Duties

Summary

The Assistant Director for the Technology Enforcement Division (TED) participates in Bureau management by overseeing a law enforcement division responsible for the trial of antitrust charges arising under Sections 2, 3, 7, and 8 of the Clayton Act and under Section 5 of the FTC Act. Specifically, the division identifies and investigates anticompetitive conduct in markets in which digital technology is an important dimension of competition.
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Responsibilities

The Assistant Director (AD) is a member of the Bureau Director's senior management team and makes program and policy decisions. The AD exercises wide discretion in long-term planning, as well as directing investigations and litigation proceedings for enforcing the statutory provisions discussed above.

The AD supervises, coordinates, and reviews the work of approximately 35 attorneys and other support staff engaged in the following functions: detecting possible violations of the statutes, determining whether alleged or suspected violations warrant investigation, formulating plans and legal theories for investigations, and providing assistance and guidance to the regional offices in connection with cases tried at the local level. The Division also evaluates investigative reports for sufficiency of evidence to support formal legal action, drafts formal complaints containing charges of law violation, and prepares briefs for and conducts the prosecution of complaints before Federal District Courts or the Commission's Administrative Law Judges. Furthermore, the AD supervises drafting proposed findings of fact, conclusions of law, and cease and desist or divestiture orders for consideration. In addition, the AD supervises drafting appeal briefs and presents oral arguments in cases appealed to the Commission.

The AD provides counsel and guidance for staff members on policy questions and matters of legal strategy and reviews important legal documents prepared by the staff (e.g., proposed complaints, recommendations that cases be closed, trial briefs, motions, proposed findings and orders) for consistency with agency policy, soundness of judgement, and legal sufficiency.

Additionally, the AD performs or supervises other delegated functions in light of the Bureau's overall workload requirements. The work performed under the incumbent's supervision generally involves coordinating the most complex and difficult antitrust investigations and proceedings in both unregulated and partially regulated industries. Occasionally, the incumbent appears before the Commission, congressional committees, industry regulators, industry representatives, the press, and various forums to discuss the work in the Division, trends in the competitive economy, emerging problems of law violations, proposed legislation and regulation, and other matters. On behalf of BC, the AD has contact with a wide range of public, private, and international groups with diverse interests in competition matters. The incumbent may represent the Commission or the Bureau in ongoing liaison before government agencies and other groups and may give speeches and briefings.

The incumbent frequently communicates with parties to proceedings, their counsel, parties who claim injury by the restraint of trade laws, acts, or practices alleged to be in violation of the Commission's final orders, and others interested in Commission proceedings either as amicus curiae or as businesspersons seeking to understand the laws administered by the Commission. The questions raised during the aforementioned communications are often controversial in nature, requiring the exercise of a high degree of tact, persuasiveness, and legal skill. This position also involves ongoing contacts with the heads of other operating units within the Commission on issues of mutual concern.

Travel Required

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

Supervisory status
Yes

Promotion Potential
00

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must possess a J.D. or LL.B. degree from an accredited law school.
• You must be a U.S. citizen to qualify for this position.
• Background investigation (Public Trust) is required.
• You will serve a one-year probationary period unless you have previously completed the probationary period in the Senior Executive Service (SES).
• The individual selected will be required to file an Executive Branch Personnel Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 278) in accordance with the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.

Qualifications

QUALIFICATIONS:
As a basic requirement, applicants must demonstrate technical and professional competence as described in the Mandatory Professional Credentials and Technical Qualifications section below and executive leadership capabilities as described in the Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) of the SES listed below. Typically, experiences of this nature will have been gained at or above the GS-15 grade level or its equivalent in federal service, or with state or local government, private industry, or nongovernmental organizations.

If you are a current career member of the SES, are eligible for reinstatement into the SES, or have completed an SES Candidate Development Program and have been certified by the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Qualifications Review Board (QRB) please submit your resume, proof of Professional Credentials, written statements addressing the Mandatory Technical Qualifications, and other applicable qualifications. You must also provide documentation of QRB certification (i.e., SF-50 showing career SES status or OPM-issued SES qualification certificate).

MANDATORY PROFESSIONAL CREDENTIALS AND TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS:

Mandatory Professional Credentials : Graduation from an accredited law school and current possession of a bar membership, which permits the practice of law in the United States, are required.

Mandatory Technical Qualifications (should not exceed two pages per qualification; maximum of 8 pages):

1. Demonstrated knowledge and experience in legal areas relevant to protecting consumers and promoting competition, including antitrust law, merger, and competition matters.

2. Demonstrated experience in the management of complex legal issues including: analyzing complex legal issues and questions of litigation strategy, reviewing pleadings, briefs, and legal memoranda, and providing oral and written legal advice and recommendations.

3. Proven ability to analyze economic evidence surrounding antitrust, merger, and competition matters.

4. Demonstrated experience in supervising and reviewing the work product of attorneys and other staff in a legal office with a focus on achieving high quality organizational results.

EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS (should not exceed two pages per qualification. 10 pages maximum): All applicants must submit written statements describing accomplishments that would satisfy the ECQs. You must respond to all ECQs and address each one separately, as failure to do so will result in a rating of 'ineligible' for the position. You can find additional information on the ECQs in the "Guide to Senior Executive Service Qualifications" or at the following link: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/senior-executive-service/executive-core-qualifications/ .

A good competency-based qualifications statement should address the following elements for each ECQ: (a) the goal, problem, or activity and its challenge, (b) the context or environment in which the activity took place, (c) specific actions you took to address the challenge, and (d) the results or impact of the activity. Each accomplishment should be clear, concise, and emphasize your level of responsibilities, the scope and complexity of the programs you managed, and the results of your actions. You are strongly encouraged to review the Guide to Senior Executive Service Qualifications at the following link: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/senior-executive-service/reference-materials/guidetosesquals_2010.pdf . The ECQ statement, addressing all five ECQs, may be no longer than ten pages .

