Duties

Summary

The position of Deputy Associate General Counsel, Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation Branch is located in the Division of Enforcement Litigation in the Office of the General Counsel. The incumbent reports directly to the Deputy General Counsel, Office of General Counsel.
Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

The function of the Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation Branch is to plan and conduct all litigation in the U.S. Courts of Appeals involving the enforcement or review of Board Orders and all litigation in the Supreme Court of the United States, including petitions for and oppositions to writs of certiorari, merit cases involving review of Board orders, miscellaneous litigation rising out of injunction and other extraordinary proceedings, and cases in which the Board appears as amicus curiae. The incumbent of this position serves as the Branch Chief in charge of the general administration of the Branch and is responsible for the efficient operation of the Branch. The incumbent also serves as a supervisor of subordinate attorneys in the preparation and litigation of difficult cases involving any phase of the Branch's functions.

As the Deputy Associate General Counsel, the incumbent:
Is responsible for planning, directing, and/or conducting all litigation in the United States Courts of Appeals involving proceedings for the enforcement or review of Agency orders under Section I0(e) or (t) of the Act. This responsibility to ensure compliance with Agency orders may result in cases being disposed of by informal or formal settlement, by further proceedings before the Board, or by litigation in the courts.

Confers with and advises members of the staff as to problems which arise during the course of their preparation of cases, and resolves legal and policy questions; determines the necessity of filing other pleadings as may be warranted by the strategy of the opposing party or new or unexpected developments which may have a direct impact on the successful presentation of the case.

As appropriate, reviews the briefs and other legal pleadings prepared in connection with the Branch's litigation for conformance to policy, general effectiveness, adequacy, and soundness of presentation.

Ensures the appropriate assignment of oral arguments in the Courts of Appeals.

Is responsible for the preparation of legal opinions and memoranda on questions of law referred by the General Counsel or Deputy General Counsel and advising the General Counsel on matters of law and policy; advises/recommends to the General Counsel or Deputy General Counsel policies and procedures to be followed in any of the cases pending in the Branch.

Is responsible for recommending to the General Counsel or Deputy General Counsel whether or not to petition for rehearing or certiorari in cases which the Board has lost in the court of appeals; whether or not to oppose certiorari in cases where petitions are filed seeking review of decisions which the Board has won in the court of appeals; and whether or not to participate as amicus curiae in other cases before the Supreme Court.

Is responsible for the preparation of petitions, briefs, stipulations, records, and other legal documents and memoranda in connection with the conduct of Supreme Court litigation, and for the preparation of correspondence with the Supreme Court of the United States, the Solicitor General of the United States, attorneys representing private parties involved in Supreme Court litigation, and other agencies or government officials respecting problems related to Supreme Court litigation.

Participates in conferences with the General Counsel, Deputy General Counsel, and other top staff of the Agency concerning the impact and significance of district court and court of appeals litigation in relation to Supreme Court litigation, and in conferences with the Board's Solicitor and the Board itself on questions involved in Supreme Court litigation.

Represents the Board and the General Counsel in conferences with the Solicitor General of the United States and his staff respecting Supreme Court litigation involving the Board and for the purpose of formulating the government's position in Supreme Court Litigation.

Participates in conferences and/or represents the Branch in meetings with the General Counsel and his/her top officials, Board Members, Solicitor, etc., as well as with representatives of other government agencies who may be concerned by proceedings being conducted by the Branch; confers with the General Counsel, Deputy General Counsel, and other members of the General Counsel's advisory staff on the merits of cases and agency action.

Works with other divisions of the General Counsel's Office to strengthen the ability of the regional offices to litigate recurring and important legal issues in a manner that will produce better decisions by the Board and put the Agency in a stronger position in the courts.

As circumstances warrant, confers with parties involved in cases and their representatives regarding any phase of the litigation and conducts negotiations on behalf of the General Counsel and the Board as may be necessary to affect compliance with the Board's Orders.

Travel Required

Not required

Supervisory status
Yes

Promotion Potential
None

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship is required.
• Background investigation may be required.
• Males born after 12/03/59 must be registered for Selective Service.
• Initial SES Career appointee is subject to a one-year probationary period.
• Must have a J.D. from an accredited school.
• Active member of the bar, proof of good standing is required.

Qualifications

THIS POSITION IS IN THE SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE (SES): This is a Career-Reserved position and therefore must be filled by a career appointee. Candidates are not required to have previous SES career service before applying. The selected candidate executive/managerial qualifications must be certified by the Office of Personnel Management prior to an initial SES career appointment. Positions in the SES are ungraded.

