Legal Administration Specialist (Asset Forfeiture)

This position is located in the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Operations Division (OC), Office of Operations Management (OM), Asset Forfeiture Section (OMA). This position(s) primary purpose is to provide the administrative support required for the processing of seizures once they are sent from the field to HQ for appropriate review and finalization

Duties

As a Legal Administration Specialist (Asset Forfeiture) , your typical work assignments may include:

• Performing extensive and thorough legal research into the legislative history, precedent cases, decisions, and opinions that may be applicable to particular legal matters.
• Providing counsel to field offices anticipating the seizure of assets and responds to processing questions posed by DEA field managers, United States Attorneys, state/local agencies and other Federal agencies involved in seizure and/or forfeiture proceedings.
• Handing complex forfeiture issues and, because of broad experience in the intricacies of forfeiture procedures, is able to recognize novel applications and accurately construe regulations and statutes in these situations.
• Preparing changes to policy when existing regulations and guidelines and outdated, incomplete, or otherwise inappropriate.
• Conducting legal research of defined scope and complexity.
• Determining specific data needed and best approach to obtain this data or to determine the relevance or sufficiency of available legal, technical (e.g. financial, statistical), or other related data.

Salary

• $82,764 - $128,956/year

Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship is required.
• Selective Service: Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see http://www.sss.gov/).
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit: http://www.dhs.gov/E-Verify/.
• Incumbent is subject to random drug testing.
• Selectee may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Employment is subject to the successful completion of a background investigation. Must be able to obtain and maintain a security clearance.

Qualifications Applicants must meet all of the required qualification requirements described below by the closing of this announcement. If you are qualifying based on education or if there are mandatory education requirements listed below, you MUST submit a copy of your college transcript with your application.

Applicants applying for the GS-11 must meet one of the following requirements:

A. Have at least one full year of qualifying specialized experience that is at least equivalent in difficulty and complexity to work performed at the GS-09 grade level.

Qualifying experience must demonstrate the following: 1) Determining the identity of persons requiring legal notice of the Federal forfeiture actions and reviews the notices; 2) Reviewing petitions claims, records of proceedings, and other similar legal transactions to ensure compliance with legal requirements and technical accuracy; 3) Providing advice and assistance on well-precedented education or training problems or issues that are resolved through the application of routinely accepted practices; 4) Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, legal practices and documents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, government organization and functions, and the democratic political process.

B. Education: Have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree -or- three (3) full academic years of graduate level education leading to such a degree; or LL.M., if related.

OR

C. Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the second year (total graduate semester hours minus 36) by 18. Add the two percentages.

Applicants applying for the GS-12 must meet one of the following requirements:

A. Have at least one full year of qualifying specialized experience that is at least equivalent in difficulty and complexity to work performed at the GS-11 grade level.

Qualifying experience must demonstrate the following: 1) Determining the identity of persons requiring legal notice of the Federal forfeiture actions and reviews the notices; 2) Reviewing petitions claims, records of proceedings, and other similar legal transactions to ensure compliance with legal requirements and technical accuracy; 3) Providing advice and assistance on well-precedented education or training problems or issues that are resolved through the application of routinely accepted practices; 4) Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, legal practices and documents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, government organization and functions, and the democratic political process; 5) Performing extensive research and detailed analysis of investigative and seizure documentation generated by the DEA field seizing office, interested petitioners and/or claimants, and the petition investigation which form the basis for Federal forfeiture actions; 6) Preparing weekly, monthly, and final forfeiture status reports for contingent agencies and to ensure that forfeiture actions are processed in a timely manner.

Specialized 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. One year of specialized experience for this position includes:

Additional information on the position qualification requirements are located in the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Qualifications Standards Handbook.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants must meet time-in-grade and time after competitive appointment requirements by the closing date of this announcement. Education See the qualification section of this vacancy announcement for education requirements. Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. For a list of accredited organizations recognized as specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials, visit: www.naces.org/members.php. If you are claiming education as any part of your qualifications for this position, you must submit an official transcript, unofficial transcript, or a list including courses, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned. Other Information

For reasonable accommodation at the Drug Enforcement Administration, please contact the Human Resources office listed in this announcement.

Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA): To be eligible for a VEOA appointment under Merit Promotion procedures, the veteran must be a preference eligible or a veteran separated after 3 years or more of continuous active service performed under honorable conditions.

Current or Former Political Appointees: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office.

Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement. If eligible, applicants to this announcement may be referred to similar positions in any Division/Office listed in this announcement. Telework eligibility and security clearance requirements may vary for such similar positions.

Recruitment and/or Relocation Incentives may be considered and approved under conditions specified provided the agency has determined that the position is likely to be difficult to fill in the absence of an incentive and funding for such an incentive is available.

If eligible, telework and/or remote work agreements may be permitted with supervisory approval. Please note that any approved remote work arrangement is subject to the locality pay area of the alternative telework worksite.

Required Documents

All required documents listed below, that are applicable to you, must be submitted to our automated system by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement.

1. Resume showing applicant's name, email address, relevant work/volunteer experience, education and training. Include the start and end dates (from month/year to month/year), work schedule (e.g. part or full time), the number of hours per week worked/volunteered, job title and description of duties performed.
2. Transcripts, if applicable and you are qualifying based on education. See the Qualification and Education sections of this announcement for more information. If selected, an official/sealed college transcript(s) will be required to verify education prior to employment.
3. SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action), if applicable: SF-50(s) must show the effective date, position title, series, grade, salary, tenure, competitive status, position occupied, full promotion potential, and name of agency. Multiple SF-50s may be needed to show all required information. Award SF-50s often do not show the required information. To verify the time in grade requirement, applicants must submit a SF-50 verifying the highest grade held for at least 52 weeks. Examples include, promotions with an effective date greater than one year, within grade increases demonstrating the highest grade held for at least 52 weeks or appointments/conversion of appointments with an effective date greater than one year.
4. ICTAP/CTAP - Career Transition Assistance Program documentation, if applicable. This includes copies of your agency notice (e.g. Certification of Expected Separation, Reduction-In-Force Separation Notice, or Notice of Proposed Removal), most recent performance rating and more recent Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) noting current position, grade level and duty location.
5. Veteran Documentation, if applicable.

• Veterans who are preference eligible OR who have been separated from the Armed Forces under honorable conditions (honorable or general discharge) after 3 or more years of continuous active service may apply under the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA). You must submit a DD-214 Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty (Member Copy 4 preferred) showing the dates you served as well as your type of discharge and qualifying service campaign medals OR if you are still on active duty, you MUST submit a certification on letterhead from your military branch which contains your military service dates, expected date of discharge or release, and the character of service to show that your military service was performed under honorable conditions. The expected date of discharge or release must be no later than 120 days after the certification is submitted for consideration for this job announcement. Current Federal employees applying under the VEOA must submit a qualifying SF-50 to show time-in-grade requirements.
• If you are applying as a preference eligible with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more, you must submit the documentation required by the SF-15 (Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference) to support your claim (e.g., DD-214, official statement from the Department of Veterans Affairs). For applicants claiming 10-point derived veterans' preference (i.e., spouses, widows/widowers or mothers of veterans), a completed SF-15 must be submitted with the application with all required supporting documents listed on the form.
• For more veterans' preference information, visit the USAJOBS Help Center.

1. Non-competitive or special hiring authority eligibility documentation, if applicable. Examples of such authorities include: Schedule A individuals with disabilities, returning Peace Corps or AmeriCorp VISTA volunteer, Fulbright/Gilman/CLS alumni, etc.
2. ICTAP/CTAP documentation, if applicable. This includes copies of your agency notice, most recent Performance Rating and more recent Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50) noting current position, grade level, and duty location.
3. Current or Former Land Management Employee documentation, if applicable. Visit the Forest Service's site for required documentation.
4. Other Qualification Documentation (e.g. certificates, certifications, etc.), if applicable. See the Qualification section of this announcement for more information.

How to Apply

Prepare your application in USAJOBS

During the application process you can review, edit, delete, and update your information. We'll automatically save your progress as you go, so you won't lose any changes. You have until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement to complete the application process.

STEP 1: Select the "Apply" button and follow the instructions to register or sign into USAJOBS.
STEP 2: Submit your resume. Please see the Required Documents section for specific information that should be outlined in your resume.
STEP 3: Complete the online assessment questions.
STEP 4: Submit all required documentation applicable to you, as listed in the Required Documents section.

Alternate Application Procedures: If applying online poses an extreme hardship, you may request alternate application procedures to submit your application package. Contact the Human Resources office listed on the announcement between the business hours of 8:15 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. ET at least 2 working days prior to the closing date of this announcement. The application package for alternate application procedures must be submitted and received in the Human Resources office no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on the closing date of this announcement. Paper applications and information sent by mail will not be accepted.

Benefits

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Learn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits