Attorney Advisor

This position serves as a Attorney Advisor providing expert legal counsel to the Chairman, Commissioners, Secretary, and staff concerning questions, regulations, laws, practices, or other matters relating to the operations, responsibilities, and functions of the Commission. This position is in the Excepted Service and appointments are made without regard to the legal requirements of the Competitive Service, Executive order, or OPM regulations.

Duties

Legal Support:

• Provision of expert legal advice and counsel, including oral and written opinions to Commissioners, senior government officials, and staff on a broad range of questions, regulations, laws, policies, practices, precedents and issues of jurisdiction, diplomatic considerations, and other legal matters concerning the operations, responsibilities, and functions of the Commission.
• Legal research, interpretation, analysis, oral communication, and writing, including preparing Orders of Approval (and amendments) for applications approved by the Commission and responding to questions arising from Boards and Tasks Forces appointed by the Commission.
• Collaborating across teams and stakeholders, such as the U.S. and Canadian sections of the Commission (including the counterpart Canadian attorney), contractors, the Department of State, Canadian officials, U.S. inter-agency counterparts, Boards, Working Groups, and other Commission-affiliated entities, and external parties.
• Drafting or reviewing briefing notes and participating in Commission meetings and other engagements, including providing legal insights and opinions in response to questions from Commissioners, staff, Commission Boards/Task Forces and stakeholders.
• Managing litigation and/or other conflicts involving the Commission, including developing legal strategies and recommendations for the Commission and its advisory groups, such as Boards and Task Forces.

Contracting Compliance

• Interprets complex technical and legal language in contracts utilizing procedures and provisions under the Department of State Acquisition Regulations (DOSAR) and the Federal Government Acquisition Regulations (FAR).
• Advises Commissioners, senior management, and all staff on compliance with contract procurement, management, and oversight requirements and drafts and negotiates contacting documents as needed.
• Works with staff and stakeholders to develop appropriate contractual language and mitigate disputes.

Administrative Oversight

• Provides advice, counsel, and instructions on personnel, performance, and EEO policies and procedures.

• Supports the operations and functions of the Commission, including drafting, communicating, and interpreting internal Commission policies.

Salary

• $169,279 - $197,200/year

Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship is required.
• Incumbent will be subject to random drug testing.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit: www.dhs.gov/E-Verify/
• Copy of license to practice law.

Qualifications

All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Applicants apply for this position must meet the following requirements to be eligible for further consideration: Law Degree: Applicants must be a graduate of an accredited law school with a J.D. or LL.M. Bar Membership:

Applicants must be a current member of a bar in good standing in any state, territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Experience: Applicants must have at least four years of specialized experience with at least one year equivalent to the GS-14 level in the Federal Service, which provided you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of this position. The specialized experience must have been gained after admission to the bar. Qualifying specialized experience must demonstrate the following: 

• Experience providing advice and applying advanced concepts and principles of international law, U.S. Federal contracting, environmental law, and/or administrative law, at least two of which were with a U.S. Federal agency or department.
• Experience interpreting and applying international agreements (including treaties) and/or foreign legal systems.
• Experience advising leaders, colleagues, and multiple stakeholders (orally and in writing) on complex domestic and international legal issues, such as boundary waters, sovereign and diplomatic immunity, treaty interpretation, appropriations law, and ethics

There is no substitute of education for specialized experience for the GS-15 position.

Education See the qualifications 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. Other Information For reasonable accommodation at the U.S. Department of State, please contact the Office of Accessibility and Accommodations at OAA@state.gov. If eligible, situational telework agreements may be permitted with supervisory approval. Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement. If eligible, applicants to this announcement may be referred to other similar positions in other Bureaus/Offices in the Department for up to 240 days. Telework eligibility and security clearance requirements may vary for such similar positions. Required Documents

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

1. Resume – your two-page resume or any other written format you choose should contain the required information as specified in the "How You Will Be Evaluated" section. Insufficient information will result in an ineligible rating. Resumes longer than two pages will be deemed ineligible and will not be considered further.

2. Writing Sample – you must submit a writing sample (less than 10 pages) with your application.

3. Transcripts – you must submit a copy of your college transcript(s) from an accredited law school with your application. If selected, an official/sealed college transcript(s) will be required to verify education prior to employment.

4. Proof of bar membership – you must submit proof of bar membership from any state or territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico with your application.

5. If you are qualifying based on other criteria listed under the Qualification Section of this announcement, you MUST submit the required supporting documentation (certificates, certifications, etc.) with your application.

6. References – you must submit three professional references with your application.

7. Veterans Preference, if applicable – Veterans’ preference does not apply to this vacancy. Any supporting documentation received from veterans will be retained to document veteran’s status for appointment purposes, if selected.

• To claim 5-point preference, submit a copy of your DD-214 Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty.
• To claim 10-point preference, submit all required documentation outlined on 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, etc.).  If we cannot verify your 10-point preference claim, your application will be reviewed for 5-point preference.
• To claim 10-point derived preference (i.e., spouses, widows, widowers or mothers of veterans), submit a completed SF-15 and all required documentation listed on the SF-15 to support your claim.
• To claim 0-point Sole Survivorship preference, submit a copy of your DD-214 or another form of official documentation showing that your discharge or release from active duty occurred on or after August 29, 2008 and was based on a sole survivorship discharge.
• For all preference claims:
  • DD-214 Member 4 copies are preferred and must show the dates of service, type of discharge, and any qualifying service campaign medals.
• For more veterans’ preference information, visit the USAJOBS Help Center.

How to Apply

The apply button is deactivated and applications packages are being accepted directly by the Office of the International Joint Commission (IJC). We will also consider your years of service, veteran status, and performance appraisal.

Application packages are being accepted directly by emailing an application with all required documents, preferably in one PDF, to Antionette.Dunston@ijc.org. Please have the subject line of the email read “International Joint Commission (IJC)  Attorney Advisor Position AND the Vacancy Announcement Number.

Please note this vacancy exists with instructions on how to apply. Applicant notifications, however, will NOT be sent. If a hiring official determines you have the skillset for this vacancy, a member of the hiring team will contact you.

Those applicants who may be contacted for an interview may be asked to provide further application materials at that time.