To qualify for this position, you must meet the following requirements:

As a basic requirement for entry into the SES, applicants must provide evidence of progressively responsible leadership experience that is indicative of senior executive level managerial capability and directly related to the skills and abilities outlined under Professional/Technical Qualifications and Executive Core Qualifications. For this position, all candidates must be an active member of the Bar in good standing of any state, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or any Territorial Court under the US Constitution.

Failure to meet the basic qualification requirements and all Professional/Technical and Executive Core Qualification factors automatically eliminate the applicant from further consideration.

ALL CANDIDATES MUST FULLY ADDRESS ALL ITEMS UNDER 'TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS' TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR CONSIDERATION.

A. PROFESSIONAL/TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS PTQs: A narrative statement specifically to show possession of the Professional/Technical Qualifications (PTQs). Responses should summarize the applicants experience in relation to the PTQs and specific examples of accomplishments. Total length of narratives should not exceed 3 pages.

• PTQ 1 - Possession of comprehensive knowledge of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the Administrative Procedure Act and other Federal and State laws affecting the administration of the NLRA, Agency guidance and knowledge of Board and General Counsel functions and organization, Board and Court decisions, rules of practice in Federal District Courts, Courts of Appeals and the Supreme Court.
• PTQ 2 - Experience in litigating and coordinating, planning and directing litigation in the United States Courts of Appeals and the Supreme Court including the preparation of petitions, briefs, stipulations, records, and other legal documents and memoranda.
• PTQ 3 - Experience in Supreme Court litigation, including preparation of correspondence with the Supreme Court of the United States, the Solicitor General of the Unites States, attorneys representing private parties involved in Supreme Court litigation, and other agencies or government officials concerning problems related to Supreme Court litigation.
• PTQ 4 - Experience in providing legal advice concerning litigation strategies to senior management.
• PTQ 5 - Experience managing teams of attorneys and possession of the supervisory and managerial skill and ability to develop, coordinate, and administer Agency programs, policies, and objectives, including assigning and managing the cases of subordinate supervisors and attorneys.

B. EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS - ECQs: Candidates must also submit a separate narrative statement to show possession of the Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) listed below. You are required to respond to all ECQs. If you fail to do so, you will be rated as ineligible. Total length of narratives should not exceed 10 pages.

• 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. Leadership Competencies: creativity and innovation, external awareness, flexibility, resilience, strategic thinking, vision.
• 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. Leadership Competencies: conflict management, leveraging diversity, developing others, team building.
• 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. Leadership Competencies: accountability, customer service, decisiveness, entrepreneurship, problem solving, technical credibility.
• ECQ 4 - BUSINESS ACUMEN: This core qualification involves the ability to manage human, financial, and information resources strategically. Leadership Competencies: financial management, human capital management, technology management.
• 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. Leadership Competencies: partnering, political savvy, influencing/negotiating.

HELPFUL INFORMATION ON ECQs:

Particular care should be taken when addressing the Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) described under Qualifications and Evaluation, as that information must also be reviewed and approved by an OPM Qualifications Review Board (QRB). Be sure to include professional and volunteer experience, education, training, and awards that demonstrate your skills in a particular ECQ. Please do not submit additional materials such as position descriptions, publications, course descriptions, or OPM literature. Materials other than those discussed under How to Apply will not normally be included in the application package when forwarded to the Executive Resources Board for evaluation.

Additional information on the ECQs is available at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/senior-executive-service/reference-materials/guidetosesquals_2012.pdf. Each accomplishment should be clear, concise, and emphasize your personal level of responsibility, the challenges and/or scope of complexity of programs managed, and results of your actions

The ECQs were designed to assess executive experience and potential, not technical expertise. They measure whether an individual has the broad executive skills needed to succeed in a variety of SES positions. Please provide your examples using the Challenge- Context- Action- Result (CCAR) model when describing your accomplishments as described below:

• Challenge - Describe a specific problem or goal.
• Context - Describe the individuals and groups you worked with and/or the environment in which you worked address the challenge or goal.
• Action - Discuss the specific actions you took to address the challenge or goal.
• Result - Give specific examples of the results of your actions.

Each accomplishment should be clear, concise, and emphasize your personal level of responsibility, the challenges and/or scope of complexity of programs managed, and results of your actions. Additional information on the ECQs is available at http://www.opm.gov/ses/.

Education

Applicant must possess a J.D. or LL.B. degree and be a member of the bar in good standing in any state, territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The selectee will be required to provide proof of current bar membership prior to appointment. ALL APPLICANTS must submit proof of successful completion of education requirements. This proof may consist of a law school transcript, copy of diploma from the applicant's law school, or other documentation which provides clear and specific proof of education, such as a current SF-50 demonstrating that the applicant is currently occupying a position in the 905 series. Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the requirements for this position if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is the responsibility of the applicant to provide such evidence by the closing date of the announcement.

