 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 will result in a "not qualified" determination.

Applicants will be considered based on their overall background as it relates to the position to be filled. All application materials and interviews, if conducted, will be used in the final evaluation and selection process.

If you meet the eligibility requirements, the Executive Resources Branch will assess your overall specialized knowledge and experience as it relates to the position to be filled, compare it to the other applicants' knowledge and experience and determine the candidate best qualified for the position. The board may or may not conduct interviews. You will be notified of the outcome.

Your application will be rated and ranked among others, based on your responses to the online questions, regarding your experience, training, performance appraisals and awards relevant to the duties of this position. Your rating may be lowered, if your responses to the online questions are not supported by the experience described in your application.

Referral: If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application may be referred to a selecting official for consideration. 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

All applicants must submit the following documents: 1) Memorandum of Interest summarizing your interest in the position. 2) Resume detailing your relevant qualifications and specialized knowledge and experience. 3) A copy of your most recent official performance appraisal, or a progress review. 4) Current Chief Counsel Employees Only a Supervisory Report (ERB Form 1-88, Rev 4/2011) regarding your suitability for the position as completed by your current or most recent supervisor. You are responsible for notifying your supervisor that this report must be received no later than five workdays after the closing date of this announcement.

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. 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 .

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 .

CURRENT AND FORMER FEDERAL EMPLOYEES - Documentation Relating to Your Federal Employment

- Submit a copy of your SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, which shows your current (or most recent) grade and competitive service status. (The "position occupied" block on the SF-50 should show a "1" or "2" and your "tenure" block should show a "1" or "2".)

- Indicate on your application the highest permanent grade you have held; if this grade is different from your current grade; submit a copy of an additional SF-50 showing this grade.

- Submit a copy of your most recent, signed, completed annual performance appraisal which includes the final rating. If the performance appraisal is not dated within the last 12 months or if you have not received a performance appraisal, please explain why in your application.

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.