General Attorney

A successful candidate in this position will serve as a General Attorney, providing legal advice and counsel to Livermore Field Office officials and employees, on the legal aspects and consequences of proposed course of action and recommending alternative courses of action which can avoid or minimize legal difficulties.

Duties

As a General Attorney you will:

• Provide legal advice and counsel on complex areas of law and legal procedures arising out of NNSA programs, projects and functions, advising of the legal aspects and consequences of proposed courses of action.
• Recommend alternative courses of action to avoid or minimize legal difficulties.
• Represent the NNSA General Counsel in trials, administrative hearings, and legal proceedings.
• Review and draft contracts, pleadings, briefs, legal instruments, memorandums of law, legal opinions, regulations, management directives, letters, and other documents of legal significance and impact.
• Gather and analyze facts, determine the issues involved, perform research of applicable laws, Executive Orders, regulations, policy statements, etc., in order to develop the legal background to recommend policy decisions.
• Prepare for and conduct the examination of witnesses and oral argument before courts and administrative bodies.

Salary

• $128,717 - $191,900/year

Conditions of Employment

• Subject to Random Drug Testing
• Must pass a pre-employment drug test.
• Favorable suitability determination required.
• Financial Disclosure is required.
• Must be able to obtain/maintain a Q level Security Clearance.
• You must be a United States Citizen.
• This employer participates in the e-Verify program.
• Males must abide by Selective Service registration requirements.
• Compliance with Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD-12) governing personal identity which will require that you provide two forms of identification.
• A two-year trial period may be required.
• More than one position may be filled from this vacancy announcement.
• Must be a graduate from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association.
• Must be a member in good standing of a bar in the United States or one of its territories.

Attorney-Advisor positions are in the Excepted Service. As such, these positions do not confer non-competitive conversion to the competitive service. Acceptance of an excepted service appointment from applicants in the competitive service may require a written statement of understanding when voluntarily leaving the competitive service.

Qualifications

A qualified candidate's online application and resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower NNSA Demonstration Project pay band or GS grade level in the Federal service, i.e., NQ-02 or GS-12 level. Specialized experience for this position is defined as: performing legal staff work and counsel on complex areas of law and legal procedures pertaining to one or more of the following: government contract and procurement law; environmental law, health and safety law; state and local governmental relations; labor relations; security; and state and federal litigation-related laws, regulations and policies.

Examples of Specialized Experience:

1. Providing legal advice and counsel to clients and/or leadership of an organization.
2. Engaging in settlement discussions, negotiations and mediations.
3. Independently conducting detailed legal research, including laws, regulations, case law, directives and legislative history and drafting legal briefs.
4. Analyzing complex legal problems and organizing facts independently to resolve problems or recommending an appropriate course of action.

Your application and resume should demonstrate that you possess the following competencies. Do not provide a separate narrative written statement. Rather, you must describe in your application how your past work experience demonstrates that you possess the competencies. identified below. Cite specific examples of employment or experience contained in your resume and describe how this experience has prepared you to successfully perform the duties of this position. DO NOT write "see resume" in your application.

• Organizational Awareness
• Administrative Law
• Legal, Government, and Jurisprudence
• Written Communication

"Experience" refers to paid and unpaid experience. Examples of qualifying unpaid experience may include: volunteer work done through National Service programs (such as Peace Corps and AmeriCorps); as well as work for other community-based philanthropic and social organizations. 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.

You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

ICTAP candidates: To be considered "well qualified" you must meet all of the requirements as described in this section. Education This position has a positive education requirement. You must have a professional law (JD or LLM) degree from an institution accredited by the American Bar Association. You MUST upload a copy of your unofficial transcripts with your application. You will lose consideration if all required documents are not submitted. EDUCATION: Education must be obtained from an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. 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. **FOREIGN EDUCATION: Applicants who have completed part or all of their education outside of the U.S. must have their foreign education evaluated by an accredited organization to ensure that the foreign education is comparable to education received in accredited educational institutions in the U.S. A written evaluation of any foreign education must be provided with your application in response to this vacancy announcement or be received by the closing date of this announcement. Failure to provide this evaluation will result in you being found unqualified for the position. For special instructions pertaining to foreign education, see the Department of Education website, and for a list of organizations that can evaluate foreign education, visit The National Association of Credential Evaluation Services. Please Note: If your foreign education has already been accepted by an accredited U.S. educational institution as part of a degree program with that institution, you do not need to provide an evaluation of foreign education but must submit a copy of the transcripts listing the degree from the U.S. accredited institution that accepted your foreign 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. **If you are selected, official transcripts will be required. Other Information

Other Information:

• The U.S. Department of Energy fosters a diverse and inclusive workplace and is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
• Veterans and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. For more information, please visit the links at the bottom of this page or visit the FedsHireVets. Click HERE.
• More than one selection may be made from this vacancy announcement.
• Many positions require successful completion of a background investigation.
• All males born after December 31st 1959 must abide by laws regarding Selective Service registration. To learn more about this law, visit the Selective Service web page, Who Must Register. If you are not registered and don't have an approved exemption, you will not be eligible for employment with the Federal government.
• A Recruitment/Relocation Incentive may be authorized for a highly qualified applicant in accordance with Agency policy.

EEO Policy: Click HERE.
Reasonable Accommodation Policy: Click HERE.
Veterans Information: Click HERE.
Telework: Click HERE.
Selective Service Registration: Click HERE.

