Attorney-Adviser (International)

About the Position: This position is located at Office of the U.S. Cyber Command, Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, Fort Meade, Maryland. If you are currently serving in a permanent, competitive service appointment in the Federal service, and are selected for this position, the appointment will remove you from the competitive service while you occupy this position.

Duties

• Serves as a Senior Legal Advisor and the Principal International Law Advisor within the USCYBERCOM Office of the Staff Judge Advocate (OSJA).

• Responsible for international law matters, especially USCYBERCOM’s international agreements program as it relates to policy, plans, partnerships, exercises, and operations.

• Conducts extensive research into legal and command operational issues associated with bi-lateral or multi-lateral proposals in order to ensure compliance with an extensive array of national, host nation, and international laws.

• Renders advice on the spectrum of military and civil legal issues, including but not limited to those matters pertaining to customs and taxes, immigration, burden and expense sharing, labor, facilities, fiscal matters, and the like.

• Serves as the principal international agreements legal advisor with respect to bilateral and multilateral international organizations, and a recognized expert in international law

• Develops, plans, and leads and/or participates as USCYBERCOM’s legal advisor in negotiations undertaken by the command dealing with high level foreign government officials on varied and highly complicated matters with national security significance

• Negotiations often are of interest to the DoD and Department of State as well as the U.S. Congress and may influence relationships between countries involved and the United States and set precedents that may influence negotiations with other nations

Salary

• $145,754 - $189,477/year

Conditions of Employment

• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• A two year trial/probationary period may be required.
• The incumbent must be able to obtain and maintain a TOP SECRET SCI clearance as a condition of employment and must complete a counterintelligence scope polygraph exam.
• This position requires the incumbent to submit a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 450) upon entry, and annually thereafter in accordance with DoD Directive 5500-7-R.
• This position requires the incumbent to maintain active bar membership, in good standing (as defined by the pertinent bar) of the bar of the highest court of a State, U.S. territory, the District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
• This is a Drug Testing Designated Position. The incumbent is required to sign a DA Form 5019-R and must pass urinalysis testing, as required, prior to appointment, reassignment, or transfer and periodically thereafter.
• The incumbent may be recalled to duty, may be required to work other than normal duty hours, which may include evenings, weekends, and/or holidays, and may be required to work overtime.
• Work may occasionally require travel away from the normal duty station on military and/or commercial aircraft up to 10% of the time.
• The incumbent must meet NSA personnel security requirements outlined in NSA/CSS Policy 5-1.
• Candidates must disclose any pending ethics, judicial or allegations under review, including any adverse findings by a state bar or disciplinary committee and must consent to provide a letter for each state were admitted demonstrating good standing.
• Business travel (TDY) of up to 15% may be required.

Qualifications Who May Apply: US Citizens

Applicants will be evaluated to determine if they meet the minimum qualification requirements and on the extent to which their application shows possession of the following knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) associated with the position. KSA's:

• Skill in identifying and researching highly technical and complex legal issues.
• Skill in providing legal, technical, and policy guidance.
• Ability to effectively, professionally, and ethically manage a heavy caseload of clients with complex legal needs.
• Ability to effectively, professionally, and ethically manage a heavy caseload of clients with complex legal needs.
• Knowledge and experience in international law at a strategic level.
• Ability to provide legal advice on the interpretation, applicability, and effect of U.S. law, host nation law, and international agreements.
• Skill in developing plans, coordinating, and participating in and/or leading negotiations involving foreign government officials on matters of national security.
• Skill in drafting, negotiating, and interpreting International Agreements such as Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreements (ACSAs), ACSA Technical and Implementing arrangements, Memoranda of Understanding, Memoranda of Agreement, Status of Forces Agreements, Diplomatic Notes for Administrative and Technical Status under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Country Studies impacting the U.S. military, and other international agreements.
• Skill in providing legal and policy advice on command strategy documents such as posture statements, global strategy, campaign plans, or engagement plans.
• Ability to identify, research, document, and organize legally and factually complex issues.
• Ability to analyze, formulate legal opinions, provide advice, and represent the agency.
• Skill in planning, organizing, setting priorities, and completing multiple tasks of varying complexity.
• Ability to communicate legal issues orally and in writing.
• Ability to recognize and analyze problems, conduct research, summarize results, and make appropriate recommendations.
• Ability to craft creative solutions to complex problems.
• Ability to express, orally and in writing, complex legal issues in clear and succinct language so that the concepts are understood by both lawyers and non-lawyers.
• Ability to work effectively with senior officials as clients.
• Ability to perform legal research and thoroughly analyze and problem solve a wide variety of complex legal issues.
• Ability to work with multiple legal offices on a daily basis.
• Ability to prepare legal opinions that are concise, well-reasoned, legally sound, and consistent with relevant precedent.
• Ability to work cooperatively as part of a team and/or lead a team to resolve issues.
• Ability to analyze issues and apply legal principles, particularly as related to the Government's interests.
• Ability to learn and apply new areas of the law.
• Ability to analyze thoroughly and solve a wide variety of complex legal problems.
• Ability to express information (for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing oral presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately.
• Ability to provide legal advice and services with respect to regulations, practices, or other legal matters, and formulate opinions involving the analysis and interpretation of international, federal, state and local laws.
• Ability to work both independently and as a team member in a demanding environment.
• Ability to exercise sound judgment in challenging situations.
• Ability to maintain effective working relationships with agency staff at all levels as well as with key individuals in a variety of other federal organizations and interest groups.

