Duties

Summary

ATF is a principal law enforcement agency in the Department of Justice dedicated to preventing terrorism, reducing violent crime, and protecting our nation. We perform the dual responsibilities of enforcing Federal criminal laws and regulating the firearms and explosives industries. We are committed to working directly, and through partnerships, to investigate and reduce crime involving firearms and explosives, acts of arson, and illegal trafficking of alcohol and tobacco products.

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Responsibilities

The Deputy Chief Counsel works closely with the Chief Counsel to ensure that the Office of Chief Counsel executes its mission to provide counsel and representation to ATF with fidelity to the law and ATF's mission. The Deputy Chief Counsel is the first-line supervisor of the the Associate Chief Counsels for the five headquarters divisions (Management Division, Litigation Division, Asset Forfeiture Division, Firearms and Explosives Law Division, General Law and Information Division) and the three field regions (East, Central, West), and oversees and manages the delivery of all legal work product, including, without limitation:

Providing advice and counsel to the Director and senior ATF officials on all matters relating to the administration and enforcement of the Federal firearms, explosives, and arson laws; the collection and disclosure of intelligence and information; the diversion of alcohol and tobacco products; general criminal law matters; the adjudication of administrative tort claims; forfeiture matters; employee relations matters; benefits and pay; contracts and acquisitions; and appropriations law.

Providing legal services to the Special Agent in Charge and management teams in ATF field divisions, including criminal enforcement and regulated industry matters.

Assisting the Department of Justice in defending lawsuits filed against ATF and its employees, including preparing recommendations concerning the initiation, defense, settlement, compromise, termination, and appeal in litigation matters.

Furnishing legal opinions and assistance to the Director in preparation and review of rulings, memoranda of technical advice and procedures, and other proposed publications for release with respect to the laws administered by the Bureau;

Preparing, reviewing or assisting in the preparation of proposed legislation, regulations and executive orders relating to the laws administered by the Bureau;

Representing ATF and ATF management officials in administrative proceedings, including EEO and MSPB matters, as well as ATF administrative proceedings in firearms and explosives matters.

Training ATF personnel to ensure proper understanding of the laws and regulations enforced by ATF, as well as legal principles affecting ATF operations,

Providing legal liaison and coordination with DOJ Offices and Divisions, law enforcement partners, regulated industry, non-governmental organizations, and political offices.

Managing the ATF ethics and financial disclosure programs.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - Infrequent domestic travel may be required.

Supervisory status
Yes

Promotion Potential
00

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship is a requirement
• Pass drug screening and subject to random drug test
• Must successfully complete a background security investigation
• A Financial Disclosure Form will be required
• New SES appointees must successfully serve a one year probationary period
• Top Secret Clearance Required

All applicants must meet all qualification requirements described in this announcement by the closing date.

MOBILITY PLAN : New employees hired pursuant to this vacancy announcement must sign a mobility agreement. The purpose of ATF's mobility policy is to enhance career development and progression, and achieve mission and business effectiveness. To accomplish these objectives, the mobility plan will facilitate the movement of employees through special short-term assignments or permanent reassignments throughout the Bureau. Applicants who decline to sign a mobility agreement, as required, will be removed from the hiring process.

Qualifications

Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) - Mandatory (Current members of the career SES, former career SES members with reinstatement eligibility, and OPM/QRB certified candidates need not address the ECQs). You are required to submit information describing your experience in each of the five ECQs. The narratives should be clear, concise, and illustrate your overall record (professional and volunteer experience, education and training, accomplishments, awards and potential) in these ECQs. Be sure to furnish examples and describe the context in which you applied your knowledge, discuss how you used skills relevant to the position, indicate the complexity and scope of your work, discuss the impact of your work, note the level of people with whom you interacted, and explain the sensitivity and criticality of the issues you addressed. Structure your statements in terms of the challenges you faced, the context or environment in which the actions were taken, the actions taken, and the outcome or results from such action (i.e., Challenge-Context-Action-Result {C-C-A-R} Model). Additional information on the ECQs is available at http://www.opm.gov/ses/recruitment/ecq.asp .
Executive Core Qualifications - Please attach written responses, limited to two pages per ECQ (i.e., for a total of ten typewritten pages for all five ECQs).
1. Leading Change - Involves the ability to bring about strategic change, within and outside the organization, to meet organizational goals. Inherent to this is the ability to establish an organizational vision and to implement it in a continuously changing environment.
2. Leading People - Involves the ability to lead people toward meeting the organization's vision, mission, and goals. Inherent to this is the ability to provide an inclusive workplace that fosters the development of others, facilitates cooperation and teamwork, and supports constructive resolution of conflicts.
3. Results Driven - Involves the ability to meet organizational goals and customer expectations. Inherent to this is the ability to make decisions that produce high-quality results by applying technical knowledge, analyzing problems, and calculating risks.
4. Business Acumen - Involves the ability to manage human, financial, and information services strategically.
5. Building Coalitions - 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.

