Attorney-Adviser (Environmental)

About the Position: This is a permanent position with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Office of Counsel, Huntsville Engineering and Support Center, Redstone Arsenal AL. This is an excepted service position without time limitation and will not be filled by a competitive appointment. Service in this position may be fully creditable toward civil service retirement. Any selected applicant who is in the competitive service will be taken out of the competitive service.

Duties

• Provides environmental law legal support to the Environmental and Munitions Center of Expertise (EM-CX) in the performance of its mission responsibilities and ensures EM-CX Director priorities are reflected.

• Serves as subject matter expert in the USACE legal services organization on laws and regulations affecting execution of programs using Environmental Services Cooperative Agreements (ESCAs) and Grants for environmental remediation projects.

• Provides legal support assisting with legal issues on complex and unique questions of law involving environmental or contract issues on environmental work without legal precedent.

• Provides legal support to the Office of the Chief Counsel in generating clarifying guidance on requirements for counsel review and oversight of environmental restoration program documentation.

• Assists with instruction of Environmental PROSPECT courses and other EM-CX sponsored training involving environmental programs.

• Provides legal direction on program execution and coordinates directly on program legal requirements including administration of grants and cooperative agreements and related disputed actions with HQ USACE, DoD programs and legal decision makers.

• Provides advice on government contracts related to environmental restoration programs and the EM-CX mission, including acquisition planning, solicitation and selection, award and administration, dispute resolution and closeout.

• Provides legal review and guidance to the Grants Officers on ESCAs, Grants, other cooperative agreements and provides legal review and support to the DSMOA and NALEMP programs when needed.

Salary

• $127,073 - $165,197/year

Conditions of Employment

• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• This position requires you to submit a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE450) upon entry, and annually thereafter.
• This position requires you 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.

Qualifications Who May Apply: US Citizens

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

Bar membership: Applicant must currently be a member in good standing of the bar of a state, territory of the United States, District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Professional Legal Experience: For GS-14 equivalent - Applicant must have three or more 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.

NOTE: ALL APPLICANTS SHOULD ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES, IN NARRATIVE FORM:

a. Legal advice on complex issues.

• Ability to provide advice on general matters to include interpretation of authorizing and appropriations legislation and administrative law matters.
• Ability to perform research and analysis, obtaining and evaluating expert information or testimony, and issues involving extremely complex and difficult legal questions in the drafting of agreements and memoranda, and in the interpretation of multiple overlapping or conflicting statutory authorities.
• Ability to conduct factual legal research in connection with complex policy issues related to federal environmental law, contract law, grants and cooperative agreements, project authorizations, and employee and labor relations cases.
• Ability to work independently in investigating the facts, researching legal precedents, defining the legal and factual issues and drafting necessary legal documents.

b. Represent office.

• Ability to represent the Center at hearings, meetings, negotiations, conferences, presentations, administrative litigation, or other forums with municipal, state, or other federal agencies and stakeholders from other sectors (e.g., private, non-profit).

c. Legal advice on miscellaneous legal issues.

• Ability to advise Center Commander and Center Staff on miscellaneous matters within the USACE mission, such as ethics, conferences, and administrative authorities.

TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENT: If currently employed as an attorney by the Federal Government you must have completed 1 year at the next lower level (GS-13) within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement or previously served at the same or higher grade as the position being filled. Education An applicant must have successfully completed a full course of study in a school of law accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) and have the first professional law degree (LLB or JD). 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.Foreign education must be evaluated for U.S. equivalency in order to be considered for this position. Please include this information in your resume. Other Information

• 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.
• One year trial/probationary period may be required.
• Direct Deposit of Pay is required.
• This position requires you to submit a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE450) upon entry, and annually thereafter.
• Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from Department of Defense referral system for displaced employees.
• 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.
• Salary includes applicable locality pay or Local Market Supplement.
• Payment of Permanent Change of Station (PCS) costs is not authorized, based on a determination that a PCS move is not in the Government interest.
• A relocation incentive MAY be authorized.
• This is a permanent position in the excepted service without time limitation and will not be filled by a competitive appointment. Service in this position may be fully creditable toward civil service retirement. Any selected applicant who is in the competitive service will be taken out of the competitive service when he or she occupies this position and will compete only with other excepted status employees in the event of a reduction-in-force.

Required Documents

Your complete application includes your resume, your responses to the online questionnaire, and documents which prove your eligibility to apply. If you fail to provide these documents, you will be marked as having an incomplete application package and you will not be considered any further.

1. Cover Letter: A cover letter is optional, but highly recommended.

2. 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.

3. Official transcript of the applicant's law school record: Photo static copies of documents are acceptable when applying but certified documents must be furnished before entering on duty.

4. Good Standing Certificate: Copy of official certificate showing that the applicant is a member in good standing of the bar. The official certificate must be dated within three months of the date the application is submitted.

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

PLEASE NOTE: If you do not have your official 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.

5. Official statement of the applicant's standing in law school class: If the applicant's law school does not rank students, and the transcript does not explain that the school does not rank students, the applicant needs to submit an official statement from the school confirming the practice.

6. Fitness to Practice Statement: Either a sworn and notarized statement by the candidate that his or her fitness to practice law or conduct as an attorney has never been challenged in any jurisdiction or if either has been challenged, a sworn and notarized statement giving the facts and circumstances, and any other explanation that the applicant considers appropriate. As an alternative to a sworn and notarized statement, 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) (signature of applicant)." (28 U.S.C.1746). The statement must be dated within three months of the date the application is submitted. The certificate and statement are required to be submitted by all applicants including attorneys currently appointed to positions under the qualifying authority of the Chief of Engineers.

7. References: List of three professional references. References from current and former supervisors are preferred. Please provide name, title, mailing address, telephone number, and relationship for each reference. Applicants selected for interviews will be asked to provide three letters of recommendation.

8. Writing Sample: A writing sample shall not exceed 10 pages including cover sheets, tables of content, etc. Any pages after page 10 will be discarded and not considered.

9. Current federal employees or reinstatement eligible applicants: Submit a copy of their latest SF 50 and most recent performance evaluation. Applicants currently serving in the military must also submit a copy of their most recent OER and/or DD 214. (Items 2, 3, and 4 above do not apply to Current Corps of Engineers Attorneys).

10. Judge Advocate Candidates: Submit a copy of your orders, or other suitable documentation with a separation/retirement date from your respective Armed Forces branch. This document must be provided within 14 days of a request, unless you receive a waiver from the AMC Command Counsel.

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 below.

The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 12/03/2024 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/12608980).
• 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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