Duties

Summary

The Chief Counsel serves as the personal representative of the CNGB, the Vice-CNGB, the NGB Director of Staff, and the Directors of the Army and Air National Guards to officials throughout the executive and legislative branches of the federal government, to include: the Department of Defense, the Departments of the Army and Air Force, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the White House.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

The Chief Counsel legal advice will cover the full spectrum of legal disciplines and functional areas that concern the use of National Guard forces and funding, to include: international and operational law, litigation and employment law, ethics, intelligence oversight, environmental law, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Privacy Act, the protection of personally identifiable information, civil liberties, contracts and fiscal law, administrative law, military justice, complex investigations, and all other areas of the law necessary to ensure NGB is legally compliant in all its actions, decisions and policies. Major duties include:

• Provide legal advice to facilitate CNGB's role as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and as principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense through the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff on matters regarding the non-federalized activities of the National Guard.
• Has primary responsibility for the overall leadership and management of all elements of the Office of the Chief Counsel. Promulgate legal policy directives and regulations governing issues arising from the non-federalized activities of the National Guard.
• Assist in the development and review of proposed federal legislation and present necessary drafts, reports, comments, and testimony to appropriate state and federal committees, commissions, and organizations that impact NGB missions, tasks, and functions.
• Provide for the coordination of significant legal issues with the Department of Justice and with other federal, state and local legal departments, administrative agencies, and judicial bodies on litigation matters involving the non-federalized activities of the National Guard and other interagency and intergovernmental legal matters in which NGB has an interest.
• Oversee the National Guard Bureau's Office of Complex Investigations to ensure administrative investigations into allegations of sexual assault with sufficient NG nexus are thoroughly and appropriately investigated in a timely manner.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.

Supervisory status
Yes

Promotion Potential
None

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen to qualify for this position.
• You must submit to a drug test and receive a negative drug test before you can be appointed into this position.
• In order to qualify for this position, you must be able to obtain a Top Secret security clearance.
• You must meet education requirements and have appropriate bar standing.
• Submit resume and all other required documents online by 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time on 12/20/2019
• The individual selected will be required to file an 'Executive Branch Personnel Financial Disclosure Report (OGE-278) in accordance with the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.
• You will serve a two-year probationary period unless you have previously completed the probationary period in the SES.
• All newly appointed Career SES leaders must sign the Reassignment Rights Obligations Agreement as a condition of appointment into the SES.

Qualifications

To meet the minimum qualification requirements for this position, you must show that you possess the five Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs), the Mandatory Technical Qualifications, and other qualifications, if applicable, listed below.

EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS: All applicants must submit written statements (narrative format) describing accomplishments that would satisfy the ECQs. You must address each ECQ separately, not to exceed 10 pages. You are required to respond to all ECQs. If you fail to do so will result in a rating of 'ineligible.' When responding to the Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs), you must clearly show that you possess the experience, knowledge, skills and ability to perform the duties of this position by submitting narrative responses in which you detail your experience in each of the ECQs. Your examples should be clear and emphasize your level of responsibilities, scope and complexity of programs managed, program accomplishments with results of your actions, policy initiatives and level of contacts. You should limit your narrative to two pages per ECQ, and address each ECQ separately. OPM's Guide to Senior Executive Service Qualifications can assist you in writing an effective SES application. In particular, please note the Challenge-Context-Action-Result Model that is recommended and very helpful when drafting ECQ narrative responses. The Guide is available on OPM's Website at:
http://www.opm.gov/ses/references/guidetoSESQuals_2012.pdf

Applicants must utilize the Challenge-Context-Action-Result (CCAR) Model when writing Executive Core Qualifications (ECQ). Use two examples of relevant experience for each ECQ being sure your experience matches the ECQ criteria.
Challenge - Describe a specific problem or goal.
Context - Describe the individuals and groups you worked with, and/or the environment in which you worked, to address a particular challenge (e.g., clients, co-workers, members of Congress, shrinking budget, low morale).
Action - Discuss the specific actions you took to address a challenge.
Result - Give specific examples of measures/outcomes that had some impact on the organization. These accomplishments demonstrate the quality and effectiveness of your leadership skills.

Each accomplishment should be clear, concise, and emphasize your level of responsibilities; the scope and complexity of the programs, activities, or services you managed; program accomplishments; policy initiatives undertaken; level of contacts; the sensitivity and criticality of the issues you addressed; and the results of your actions. You should use action oriented leadership words to describe your experience and accomplishments (e.g., Led the development and implementation of....) and quantify your experience wherever possible to demonstrate your accomplishments (e.g., number of employees supervised; size of budget managed; amount of money saved, etc.).

ECQ 1 - Leading Change: This core qualification involves the ability to bring about strategic change, both within and outside the organization, to meet organizational goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to establish an organizational vision and to implement it in a continuously changing environment.

ECQ 2 - Leading People: This core qualification involves the ability to lead people toward meeting the organization's vision, mission, and goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to provide an inclusive workplace that fosters the development of others, facilitates cooperation and teamwork, and supports constructive resolution of conflicts.

ECQ 3 - Results Driven: This core qualification involves the ability to meet organizational goals and customer expectations. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to make decisions that produce high-quality results by applying technical knowledge, analyzing problems, and calculating risks.