Technical Qualifications (TQs) - Mandatory - Please attach written responses, limited to one typewritten page per TQ.
1. Demonstrates experience and expertise in interpreting Federal statutes and rendering authoritative opinions on a wide variety of complex legal issues.

2. Demonstrates broad management experience in planning, developing, administering, and directing an organization providing legal services, including supervision of attorneys, and supporting professional staff, overall responsibility for short- and long-range program planning, and allocation of human and material resources, development of operational guidelines and policies, and creation of new methods and measures to solve complex management problems.

3. Demonstrates experience in oral and written communications involving extremely sensitive and controversial issues to a wide variety of audiences, such as the organization head and Executive Staff members, Members of Congress and their staffs, counterparts in other agencies, Departmental officials, and industry groups.

4. Demonstrates experience and a broad understanding of all aspects of civil, criminal and administrative litigation.

Education

You must possess a J.D. degree from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association and be a member in good standing of the bar (any jurisdiction).

Additional information

Notice to Prospective Employees of Ethical Obligations from ATF's Human Resources Operations Division. Please click on the following link to read important information. DOJ Notice to Prospective Employees of Ethical Obligations Notice to Prospective Employees of Ethical Obligations

Selective Service: If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System, or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. See www.sss.gov .

EEO Statement: The United States Government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, religion, color , sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability (physical and mental), family medical history or genetic information, political affiliation, military service, retaliation, or other non-merit based factors.

Please click on the following link to read important information. Department of Justice EEO Policy Statement https://www.justice.gov/jmd/page/file/1393306/download

Reasonable Accommodation Statement: ATF provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the job application and hiring process, and you meet the eligibility requirements listed above, please notify the human resources specialist listed on the vacancy announcement, or contact the ATF's Office of Equal Employment Opportunity at (202) 648-8760. The decision on granting a reasonable accommodation is handled on a case-by-case basis.

"Federal Regulations state no ATF employee, his/her spouse, or his/her minor child shall have, directly or indirectly, any financial interest, including compensated employment, stock, or proprietary interest in the alcohol, tobacco, firearms or explosives industries. You should be aware that you may be asked to relinquish any ownership of or interests in the alcohol, tobacco, firearms or explosives industries before a determination can be made whether access to ATF information, information technology systems, and/or facilities can be authorized."

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Your application will first be evaluated to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications. A rating and ranking panel of senior executives will review your application and evaluate your qualifications for this position. It will determine the extent to which your professional and volunteer experience, education and training, and awards or professional recognition indicate you possess the required executive and technical experience. Candidates determined to be highly qualified will undergo at least one interview. Prior to selection, candidates will undergo a reference check.
Note: All applicants must thoroughly address the Mandatory Technical Qualifications. Current and former SES members, and other applicants who have already been certified by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualifications Review Board (QRB), are not required to address the Executive Core Qualifications. However, they must provide documentation of certification in the form of a SF-50 showing career SES status or an OPM issued SES qualification certificate.

To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Top Secret

Drug test required
Yes

Position sensitivity and risk
Special-Sensitive (SS)/High Risk

Trust determination process
National security

Required Documents

Required Documents:

A resume (cover letter is optional). Your application must describe your job related qualifications pertinent to this position.

Narrative Statement of Executive Core Qualifications, if applicable.

Narrative Statement of Technical Qualifications.

Most recent SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, which shows your grade, step, career or career-conditional tenure dated within the last 3 years, if applicable.

The page of your performance evaluation that indicates your overall, current rating of record and the date of that rating. Actual written narrative submissions are not required. A copy may be asked for at a later time.

Copy of your J.D. degree

It is your responsibility to ensure all documents are received on time and the materials are legible. If applying on-line poses a hardship to any applicant, please contact us at the telephone number listed on this announcement. Applicants MUST CONTACT US PRIOR TO THE CLOSING DATE to speak to someone who can provide assistance for on-line submission. Requests for extensions will not be granted. Paper applications submitted without prior approval from the agency point of contact may be handled as incomplete. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: If your contact information changes after the closing date of this vacancy announcement, update your profile information in MYUSAJOBS as well as contact the Human Resources Specialist listed on this vacancy announcement to ensure you can be contacted throughout the selection process.

Prior to selection, the candidate may be required to provide an original copy of any supporting/ validating documentation as well as other documentation to verify eligibility. The candidate may also be required to provide official college and law school transcripts. All required materials must be uploaded using the supporting documentation instructions described in the announcement.

Failure to provide the required documentation by the closing date of this announcement will result in elimination of further consideration for this position.