About the Position: This position is located at U.S. Army Garrison (USAG) and Fort Buchanan, Installation Legal Office, Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico. 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
- Incumbent acts as labor and Civilian personnel law consultant to Army managers in the implementation and application of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 and employment discrimination laws.
- Provides legal opinions on administrative law, civilian personnel law, labor management relations, equal employment opportunity, as well as all associated problems concerning the Office of Personnel.
- Conducts research in connection with cases pending administrative hearing to analyze factual and legal issues and to determine what further facts are needed and what legal sources are applicable.
- Serves as contract law attorney in the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, and Legal Assistance Attorney with the Installation Legal Office.
- Investigates, prepares and presents government's cases to the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals.
- Acts as liaison with local U.S. Attorneys, contractors or their counsel and government contracting officers in disputes over contract provisions.
- Assists in preparation and reviews of intraservice agreements and, agreements between the Army and other Federal agencies.
- Provides oral and written advice concerning civilian personnel law and administrative law to Fort Buchanan and all serviced activities.
- Duties will involve preparation of legal documents, recommendations on the advisability of proposed actions, administrative hearings or other dispositions and the preparation of advisory opinions for high level administrative personnel.
- Advises negotiating officials in collective bargaining agreements.
- Provide legal assistance to Soldiers, retirees, dependents, and other eligible clients.
- Perform supervisory duties as assigned.
Salary
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: Ability to analyze, formulate legal opinions, provide advice, and represent the agency on general contract law matters Skill in providing expert legal and policy advice on civilian personnel matters, including expert legal advice on civilian personnel law, labor law, and employment law issues. Knowledge of administrative law in areas such as administrative investigations, Government property management, Privacy Act issues, records management, funding and fiscal law matters, Memorandum of Understanding, Memorandum of Agreement, and Freedom of Information Act. Knowledge of ethics law in areas such as integrity concerns, Non-Federal Entity considerations, financial disclosure reports, and travel and conference reviews Ability to provide legal advice and legal assistance on a variety of topics to military clients, their dependents, retirees, and other eligible clients. 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 Ability to supervise or lead others and work cooperatively as part of a team. 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 a 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-13 or equivalent Attorney positions must also possess 2 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.
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. References on Resume: Must provide three (3) licensed attorney references with contact information. 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. Standard Form (SF) 50: If you are a current or former federal employee, provide a copy of your most recent non-award SF50 to the 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 02/24/2025 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/12673756). 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/.
