Legal Assistant (OA)

About the Position: Serves as the liaison between the employing organization and the Off ice of the Staff Judge Advocate (OSJA)under the technical supervision and guidance of the Chief, Military Justice or his or her designee(s) (normally the unit Trial Counselor the NCOIC of Military Justice).

Duties

• Provide administrative support in the examination, initiation, and completion of legal actions and documents for review by the Chief, Military Justice or his or her designee(s).

• Assist commanders at all levels and their personnel with all matters relating to the administration of military justice, including but not limited to, administrative separations per AR-635-200 and AR 600-8-24.

• Initiate and process forms required for Soldiers reported as absent without leave (AWOL) and dropped from rolls (DFR) and prepares and processes to completion other legal documents

• Prepare draft appointment orders detailing off icers to conduct AR 15-6 investigations, administrative separation boards, and Article 32 hearings for review and coordinates with the appropriate attorney to schedule their briefings and legal reviews.

Salary

• $51,807 - $67,351/year

Conditions of Employment

• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• The work may require occasional TDY travel with the Trial Counsel to interview out of state witnesses or to attend professional development training.
• Due to the nature of this position, employees are required to work both planned and unscheduled overtime.
• The work of this position requires a Security Clearance. The incumbent must be able to obtain and maintain the appropriate Security Clearance for the position.
• In accordance with AR 690-11, this position has been designated as "Key" and shall not be vacated during a national emergency or mobilization as doing so would seriously impair the capability of the organization to function effectively.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: Only applicants who meet one of the employment authority categories below are eligible to apply for this job. You will be asked to identify which category or categories you meet, and to provide documents which prove you meet the category or categories you selected. See Proof of Eligibility for an extensive list of document requirements for all employment authorities.

• 30 Percent or More Disabled Veterans
• Current Department of Army Civilian Employees
• Current Department of Defense (DOD) Civilian Employee (non-Army)
• Domestic Defense Industrial Base/Major Range and Test Facilities Base Civilian Personnel Workforce
• Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan
• Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act
• Military Spouses, under Executive Order (E.O.) 13473
• Non-Department of Defense (DoD) Transfer
• People with Disabilities, Schedule A
• Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Reserve (MR) and National Guard (NG) Technician Eligible
• Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Spouse Preference (MSP) Eligible
• Priority Placement Program, DoD MR and NG Preference Eligible Tech Receiving Disability Retirement
• Reinstatement
• Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) of 1998

In order to qualify, you must meet the experience requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document.


Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes performing legal administrative duties such as: reviewing legal documents, retrieving, and assembling information for hearings and/or trials, AND researching a variety of legal sources to obtain and/or verify information, AND preparing legal documents in accordance with regulations and laws, AND utilizing automated software to produce legal related reports and documents. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-06).


You will be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency in the following areas:

• Conscientiousness
• Self-Management
• Teamwork
• Writing

Time in Grade Requirement: Applicants who have held a General Schedule (GS) position within the last 52 weeks must have 52 weeks of Federal service at the next lower grade or equivalent (GS-06). Education Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify. For this job, you must meet the qualification requirement using experience alone--no substitution of education for experience is permitted. 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.
• 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(n) Legal 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.
• Relocation Incentive MAYBE authorized.
• Recruitment Incentive MAYBE authorized.

Required Documents

The documents you are required to submit vary based on the authority you are using to apply (i.e., applying as a veteran, applying as a current permanent Federal employee, applying as a reinstatement, etc). Please review the following links to see which documents you need to provide to prove your eligibility to apply: Applicant Checklist for Internal/Merit Promotion Announcements.

As described above, 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. 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.

2. Other supporting documents:

• Cover Letter, optional
• Most recent Performance Appraisal, if applicable
• Proof of Eligibility to Apply: Your application must include the documents which prove you are eligible to apply for the vacancy. The Proof of Eligibility document describes authorities commonly used in merit promotion recruitment and what document(s) are required to prove you meet the requirements of the authority. You must meet the requirements of at least one of the authorities listed in the Who May Apply section above to receive further consideration.
• Time-in-grade documentation: If you are applying for a higher grade and your SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you meet the one year time-in-grade requirement so you will need to provide an SF-50 which clearly demonstrates you meet the time-in-grade requirements (examples of appropriate SF-50s include Promotions, Within-grade Grade/Range Increases, and SF-50s with an effective date more than one year old).
• This position does not allow for substitution of education for experience.

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) on12/13/2024 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/12603213).
• 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.

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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