Qualification Requirements: The following minimum qualification requirements must be met before applicants are eligible for further consideration:

Education Requirements: Position requires the possession of the first professional law degree (LL.B. or J.D.) AND member in good standing with the highest court of a State, U.S. commonwealth, U.S. territory, or the District of Columbia. Applicants for initial appointment into attorney positions within the Department of Army must be graduates of law schools accredited by the American Bar Association at the time of the applicant's graduation. As indicated below, a law school transcript must be submitted with your application materials.

Bar Membership: Applicants must currently be a member in good standing (as defined by the pertinent bar) of the bar of the highest court of a State, U.S. territory, the District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. As noted below, proof of such membership and good standing must be submitted with your application materials.

Experience: In addition to the requirements above, applicants for the GS-15 or equivalent Attorney positions must also possess 3 years of professional legal experience , acquired after being admitted to the bar, commensurate with the duties and responsibilities of the position. Graduation from an ABA-Accredited Law School in the top 25% of the class or an advanced law degree such as an LLM may substitute for one year of the required professional legal experience.

Time in Grade: The Qualifying Authorities (QA's) will make a determination as to the applicability of time in grade based on the requirements of the position. If you are currently employed as an attorney by the Federal government you must have completed one year at the next lower grade level within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement, or previously served at the same or higher grade level as the position being filled.

NOTICE OF VETERAN'S PREFERENCE: There is no formal rating system for applying veteran's preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of the Defense considers veterans' preference eligibility a positive factor for attorney hiring. Applicants eligible for veterans' preference must include that information in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documentation (e.g., DD Form 214, "Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty") to their submissions.

Although the point-preference system is not used, applicants eligible to claim a 10-point preference must submit a Standard Form (SF) 15, "Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference", and supporting documentation required for the specific type of preference claimed. The SF 15 will identify the supporting documentation required along with the list of the types of 10-point preference. The SF 15 is available from the OPM at https://www.gsa.gov/portal/forms/type/sf/. Education Only degrees from an accredited college or university recognized by the Department of Education are acceptable to meet positive education requirements or to substitute education for experience. For additional information, please go to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and U.S. Department of Education websites at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications and http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html. Other Information

• PLEASE NOTE THAT REQUIREMENTS FOR EDUCATION, TIME IN GRADE, AND EXPERIENCE MAY BE WAIVED BY THE APPLICABLE AUTHORITY AND THE REQUIREMENTS SHOULD NOT DETER ANY INDIVIDUAL FROM APPLYING FOR THE POSITION.
• Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration.
• You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.
• Direct Deposit of Pay is required.
• If you have retired from federal service and you are interested in employment as a reemployed annuitant, see the information in the Reemployed Annuitant information sheet.
• This is a Professional Services Career Field position.
• Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
• Permanent Change of Station (PCS) allowances may be authorized, subject to the provisions of the Joint Travel Regulations and an agency determination that a PCS move is in the Government Interest.
• When you perform a Civilian Permanent Change of Station (PCS) with the government, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) considers the majority of your entitlements to be taxable. Visit https://www.dfas.mil/civilianemployees/civrelo/Civilian-Moving-Expenses-Tax-Deduction/ for more information.
• Recruitment and relocation incentives may be authorized.
• Student loan repayment may be authorized.
• Salary negotiations, including an advanced in hire, for candidates new to Federal service or who would otherwise qualified, may be authorized.
• Credit for prior non-Federal experience and certain military service for leave accrual rates may be authorized.