Required Documents

Please carefully review the following list to determine what documentation you need to submit. Some documents may not apply to all applicants. If you are unsure, click the link for each document type to read more.

ALL APPLICANTS: You must submit a resume supporting your specialized experience and responses to the online questionnaire.

• Your resume shall list all work experience (paid and unpaid); you must list the full name and address of the each employer.
• For all types of work experience, you shall indicate the start and end dates (include month, day, and year); you must also list the average number of hours per week that you worked.
• For paid work experience, you shall indicate your starting salary for each position and the highest salary you earned (if different).
• Your resume should also include any education and training you have completed (list the program title, subject area, number of hours completed, and completion date).
• You may list all incentive awards on your resume.
• You will be notified at the time you click 'Apply Online' which is required. It is important that you are complete and thorough in your resume.
• If any of the above information is not included in your resume, we may not be able to fully credit you for your experience.
• For more information about what to include in your resume, please view this USAJOBS Resume Tutorial video on YouTube.

Current and former Federal employees: Most recent SF-50 (Standard Form 50 - Notice of Personnel Action). To properly verify status eligibility, your SF-50 must show the following. If you do not submit an appropriate SF-50, we cannot verify your status eligibility!

1. Full position title;
2. appointment type;
3. occupational series;
4. pay plan, grade, and step;
5. tenure code; and
6. service computation date (SCD).

If your current position SF50 does not indicate you have competitive/Excepted service status or does not reflect the pay plan and grade of the highest position you have held in the competitive/Excepted service, in addition to your current SF50, you must provide your previous SF-50s that provide the proof of competitive status and highest grade held on a permanent basis.

For Professional, Scientific and Engineering Positions: If qualifying on the basis of an alternate method, i.e., professional license, you must submit official documentation to support your claim with your application package.

Applicants using education to qualify (if allowed): Documentation verifying your educational claims which can include unofficial transcripts. Education cannot be substituted for experience in some positions at higher grade levels. Please see the Education section for more information.

Positive Education requirement: This position has a positive education requirement. You must provide an unofficial transcript to show proof of degree. See the Education section for more information.

Performance Appraisals: Submit your two (2) most recent performance appraisals. Your performance appraisals and incentive awards will be given due consideration in the selection process based on their relation to the duties of the position and the consistency with which they may be considered in evaluating you against other applicants. If the performance appraisals are not available, please provide a written statement of explanation and upload as a separate document.

Failure to submit any of the above-mentioned required documents may result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted.

How to Apply

To be considered for this position, you must submit your complete application no later than 11:59pm U.S. Eastern Time on the closing date of this announcement. If you do not submit a complete application prior to the closing time (regardless of when you started) the online application system will not allow you to finish! Requests for extensions will not be granted, so please begin the application process allowing yourself enough time to finish before the deadline. Our online application system displays a countdown timer at the top of the screen for your reference. For your security, your session in our online application system will "time-out" if you are inactive for a certain period of time. We recommend that you preview the assessment questions before you apply and prepare all of your information prior to beginning the application. If you do get "timed-out" you will have to log back in to USAJOBS and re-visit the vacancy announcement, you can then click "Update Application" to finish where you left off.

Steps to submit a complete application:

1. You must have a USAJOBS account and be logged in.
2. You must have a complete resume associated with your USAJOBS account. Please note that some DOE offices do not accept uploaded resumes and instead require that you submit a USAJOBS-formatted resume using the Resume Builder.
3. You will be prompted to select a resume and any documentation you have attached to your USAJOBS account before you are transferred to the Department of Energy's online application system. Please be aware that any document you select before being transferred to our system, will not automatically be received. You must take steps to download your documents from USAJOBS during the "Documents" step within our online application system (see Step 6).
4. If you are a first-time applicant to the Department of Energy, you'll be asked to register an account first. If you are a returning applicant, you will skip this step and go straight to the application portion.
5. You must respond to all applicant assessment questions, carefully following all instructions provided.
6. You will then be asked to upload additional supporting documentation. If you selected documents from USAJOBS prior to being transferred to our application system (Step 3), you will need to click the "USAJOBS" link to complete the transfer process. These documents ARE NOT automatically transferred! It is ultimately your responsibility to make sure all required documents are either faxed, uploaded, or transferred from USAJOBS successfully. If you are unsure that your documents went through, please contact the HR Specialist listed on the announcement BEFORE the vacancy closes.
7. After reviewing your submission in the final step, you must click "Submit Application" at the bottom of the page. If you leave the application before clicking Submit, your application will not be received.

NEED HELP?

• If you experience any difficulties with the online application process (anything after you have clicked the 'Apply Online' button): contact the HR Specialist listed on this announcement between normal business hours. If you are receiving any kind of error message, please be ready to provide a screenshot or at a minimum, the error message text and number. If necessary, we will put you in touch with the technical support number if we are unable to assist you personally.
• If you are having trouble with USAJOBS (searching for jobs, account password/profile issues, or Resume Builder): please visit the USAJOBS Resource Center. We regret that we are unable to support any issues with USAJOBS, as this service is not maintained by the Department of Energy.
• If you are experiencing a significant hardship which hinders your ability to apply online please contact the HR Specialist listed on this announcement during normal business hours to discuss your situation.

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