Duties

Summary

This position is located in the Office for Civil Rights in Washington, DC, Office for Civil Rights (OCR). OCR enforces Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of I 973, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act of 2001, and their respective implementing regulations.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

APPLICATION LIMIT: This vacancy announcement is limited to the first 50 applications received and will close at 11:59PM Eastern Time on the day that we receive the 50th application, or at 11:59PM Eastern Time on the listed closing date, whichever occurs first.

We encourage you to read this entire vacancy announcement prior to submitting your application.

As a Supervisory General Attorney (Chief Attorney), GS-0905-15, you will be responsible for the following duties:

• Under the direction of the Regional Office Director assist in the supervision of the regional office's enforcement program which ensures civil rights compliance by recipients of Federal funds through the conduct of complaint investigations, proactive compliance activities and technical assistance.
• Provides oversight over legal advice given and written work produced within the regional office to ensure high quality work products and sound legal analysis. Responsible for the use of correct case models and the correct application of pertinent laws, regulations and policy, so that the regional office's legal work is fully supported both legally and factually, consistent and accurate within the regional office.
• Possesses expert and on-going knowledge of current and emerging civil rights issues in the region over which the regional office has jurisdiction.
• Serves as a nationally recognized legal authority on civil rights laws, regulations and procedures. Possesses expert and on-going knowledge of current and emerging civil rights issues on a national level.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - 10% or less

Supervisory status
Yes

Promotion Potential
15

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Must be a US Citizen
• You may be subject to serve a one-year supervisory probationary period.
• You may be subject to serve a one-year trial period.
• Males 18 and over must be registered with the Selective Service.
• Relocation will not be paid.

You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement.

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. We will consider all qualifying experience, including any volunteer experience.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications Requirements.

A. Has obtained the first professional law degree or training which is permitted in some states in lieu of attendance at the law school AND

B. Is an active member in good standing in the Bar of a State, Territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

AND

Five Years of professional legal experience at the level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to that of an attorney at the grade immediately below the one being filled.

Specialized Experience for the GS-15:

At least one year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade at GS-14 performing all three (3) of the following duties or work assignments:

1. Experience working with applicable civil rights laws and regulations.

2. Experience applying investigative, analytical, fact-finding, program solving, consulting, evaluation, dispute resolution, mediation, negotiation, and compliance techniques.

3. Experience providing communication and public presentation to deal successfully with elected officials, the public, private managers, and media representatives in order to effectively present information and resolve controversy.

Education

Education cannot be substituted for experience for this position and grade level.

Additional information

Veterans' Career Counseling: If you are a veteran interested in receiving tips on preparing a Federal resume and/or how to prepare for an interview, you may email Iwork@ed.gov to schedule a session with a career counselor ("Veterans Counseling Session" should be placed in the subject line of the email).

Student Loan Default: If selected for this position, we will verify that you have not defaulted on any loan funded or guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Education. If you are found to be in default, we will contact you to make arrangements for repayment prior to making an official offer of employment.

Suitability and Investigation: If selected for this position, you will be required to complete the Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306) to determine your suitability for federal employment and successfully complete a pre-appointment investigation/background check.

Essential/Non-Essential: This position is considered non-essential for purposes of reporting to work during federal government closures.

Financial Disclosure: This position requires financial disclosure.

Telework: This position is telework eligible. At the discretion of the supervisor, generally employees may be authorized to telework one day per week if they are on regular 8-hour work schedule. Teleworkers may participate in some Alternative Work Schedules (AWS) in combination with a Telework Agreement. However, all employees must work from the official worksite location a minimum of four (4) days per work week.

Bargaining Unit: This position is not included in the bargaining unit.

Selections: Agencies have broad authority under law to hire from any appropriate source of eligibles and may fill a vacancy in the competitive service by any method authorized. We may make additional selections from this vacancy announcement within 90 days from the date the selection certificates are issued, should vacancies occur. We may also share selection certificates amongst program offices across the agency.

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 application and documentation submitted to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. We will refer the best qualified candidates to the Selecting Official of the job for further review and consideration. You will be evaluated to determine if you meet qualifications required, and on the extent to which your application shows that you possess the knowledge, skills and abilities associated with this position as defined below. Please be sure to give examples in your resume and explain how often you used these skills, the complexity of the knowledge you possessed, the level of people you interacted with, and the complexity and sensitivity of the issues you handled.

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Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
No

Position sensitivity and risk
High Risk (HR)

Trust determination process

Required Documents

You must submit (REQUIRED FOR ALL APPLICANTS):

•A resume demonstrating your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiating your responses to the occupational questionnaire.

You are not required to submit bar card or transcripts to apply to the vacancy announcement, but you will be required to submit them upon request from hiring panel or the HR Specialist. Writing sample and/or list of references may be required of selected applicants at later stages in the selection process.

If you are claiming Veterans' Preference you must submit: •A copy of your DD-214 that shows active service and character of discharge, member copy 4 (Separated Members only); OR •A certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions within 120 days from the date of application (Current Active Duty Members only); AND/OR •The Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference (SF-15) AND all documents indicated on the form as proof of type of preference; AND/OR •Proof of Sole Survivorship Preference (e.g., certificate of death or 100% disability as a result of serving in the armed forces). Veteran's Preference: Department of the Education attorney positions are in the excepted service, not the competitive civil service. There is no formal system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of the Education considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor consideration in the attorney hiring process. If you are eligible for veterans' preference in hiring, you are encouraged to include that information in your application along with the supporting documentation, e.g., SF-15, DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, or other supporting documentation.

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.