ECQ 1 - Leading Change: This ECQ 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 ECQ 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 the constructive resolution of conflicts.

ECQ 3 - Results Driven: This ECQ 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 ECQ involves the ability to manage human, financial, and information resources strategically.

ECQ 5 - Building Coalitions: This ECQ 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.

Education

You must possess a J.D. or LL.B. degree from an accredited law school. Total background, including experience, education, awards, self-development, and training will also be reviewed.

Additional information

1. The agency may reimburse relocation expenses.

2. If we select you for an initial career appointment to an SES position, the OPM QRB must approve your ECQs prior to appointment. A selection is tentative until we obtain a QRB certification.

3. You must complete a Declaration for Federal Employment before we can hire you in order to certify the accuracy of your written application and provide the information necessary to determine your suitability for federal employment.

4. If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959 and we select you for this position, you must certify prior to appointment that you registered for the military selective service.

5. If we select you for this position, you must complete personnel suitability documents. Your appointment is contingent upon the successful completion of an appropriate background investigation.

6. Veterans' preference does not apply to SES positions.

7. The FTC provides reasonable accommodations, where appropriate, to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the FTC. The agency considers requests for reasonable accommodation on a case-by-case basis. Questions about the FTC's accommodation policy can be directed to Liz Kraszewski at ekraszewski@ftc.gov .

8. The Ethics in Government Act, PL 95-521, requires the applicant selected for this position to submit a financial disclosure statement, SF-278, prior to assuming the SES position, annually while employed, and upon termination of employment. You may also be subject to post employment restrictions.

9. Your application includes information subject to the Privacy Act (P.L. 93-579, 5 U.S.C. 552a). This information is necessary to determine qualifications for employment, and collection is authorized under Title 5 of the U.S. Code, 3302 and 3361.

10. The FTC is required to solicit applicant cooperation in assessing the applicant pools we are reaching with our vacancy announcements. We ask that you complete and return a "Demographic Information" form. Please note that an applications intake clerk will remove this document from your application package upon its arrival in the office and will immediately direct it to the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) office. The form, including the information it provides, is not associated with your application in any part of the examining process and is not available to human resources management or selecting officials in any way during the hiring process. After we fill the position, such information is available to the Human Capital Management Office only as part of an aggregate statistical number. We appreciate your cooperation and invite you to call us at the contact number listed below if you have any questions or concerns about using this form. We ask that you access and complete the form, write the vacancy announcement number at the top of the first page, and send us the completed form along with your application package.

11. We will not accept applications received in government postage-paid envelopes.

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 for this position based on how well you meet the Mandatory Professional Credentials, Technical Qualifications, and ECQs stated in this vacancy announcement.

You will be evaluated on the quality and extent of your total accomplishments, including experience, education, awards, self-development, and training. This information will be obtained from the application package, including the Mandatory Professional Credentials , required narrative statements for the Technical Qualifications, and ECQs as described in this vacancy announcement.

A Human Resources Specialist and or a Rating and Ranking Panel consisting of SES members will evaluate your application package. This evaluation will determine which applicants are Eligible, Not Eligible, Qualified, Not Qualified, and Highly/Best Qualified. Highly/Best Qualified candidates will be referred to the Selecting Official, and may undergo an interview and a reference check.

The Selecting Official will review results and make recommendations on final selections to the Appointing Authority. Unless the OPM Quality Review Board (QRB) has already certified you, your ECQs must be forwarded to the OPM QRB for certification before your appointment can occur.

Note: Veterans' preference does not apply to SES positions . This is in accordance with 5 USC 2108(3), which defines the term "preference eligible" and provides that this term does not include applicants for, or members of, the SES.

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
No

Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)

Trust determination process
Suitability/Fitness

Required Documents

1. Resume - In addition to your written statements addressing the Mandatory Technical Qualifications, and ECQs , submit a resume ( not to exceed 5 pages ) to describe your qualifications. Your resume should provide the following information:

• Vacancy Announcement number: EXEC-201002-28998-BC-LA
• 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 the U.S. Department of Education. For more information, you may refer to the U.S. Department of Education website: https://www.ed.gov/accreditation
• Information about your paid and non-paid 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 Professional Credentials: Certification of graduation from an accredited law school and current possession of a bar membership, which permits the practice of law in the United States.

3. Mandatory Technical Qualifications: A narrative statement specifically addressing each mandatory technical qualification. Statement should not exceed two pages per qualification (8 pages maximum).

4. Mandatory ECQs: Narrative statements specifically addressing each individual ECQ. Narrative statements should not exceed two pages per qualification (10 pages maximum). In lieu of the narrative statement, current career SES members, reinstatement eligibles, and SES Candidate Development Program graduates must provide the documentation in item #5.

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

*PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION* Extraneous materials such as a cover letter, letters of recommendation, past evaluations, award certificates, etc., will not be considered.

*EFFECTIVE MARCH 18, 2016* OPM must authorize any employment offers made to individuals who are currently serving in or have previously served in political positions within the last 5 years. These positions include Presidential appointees with or without Senate confirmation, Schedule A or Schedule C political appointees, appointees serving in a political capacity under an agency-specific authority, and Noncareer SES employees in the Executive Branch. If you are currently a political appointee or have been within the last 5 years, please indicate this in your resume. Serving in a political position WILL NOT eliminate you from consideration.