Duties

Summary

The NSA Office of General Counsel (OGC) is seeking superior applicants with experience in practice areas such as litigation, national security law, government contracts, administrative law, and government ethics, among others, who are interested in joining its elite team of lawyers who provide legal advice to the Agency as it carries out its missions.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

Because the twin missions of NSA - signals intelligence and cybersecurity - encompass counterterrorism and cybersecurity, two of the most important and dynamic challenges our Government faces today, there is rarely a typical day for an NSA attorney. We are routinely presented with exciting and novel legal issues at the intersection of technology and law.

In tackling these challenges, our attorneys work directly with senior officials at various Intelligence Community and Executive Branch agencies, as well as relevant committees of Congress.

NSA attorneys work in a highly classified setting and are entrusted with tremendous responsibility as they advise the Director and other senior leaders at the Agency on a diverse and complex spectrum of issues related to gathering the foreign intelligence information needed to fight international terrorism, espionage, transnational crime, and narcotics, to defeat foreign cyber adversaries trying to steal national secrets, and to provide intelligence support to critical military overseas tactical operations, all while protecting our civil liberties and ensuring strict compliance with the Constitution and our laws. Because the NSA is a Department of Defense agency, our attorneys have a unique opportunity to be directly involved in national security operations working alongside military and civilian colleagues, as well as to interact with the private sector in cybersecurity and other matters.

In short, many OGC attorneys say they can't imagine working in a more exciting and important position.

NSA OGC has several exciting and challenging career opportunities available in a range of legal practice groups that provide advice in the areas of: Intelligence Law; Information Assurance Law; Legislation; Litigation; Acquisition, Research & Technology Law; Law & Policy; and Administrative Law & Ethics.

The responsibilities of an Attorney at the NSA can include:

• Advising the Agency on legal matters involving a particular subject matter (e.g., intelligence operations, procurement, research and development, information security, patents, security matters, legislation, employment/personnel issues, ethics, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Privacy Act (PA), or Federal Records Act (FRA) questions)
• Analyzing legislation, programs, policies, regulations, or plans to determine impact on the Agency
• Representing the Agency's official position in legal and legislative proceedings
• Representing the Agency in interactions with outside customers, DoD, Congressional representatives, foreign partners, or the general public
• Conferring with/educating clients, customers, or stakeholders on legal or policy issues
• Determining the legal sufficiency of documents
• Drafting legal briefs, pleadings, etc.
• Making legal determinations in accordance with laws, regulations, professional standards, or Agency policies and procedures

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
15

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

A minimum of 3 years legal experience and knowledge of law in one or more of the following areas is required:
- intelligence operations
- procurement
- research and development
- information security
- environmental law
- patents
- telecommunications
- security matters
- legislation
- employment/personnel issues
- ethics
- litigation
- Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
- Privacy Act (PA)

The ideal candidate is a highly-motivated and qualified attorney with excellent oral and written communication skills, a desire for continual learning, possesses problem-solving, analytic, and interpersonal skills, and is:
- detail-oriented
- customer and results oriented
- able to adjust to changing situational requirements
- able to build relationships across the Agency and with external stakeholders
- able to manage multiple tasks with competing timelines and deliverables

Qualifications

Grade 13 Salary Range: $103,690 - $134,798 (Senior)

*The qualifications listed are the minimum acceptable to be considered for the position. Salary offers are based on candidates' education level and years of experience relevant to the position and also take into account information provided by the hiring manager/organization regarding the work level for the position.

Entry for Grade 13 is with a Professional Law Degree (LLB or JD).

Degree must be a Professional Law Degree (LL.B. or J.D.) and requires active membership in the bar of the highest court of a State, U.S. commonwealth, U.S. territory, or the District of Columbia.

Grade 13: Must have in excess of 2 years of relevant experience. Relevant experience as determined by the Office of the General Counsel (or the Office of the Inspector General for positions in the OIG) must be professional legal experience that is commensurate with the duties and responsibilities of the position. See DoD Instruction (DoDI) 1442.02 for exceptions to the grade-level standards. Active membership in the bar of the highest court of a State, U.S. commonwealth, U.S. territory, or the District of Columbia is required.

