Duties

Summary

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Responsibilities

As an Attorney-Advisor with the Department of the Interior, Office of the Solicitor, Division of Mineral Resources, Branch of Offshore Safety and Enforcement your specific duties will include:

• Serving as a legal advisor to the Secretary through representation of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), with particular emphasis in the programs, statutes, and regulations pertaining to the management of oil, gas, other mineral, and renewable energy leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf, and related operations, safety, enforcement, and environmental issues.
• Providing advice and counsel to BSEE on issues associated with Natural Resources law (e.g., OCS Lands Act), Environmental law (e.g., NEPA, ESA, CZMA, CWA, OPA), and Energy law (conventional and renewable), as well as Administrative law (e.g., APA).
• Providing representation to BSEE in litigation matters, through support to the Department of Justice on challenges to BSEE actions in federal court, as well as direct representation of BSEE in administrative appeals before the Interior Board of Land Appeals. Responsible for drafting and reviewing pleadings and litigation filings, legal research and analysis, development of litigation strategy and recommendations, and supporting compilation of administrative records.
• Providing legal advice and counsel to BSEE staff, managers, and officials regarding all aspects of the Bureau's operational and regulatory responsibilities, including interpretation of applicable Federal statutes and regulations and administrative and judicial decisions; preparing memoranda, opinions, decision documents, and presentations regarding legal issues confronting the Bureau; and reviewing proposed policy or actions for legal consistency.
• Assisting in drafting and reviewing new or revised regulations pursuant to rulemakings undertaken by BSEE pursuant to its statutory authorities and responsibilities.
• Providing support in drafting, examining, or reviewing important and complex legal documents, contracts, settlement agreements, memoranda of understanding, decision documents, agency guidance documents, and Secretarial or other agency correspondence for legal sufficiency and consistency with established policies and related program objectives.
• Independently handling work within assigned areas of responsibility, including very complex cases, and assisting Departmental officials to make sound, reasoned, and legally defensible decisions, and preparing recommendations for highly complex and controversial matters.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - Occasional overnight travel may be required.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
14

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Applicants must be U.S. Citizens.
• Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation.
• Must be an active member of the bar.
• Selectee may be subject to serving a 2-year trial period.
• More requirements are listed under Qualifications and Other Information.

Are There Any Special Requirements For This Position?

• A background investigation will be required for this position. Continued employment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet these requirements will be grounds for termination.
• Throughout the recruitment and hiring process we will be communicating with you via email; therefore, it is imperative that the email address you provide when applying for this vacancy remains active. Should your email address change, please notify the point of contact identified in the vacancy announcement as soon as possible so that we can update our system.
• Because this position requires travel for official business, the selectee will be required to apply for a charge card within 30 calendar days of appointment. Individuals who have delinquent account balances from a previous Government charge card will be required to satisfy their existing obligation before a new card can be issued.

Qualifications

Basic Qualification Requirements
Applicants must be law school graduates with LL.B. or J.D. degrees AND applicants must be an active member in good standing of a state, territory of the United States, District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico bar.

Applicants must also meet one of the following:
--possess at least 1-year of professional legal experience following law school graduation; OR
--have a second professional law degree; OR
--meet any of the criteria indicated below:
(a) academic standing in top one-third of law school graduating class;
(b) graduation with academic honors;
(c) significant participation on the law school's law review;
(d) significant participation in the law school's moot court competition;
(e) significant participation in a clinical legal aid program;
(f) significant summer law office clerk experience; or
(g) other equivalent evidence of clearly superior achievement.

GS-12/13/14:
In addition to meeting the basic qualification requirements described above, applicants must also have the following additional years of professional legal experience for the grade level indicated:

--GS-12 = 1 year
--GS-13 = 2 years
--GS-14 = 3 ½ years

You must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements for the position by the closing date of the announcement.

Education

• 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 completed in colleges or universities outside the United States may be used to meet the above requirements. You must provide acceptable documentation that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated, visit: http://www.usgs.gov/ohr/oars/quals/foreign.html .

Additional information

• Identification of promotion potential in this announcement does not constitute a commitment or an obligation on the part of management to promote the employee selected at some future date. Promotion will depend upon administrative approval and the continuing need for and performance of higher-level duties.
• The application contains information subject to the Privacy Act (P.L. 93-579, 5 USC 552a). The information is used to determine qualifications for employment, and is authorized under Title 5, USC, Sections 3302 and 3361.
• DOI uses E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit www.dhs.gov/E-Verify .
• THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 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.

--The information and materials you provide will be used to evaluate that you meet the basic qualification and eligibility requirements for this position.

--Basis of Rating: Applicants will not be rated or ranked. All applicants that meet the basic eligibility and qualification requirements of the position will be referred to the selecting official for consideration.
To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Not Required

Drug test required
No

Required Documents

-- A detailed resume that demonstrates your professional history, education and qualifications. Also include the state(s) in which your active Bar membership is held and a list of professional references.

-- A 1-2 page Cover Letter expressing your interest in and qualifications for this position.

-- Writing sample is desired to demonstrate the following skills: issue identification, legal analysis, counseling and/or advocacy.

--If this position requires specific educational course work to qualify, or you are qualifying based in whole or part on education, you are required to provide all unofficial transcripts (undergraduate, graduate, etc.) or list of course work, which includes semester hours earned and grade received, by the closing date of this announcement. This proof may be faxed, document uploaded, or hand delivered to the servicing Human Resources Office (see "Required Documents" and/or "Contact Information"). Please ensure that all documentation is legible. If you are currently employed by the Federal government in the same occupational series as the advertised position, you are not required to submit transcripts at this time.

--If you are claiming veterans' preference you must submit a copy of your DD-214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, by the closing date of this announcement. If you are currently on active military duty, you must provide documentation (e.g., campaign document, award citation, etc.), that verifies entitlement to veterans preference and that your character of military service is honorable. If you are claiming 10-point veterans' preference, in addition to the DD-214, you must submit documentation that supports your claim (e.g., an official statement from the Department of Veterans Affairs or from a branch of the Armed Forces certifying the existence of a service-connected disability; or receipt of a Purple Heart). If you fail to submit any of the required documentation, you will not be granted veterans preference. Additional information on veterans' preference can be found in the VetGuide .

--Required documents may be:

1) faxed to the Agency Contact (see "Contact Information")

2) uploaded directly from your desktop

3) uploaded directly from your USAJOBS stored attachments

4)hand delivered to the servicing Human Resources Office (see 'Contact Information').

-- Auto-Requested Fax : allows you to submit required documentation that will be electronically displayed along with your resume.

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.