Duties

Summary

Pursuant to the Criminal Justice Act (CJA), the law governing the provision of federal criminal defense services to those unable to afford representation, the Defender Services Office (DSO) of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, primarily through the DSO Training Division (DSOTD), provides substantial training and other resource support to Federal Defender Organization (FDO) staff and private CJA practitioners.

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Responsibilities

The Chief of the Training Division leads and directly supervises a staff of attorney advisors, meeting planners, meeting coordinators, and litigation support staff who provide training, resource materials, counsel, and advice to federal defender staff and private persons who provide defense services pursuant to the CJA, as well as staff support to the Committee on Defender Services of the Judicial Conference of the United States (JCUS) and its subcommittee on Long-Range Planning and Education, and other tasks.Duties of this manager include:

Leading, managing, supervising, and developing lawyers and others who provide training, advice and consultation to CJA practitioners in the area of federal criminal defense and litigation support.

Performing all facets of staff supervision, including assigning and reviewing work of subordinates, completing the full range of personnel actions, maintaining oversight of time and attendance, and performing all other administrative functions relative to the staff supervised.

Planning and organizing the Training Division's work, setting priorities, supervising the development of work plans, performance plans, and training schedules, and managing necessary contracts and training division funds.

Monitoring, financial reporting, and internal accounting and control to oversee divisional operations. This position has significant administrative and financial oversight duties.

Providing substantive information on federal criminal law and procedure through publications, training materials and online resources to federal defender staff and private CJA practitioners, including through its capital and non-capital websites, wwwcapdefnet.org and www.fd.org .

Designing, implementing and teaching in national, local, and online training programs, including working with contractors on the planning and implementation of federal death penalty training programs.

Providing guidance and information to CJA practitioners regarding all aspects of criminal law and procedure through its hotline.

Implementing the Supreme Court Advocacy Program, which arranges moot court proceedings, performs legal research, provides substantive and strategic advice, or writing and editing drafts of merits brief for CJA practitioners representing CJA-eligible clients in the United States Supreme Court.

Providing advice, consultation and training on litigation support tools, services and processes to federal courts, federal defender organization and private CJA practitioners, and managing the procurement and maintenance of litigation support equipment, resources, and contracts.

Providing staff support to Defender Services Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States (JCUS) and its Subcommittee on Long-Range Planning and Education; communicates with and receives input from various DSO advisory groups. Engages in International Rule of Law Initiatives; and assisting other DSO divisions as appropriate. This responsibility includes producing agenda items twice a year.

Serving as the primary contract with Administrative Office executives, managers and outside agencies, entities, and organizations on matters affecting training and education on federal criminal defense services.

Travel Required

25% or less - You may be expected to travel for this position.

Supervisory status
Yes

Promotion Potential
00

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

All information is subject to verification. Applicants are advised that false answers or omissions of information on application materials or inability to meet the following conditions may be grounds for non-selection, withdrawal of an offer of employment, or dismissal after being employed.

Selection for this position is contingent upon completion of OF-306, Declaration of Federal Employment during the pre-employment process and proof of U.S. citizenship for competitive status positions or conversion to a competitive status position with the Administrative Office of the US Courts. In instances where non-citizens are considered for hire into temporary or any other position with non competitive status or when it is confirmed by the AO's Human Resources Office that there are no qualified U.S. citizens for a competitive status position (unless prohibited by a law or statue), non-citizens must provide proof of authorization to work in the United States and proof of entitlement to receive compensation. Additional information on the employment of non-citizens can be found at http://ww.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/non-citizens . For a list of documents that may be used to provide proof of citizenship or authorization to work in the United States, please refer to Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification .

All new AO employees will be required to complete a FBI fingerprint-based national criminal database and records check and pass a public trust suitability check.

All new AO employees must identify a financial institution for direct deposit of pay before appointment.

You will be required to serve a trial period if selected for a first-time appointment to the Federal government, transferring from another Federal agency, or serving as a first-time supervisor. Failure to successfully complete the trial period may result in termination of employment.

If appointed to a temporary position, management may have the discretion of converting the position to permanent depending upon funding and staffing allocation.

Relocation expenses may be provided, but only if authorized by the Director of the AO.

Qualifications

Applicants must have demonstrated experience as listed below. This requirement is according to the AO Classification, Compensation, and Recruitment Systems which include interpretive guidance and reference to the OPM Operating Manual for Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions.

Bar Membership : Applicants must currently be an active member in good standing of the bar of a state, territory, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or a federal court of general jurisdiction. Applicants are responsible for citing minimum qualifications such as J.D. and bar membership information (institution name, state(s) for bar, and dates) on their respective resumes. Failure to supply details will constitute an incomplete application. All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Post J.D. Experience : Applicants must also possess at least four years of post J.D. experience.

Specialized Experience : Subsequent to graduation from law school, applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience ( preferably four or more ) which is in or directly related to the line of work of this position. Specialized experience for this position is demonstrated experience with legal work involving directly leading and supervising a staff of attorney advisors, meeting planners, meeting coordinators and litigation support staff.

Education

Applicants must possess a law degree (J.D.) from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA). Qualifying education must have been obtained from an accredited college or university recognized by the Department of Education. Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualifications Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions. It is available for your review on OPM's website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/ .

Additional information

The AO is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

We will review your resume and supporting documentation and compare this information to your responses on the occupational questionnaire to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for this job. If you meet the minimum qualifications for this job, we will evaluate your application package, to assess the quality, depth, and complexity of your accomplishments, experience, and education as they relate to the requirements listed in this vacancy announcement.

You should be aware that your ratings are subject to evaluation and verification. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your resume and/or narrative responses, you will be assigned a rating commensurate to your described experience. Failure to submit the mandatory narrative responses will result in not receiving full consideration and/or rating credit. Deliberate attempts to falsify information may be grounds for not selecting you, withdrawing an offer of employment, or dismissal after being employed.

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Not Required

Drug test required
No

Required Documents

For this job announcement the following documents and/or information are required:

• Resume - Any written format you choose to describe your job-related qualifications.
• Citizenship - Include country of citizenship on resume.
• Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) - All applicants outside of the AO must submit a copy of your latest SF-50 to verify current or former Federal employment status.
• Veterans Preference documentation - Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty (DD Form 214), if applicable Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference (SF-15) and an official statement, dated 1991 or later, from the Department of Veterans Affairs or from a branch of the Armed Forces, certifying to the veteran's present receipt of compensation.

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.