Grade 14 Salary Range: $122,530 - $159,286 (Senior)

*The qualifications listed are the minimum acceptable to be considered for the position. Salary offers are based on candidates' education level and years of experience relevant to the position and also take into account information provided by the hiring manager/organization regarding the work level for the position.
Entry for Grade 14 is with a Professional Law Degree (LLB or JD).

Degree must be a Professional Law Degree (LL.B. or J.D.) and requires active membership in the bar of the highest court of a State, U.S. commonwealth, U.S. territory, or the District of Columbia.

Grade 14: Must have in excess of 3 years of relevant experience. Relevant experience as determined by the Office of the General Counsel (or the Office of the Inspector General for positions in the OIG) must be professional legal experience that is commensurate with the duties and responsibilities of the position. See DoD Instruction (DoDI) 1442.02 for exceptions to the grade-level standards. Active membership in the bar of the highest court of a State, U.S. commonwealth, U.S. territory, or the District of Columbia is required.

Grade 15 Salary Range: $144,128 - $172,500 (Expert)

*The qualifications listed are the minimum acceptable to be considered for the position. Salary offers are based on candidates' education level and years of experience relevant to the position and also take into account information provided by the hiring manager/organization regarding the work level for the position.

Entry for Grade 15 is with a Professional Law Degree (LLB or JD).

Degree must be a Professional Law Degree (LL.B. or J.D.) and requires active membership in the bar of the highest court of a State, U.S. commonwealth, U.S. territory, or the District of Columbia.

Must have in excess of 3 years of relevant experience. Relevant experience as determined by the Office of the General Counsel (or the Office of the Inspector General for positions in the OIG) must be professional legal experience that is commensurate with the duties and responsibilities of the position. See DoD Instruction (DoDI) 1442.02 for exceptions to the grade-level standards. Active membership in the bar of the highest court of a State, U.S. commonwealth, U.S. territory, or the District of Columbia is required.

Education

Degree must be a Professional Law Degree (LL.B. or J.D.) and requires active membership in the bar of the highest court of a State, U.S. commonwealth, U.S. territory, or the District of Columbia.

Additional information

This is a full-time position, Monday through Friday.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

***PLEASE NOTE: U.S. Citizenship is required for all applicants. Reasonable accommodations provided to applicants with disabilities during the application and hiring process where appropriate. NSA is an equal opportunity employer and abides by applicable employment laws and regulations. All applicants and employees are subject to random drug testing in accordance with Executive Order 12564. Employment is contingent upon successful completion of a security background investigation and polygraph.

This position is a Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System (DCIPS) position in the Excepted Service under 10 U.S.C. 1601. DoD Components with DCIPS positions apply Veterans' Preference to eligible candidates as defined by Section 2108 of Title 5 USC, in accordance with the procedures provided in DoD Instruction 1400.25, Volume 2005, DCIPS Employment and Placement. If you are a veteran claiming veterans' preference, as defined by Section 2108 of Title 5 U.S.C., you may be asked to submit documents verifying your eligibility.

Please note that you may be asked a series of questions depending on the position you apply for. Your responses will be used as part of the screening process of your application and will assist in determining your eligibility for the position. Be sure to elaborate on experiences in your resume. Failure to provide the required information or providing inaccurate information will result in your application not being considered for this position. Only those applicants who meet the qualifications for the position will be contacted to begin employment processing.

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Top Secret

Drug test required
Yes

Required Documents

AFTER SUBMITTING YOUR ELECTRONIC APPLICATION, you will receive an email with instructions on how to submit the following supplemental information:
' Cover letter
' Professional resume
' Legal writing sample (short, ' Unofficial law school transcript
' Past professional references (approximately three; include name, title, phone number, and email). Current employer references will only be required after a successful interview is completed.

This email will come from a member of the OGC Hiring Team from a uwe.nsa.gov account. If you do not receive this email within three (3) business days of submitting your application, contact OGC_Applications@nsa.gov.
Your application will not be considered if these supplemental documents are not received by the date noted in the email instructions.

If you are a veteran claiming veterans' preference, as defined by Section 2108 of Title 5 U.S.C., you may be asked to submit documents verifying your eligibility.

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.