Required Documents

The following documents are required:

Your resume:

• Your resume may be submitted in any format and must support the specialized experience described in this announcement.
• If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content, it will not be used to make eligibility and qualification determinations and you may not be considered for this vacancy.
• For qualifications determinations your resume must contain hours worked per week and the dates of employment (i.e., HRS per week and month/year to month/year or month/year to present). If your resume does not contain this information, your application may be marked as incomplete and you may not receive consideration for this position.
• For additional information see: What to include in your resume.

The following documents are preferred at the time of application, but not required:

PLEASE NOTE: If you do not have your law school transcripts, certificate of good standing, or fitness to practice statement, you should not be deterred from applying for this position. While not required at the time of application, these documents will be required for the attorney to enter on duty.

Official Law School Transcripts:

• Official law school transcript and an official statement of relative standing in class. Photo static copies of documents are acceptable when applying but certified documents must be furnished before entering duty.

Good Standing Certificate:

• Official certificate showing that you are a member in good standing of the bar dated at any time. However, in the event the candidate is selected for an interview and/or during the hiring process, the candidate must provide an official certificate dated within three months. The certificate is required to be submitted by all applicants to include attorneys currently appointed to positions under the qualifying authority of The Judge Advocate General (including active-duty Army Judge Advocates).

Fitness to Practice Statement:

• A sworn (notarized) statement from you that your fitness to practice law or conduct as an attorney has never been challenged in any jurisdiction to the best of your knowledge, or if either has been challenged, a sworn (notarized) statement concerning the facts and circumstances, together with any explanation that you deem appropriate may be submitted.
• As an alternative to a sworn (notarized) statement, a statement which includes a declaration under penalty of perjury may be submitted in the following format: "I declare (or certify, verify, or state) under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct...executed on (date)...(your signature)." (28 U.S.C. 1746)."
• The statement must be dated within three months of the date that the application package is submitted. The statement is required to be submitted by all applicants to include attorneys currently appointed to positions under the qualifying authority of The Judge Advocate General (including active-duty Army Judge Advocates).

Writing Sample:

• Examples of writing skills as demonstrated by legal briefs, memorandum, and/or letters. Regardless of the number of writing samples submitted, the page count of all writing samples combined cannot exceed 10 pages in length. Extracts of selected sections of larger documents are acceptable.

If you are a current or former GS federal employee, please provide a copy of your most recent non-award SF50 with your application package.

NOTE: Documents submitted as part of the application package, to include supplemental documents, may be shared beyond the Human Resources Office. Some supplemental documents such as military orders and marriage certificates may contain personal information for someone other than you. You may sanitize these documents to remove another person's personal information before you submit your application. You may be asked to provide an un-sanitized version of the documents if you are selected to confirm your eligibility.

How to Apply

To apply for this position, you must complete the online questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section above.

The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 11/29/2024 to receive consideration

• To begin, click Apply to access the online application. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account to apply. If you do not have a USAJOBS account, you will need to create one before beginning the application (https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12601042).
• Follow the prompts to select your resume and/or other supporting documents to be included with your application package. You will have the opportunity to upload additional documents to include in your application before it is submitted. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
• After acknowledging you have reviewed your application package, complete the Include Personal Information section as you deem appropriate and click to continue with the application process.
• You will be taken to the online application which you must complete in order to apply for the position. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation is included with your application package, and submit the application. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
• It is your responsibility to verify that your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) is complete, accurate, and submitted by the closing date. Uploaded documents may take up to one hour to clear the virus scan.
• Additional information on how to complete the online application process and submit your online application may be found on the USA Staffing Applicant Resource Center.

To verify the status of your application, log into your USAJOBS account (https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login), all of your applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each Application Status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/.

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.

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