Additional information

SUPPLEMENTARY VACANCIES: Supplementary vacancies may be filled in addition to the number stated in this announcement.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY/REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION: The National Labor Relations Board is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for appointment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, political affiliations, handicap, age, sexual orientation, or any other non-merit factor. Applicants with disabilities who need reasonable accommodations for any part of the application and hiring process should contact, the Agency's Selective Placement Coordinator by email smschedule@nlrb.gov . NLRB offers a wide array of reasonable accommodations and programs for individuals with disabilities. (Note: for additional information for job seekers with disabilities, please click on the following website, https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/disability-employment/hiring/.

PLACEMENT POLICY: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

VETERANS PREFERENCE DOES NOT APPLY TO THE SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE.

Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see www.sss.gov ).

Click here for additional information and benefits for SES employees.

Before entering on duty, you will be required to complete a Public Financial Disclosure Report OGE-278e. You will need to provide the information annually.

Privacy Act Information: The application materials you submit for this position contain information subject to the Privacy Act of 1978 (P.L. 93-579, 5 U.S.C. 552a). We are required to provide you with information regarding our authority and purposes for collecting the data; the routine uses which will be made of it, the effect, if any, of nondisclosure. You are entitled to the same information, as it pertains specifically to disclosure of your social security number.

All Federal employees are required by PL 104-134 to have federal payments made by direct deposit. http://www.OPM.Gov/retire/asd/pdf/99-106A.pdf

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Applicants who are current career SES members, former career SES members with reinstatement eligibility, OPM certified graduates of a SES Candidate Development Program (CDP), or who otherwise meet the mandatory requirements (Executive Core Qualifications and Professional Technical Qualifications), will be considered qualified for this position. Rating and Ranking to determine "Best Qualified" will be conducted by a panel of experts and will be based upon consideration of the degree to which applicants meet the mandatory knowledge, skills and abilities described in the ECQs and PTQs. Current career SES members, former career SES members with reinstatement eligibility, OPM certified graduates of a SES CDP will be considered noncompetitively. Those applicants who are determined Best Qualified will be sent to the selecting official for possible interview. If selected, your ECQs must be certified by OPM's Qualifications Review Board, unless you are a current SES executive or have graduated from an OPM approved SES CDP. You must receive certification before you can be appointed to the position.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is required by law to review the executive qualifications of each new career appointee to the Senior Executive Service (SES) prior to appointment. To be considered, applicants must submit a written statement addressing the five (5) Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) listed in this announcement. Applicants must address all ECQs to be eligible for consideration. Your ECQ statements MUST NOT EXCEED A TOTAL OF 10 PAGES and should focus on accomplishments that support possession of each ECQ. See the SES Handbook for more information on ECQ's.

Current career SES members, former career SES members with reinstatement eligibility and OPM certified graduates of a SES CDP, who meet the professional/technical qualifications requirements will be considered for this position on a noncompetitive basis. Applicants for noncompetitive consideration are NOT REQUIRED to submit a supplemental statement addressing their ECQs. However, they must submit a Standard Form 50, Notification of Personnel Action, to establish proof of eligibility for noncompetitive appointment and submit their most recent performance appraisal, resume, address the professional/technical qualifications and complete the online questionnaire.

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Top Secret

Drug test required
No

Position sensitivity and risk
Critical-Sensitive (CS)/High Risk

Trust determination process

Required Documents

In addition to your responses to the occupational questionnaire and your resume, you must submit the following additional documents specific for this vacancy:

Your responses to the Occupational Questionnaire,

Your resume; (Content of Resume: Your resume that you choose to describe your job-related experiences will be used to verify your qualifications. Therefore, it is important that the information be specific, detailed where appropriate, and complete. Your resume must contain hours worked per week and the dates of employment (i.e., HRS per week and month/year to month/year or month/year to present). If your resume does not contain this information, your application will be marked as incomplete and you will not receive consideration for this position.)

A separate narrative statement specifically addressing each Professional/Technical Qualifications (PTQs) requirement AND Executive Core Qualification (ECQs) requirement. Please address each Professional/Technical Qualification (PTQ) separately from the Executive/Managerial Core Qualifications (ECQs). Current career SES members, former career SES members with reinstatement eligibility and OPM certified graduates of an SES CPD need to submit PTQs only.

SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (indicating highest grade level held, tenure group, promotion potential and salary. Reinstatement eligibles should submit their SF-50 documenting their career appointment to SES if applying for noncompetitive consideration).

Most Recent Performance Appraisal (Current federal service employees: If performance appraisal is not dated within the last year or if you are unable to provide a performance appraisal, an explanation why must be provided).

Proof of Active Bar Certification is required

All materials must be received by 10/05/2020 to be considered for this announcement.

Incomplete applications will not receive consideration for this Notice of Vacancy.

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.