Duties

Summary

Office of the General Counsel is the legal department for CSOSA and Pretrial Services Agency, providing a full range of legal advisory and representational services to support CSOSAs mission, goals and objectives. This Office also provides advisory informational assistance to the United States Courts, United States Probation Officers and other Federal and state officials, all with respect to CSOSAs legal position on a wide range of criminal justice and administrative matters.
Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

The incumbent performs case management duties encompassing diverse and complex technical issues or problems. Responsibilities include locating and managing disclosure of sensitive information, carrying out case development and documentation activities as a case progresses through the administrative appellate system, and developing and overseeing the maintenance of a record-keeping system to track the progress of all legal matters.
Provides support for the Ethics Program and the Designated Agency Ethics Official, including maintaining the tracking system and conducting initial reviews for completeness.
Reviews and coordinates requests with issues that require interpretation and adaptation of guidance to particular situations related to the FOIA and/or PA.
Independently reviews legal documents and ensures the documents reach the assigned attorney and are captured in the legal matters database. Assists in all matters of document review, preparation, and processing in matters before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), Office of Special Counsel (OSC), and Office of Personnel Management (OPM), as well as other federal adjudicative entities.
Provides technical assistance to legal staff in using automated case management systems. Performs legal research of relevant statutes and precedents related to pending litigation. Maintains and/or administers the litigation case management system, which is used to document and track cases. Prepares, analyzes, and processes legal documents, such as briefs and advisory opinions.

Travel Required

Not required

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
11

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable
• Background security investigation, drug test, and favorable adjudication
• May be required to successfully complete a one year probationary period (unless already completed).
• Time-in-grade requirements must be met within 30 calendar day of the closing date of this announcement
• Bargaining Unit Status: Not Eligible
• All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments directly deposited into a financial institution of their choosing.
• CSOSA uses E-Verify, if you are selected for this position, the documentation that you present for purposes of completing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Form I-9 will be verified through the DHS "E-Verify" System.
• Relocation expenses are not authorized.

Qualifications

You may qualify at the GS-09 level, if you fulfill one of the following qualification requirements:
A. One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service that demonstrates your ability to prepare letters and draft affidavits/declarations documents and reports, utilize a variety of automated legal research tools and public information databases to perform legal research. OR

B. A master's or equivalent graduate degree in an accredited or pre-accredited college or university; or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; or possession of a LL.B. or J.D degree, if related. Graduate level education must demonstrate the competencies necessary to do the work of the position, examples of qualifying fields include legal research, legislative/judicial process, research in legal problems, and tort law; OR

C. A combination of education and experience as listed above.
If you would like to use your education to qualify for this position, you must submit unofficial transcript with your application.

You may qualify at the GS-11 level, if you fulfill one of the following qualification requirements:
A. One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service that demonstrates your ability to work as a litigation paralegal in a law firm or government agency preparing the full range of legal documents, reports, and required case file information, and maintaining the litigation case management system; research statutes, regulations, decisions, opinions and other legal authorities on points of law in a case. OR

B. A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree; or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; or possession of a LL.M. degree, if related. Graduate level education must demonstrate the competencies necessary to do the work of the position, examples of qualifying fields include legal research, legislative/judicial process, research in legal problems, and tort law; OR

C. A combination of education and experience as listed above.
If you would like to use your education to qualify for this position, you must submit unofficial transcript with your application.

If you would like to use your education to qualify for this position, you must submit unofficial transcript with your application.
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

ARE YOU USING YOUR EDUCATION TO QUALIFY? You MUST provide transcripts or other documentation to support your educational claims. Unless otherwise stated: (1) official or unofficial transcripts are acceptable, or (2) you may submit a list with all of your courses, grades, semester, year, and credit for the course. All materials must be submitted by the closing date of the announcement.
PASS/FAIL COURSES: If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) were taken on a pass/fail basis, your claim of superior academic achievement must be based upon class standing or membership in an honor society.
GRADUATE EDUCATION: One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study.
FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html

Additional information

Reasonable Accommodation Requests : If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended and Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a reasonable accommodation in your online application. Requests for Reasonable Accommodations for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for Reasonable Accommodation must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for Reasonable Accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a Reasonable Accommodation, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Reasonable_Accommodations_for_USA_Hire

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) The ICTAP provides eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your ICTAP eligibility; 2) you apply under the instructions in the announcement; and 3) you are found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and meet the mid-level (scoring between 85 and 89) on established ranking criteria. You must provide proof of eligibility to receive selection priority. Such proof may include a copy of your written notification of ICTAP eligibility or a copy of your separation personnel action form.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) The CTAP provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in the Department of Justice with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your Department of Justice component has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility, 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement, and 3) you are found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and meet the mid-level (scoring between 85 and 89) on established ranking criteria. You must provide a copy of your written notification of CTAP eligibility with your application.

This vacancy announcement may be used to fill future vacancies for identical positions within the next year.

You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days after the closing date of this announcement and before placement in the position.

Only experience and education obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered.

CSOSA 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.

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the online assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):
Decision Making
Reading
Attention to Detail
Customer Service
Flexibility
Integrity/Honesty
Interpersonal Skills
Learning
Legal, Government and Jurisprudence
Oral Communication
Reasoning
Self-Management
Stress Tolerance
Teamwork
Writing
In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
Yes

Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)

Trust determination process
Suitability/Fitness

Required Documents

You must submit a complete Application Package which includes:
-Your responses to the Online Occupational Questionnaire (This is completed automatically during the apply online process).To apply for this position,
- Your résumé showing work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment and duties performed.
- Other supporting documents:
- Cover Letter, optional
- College transcript(s), if qualifying based on education
- Most recent SF-50, "Notification of Personnel Action" showing you are/were in the competitive service and the highest grade or promotion potential held (if applying as a status candidate with current or former Federal Service)
- DD-214, SF-15 Form and VA letter, or certification of expected discharge or release from active duty from Veterans for consideration under Veteran hiring authorities. https://www.usajobs.gov/Veterans
- Noncompetitive appointment authority documentation, if applicable
- Career Transition Assistance Program/Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program Documentation, if applicable (e.g. Certification of Expected Separation, Reduction-In-Force Separation Notice, or Notice of Proposed Removal; SF-50 that documents the RIF separation action; and most recent performance appraisal.)

If you are requesting a reasonable accommodation to the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, submit documentation to support your request, including the Reasonable Accommodation Request Form found here. https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Reasonable_Accommodations_for_USA_Hire

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.