ECQ 4 - Business Acumen: This core qualification involves the ability to manage human, financial, and information resources strategically.

ECQ 5 - Building Coalitions: This core qualification involves the ability to build coalitions internally and with other Federal agencies, State and local governments, nonprofit and private sector organizations, foreign governments, or international organizations to achieve common goals.

Applicants that are either Career SES members, or graduates of the Office of Personnel Management Certified Development Program are not required to address the ECQs.

MANDATORY TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS: All applicants must submit written statements (narrative format) of accomplishments that would satisfy the technical qualifications. You must address each technical qualification separately. You are required to respond to all of the technical qualifications. If you fail to do so, you will be rated as ineligible. Please limit your written statements to no more than two pages per technical qualification.

Broad expertise addressing legal issues common to the mission of the Department of Defense and/or the National Guard and leading and directing the work of a legal staff.

Diversified legal experience dealing with reserve component matters, including legal analysis, litigation, and counsel and advice.

Ability to interpret and apply statutes and administrative regulations to advise senior leadership on legal implications of proposed actions. This includes superior writing and oral communications.

Experience in overseeing the release of information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Privacy Act (PA).

DoD Joint Enterprise-Wide Experience Statement:

In addition, DoD requires an Enterprise Perspective. This individual must have the ability to apply a broad point of view and an awareness and understanding of individual or organizational responsibilities in relation to DoD or government-wide strategic priorities is required. Executives must demonstrate ability to work with internal and external partners to support national security objectives. This perspective is typically gained through a variety of diverse work experiences. A separate narrative statement is not required. This information should be embedded within the application package (Resume, Technical Qualifications and Executive Core Qualifications).

Education

Candidates must meet the following education requirement for career series 0905:

Must be a graduate of law school. You must have a current license to practice law from at least one state, the District of Columbia, or a U.S. commonwealth or U.S. territory, and be able to demonstrate that in a least one state or jurisdiction in which you are licensed you are permitted to engage in the active practice of law. Active status must be maintained in at least one state or jurisdiction during the course of employment in the Office of the General Counsel, NGB. Applicants are not required to provide an official certificate demonstrating this active status, but must provide such a certificate to the selecting official if selected.

A copy of a law school transcript is required as proof that you meet the educational requirement for this position (unofficial transcripts are acceptable). Failure to provide a copy of your transcript for this announcement will result in a rating of "ineligible."

Additional information

Veterans preference is not applicable to the Senior Executive Service.
Applications MUST be submitted through USAJobs.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

You will be evaluated on the quality and extent of your total accomplishments, experience, and education. Your application will be evaluated by
a rating and ranking panel. Highly qualified candidates may undergo an interview and a reference check. The Office of the Secretary of Defense
Executive Resources Board will review results and make recommendations on final selections to the appointing authority. Unless you have
already been certified by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualifications Review Board (QRB), your ECQs must be certified by the OPM
QRB before your appointment can occur.

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Top Secret

Drug test required
Yes

Position sensitivity and risk
Special-Sensitive (SS)/High Risk

Trust determination process
Suitability/Fitness

Required Documents

1. Resume - In addition to your written statements addressing the Executive Core Qualifications, the Mandatory Technical Qualification(s), and
other qualifications as applicable, submit a resume or any other written format you choose to describe your qualifications,
not to exceed five pages . Applicants typically provide the following information:

• Vacancy Announcement number SES-10653212-19-SW
• Full name, email and mailing address, and day and evening telephone numbers
• Educational information including the name, city, and state of colleges or universities you attended, as well as the type of any degree
• received. Report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S.
• Department of Education. For more information, you may refer to the following U.S. Department of Education website: http://www.edu.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html
• Information about your paid and nonpaid work experience related to this position including: job title, duties and accomplishments, employer's name and address, duration of employment, and salary
• Information about honors, awards, and special accomplishments

2. Mandatory Technical Qualifications (MTQs) : A narrative statement specifically addressing each mandatory technical qualification.
Statement should not exceed two pages per MTQ.

3. Mandatory ECQ Statement: A narrative statement specifically addressing each individual ECQ. In lieu of the narrative statement, current
career SES members, reinstatement eligibles, and SES Candidate Development Program graduates must provide the documentation in item #4.

4. Copy of the Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50): Current and former career SES members must provide an SF-50 showing their status
or reinstatement eligibility. Candidates who have successfully completed an Office of Personnel Management approved SES Candidate
Development Program must submit a copy of their ECQ certification.

5. Law School Transcript: A copy of a law school transcript must be submitted by each applicant for this position. Please refer to the Education
section of this announcement. Failure to provide a copy of your transcript will result in a rating of 'ineligible.'Law School Transcript: A copy of a
law school transcript must be submitted by each applicant for this position. Please refer to the Education section of this announcement. Failure
to provide a copy of your transcript will result in a rating of 'ineligible.'

6. Demographics Information of Applicants: Click on the link to access the Demographics Information of Applicants
http://www.eeoc.gov/federal/upload/Applicant_Tracking_Form_2-19-2014-2.pdf

DO NOT SUBMIT ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Extraneous materials such as award certificates will not be considered

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.