This position is located with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Navajo Region in Crownpoint, New Mexico to perform work on wide variety of probate cases and distribution of trust assets through legal research, interviews and consultation to individuals. This is a Bargaining Unit position, for more information see What are bargaining units?
Duties
- Performs extensive and thorough research of all types of probate cases by conducting interviews with beneficiaries and interested parties.
- Works independently to develop facts and evidence for inclusion in the probate case package.
- Maintains administrative records that track Indian probate proceedings until completion of the case.
- Performs agency review of probate cases by examining legal documents for the purpose of verifying ownership status of land and resources.
- Interprets and implements the decisions of the Office of Hearing and Appeals (OHA) deciding officials.
- Researches land titles and prepares an inventory of real property in estates.
Salary
Qualifications
EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS: (OPM Operating Manual, Qualification Standards for Administrative and Management Positions for General Legal and Kindred Administration Series, 0901). Minimum Qualification for GS-7: 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-5 grade level in the Federal service. Examples of specialized experience include performs a variety of assignments to assistance on probate cases and issues and problems utilizing basic legal principles, research methods, and data analysis; maintain administrative records that track probate proceedings; utilize the basic knowledge of real and personal property legal principles and legal documents; review the accuracy and completeness of a probate case file, OR 1 full year of graduate level education (18 semester hours, 27 quarter hours or equivalent), OR Superior Academic Achievement (SAA). or superior academic achievement, OR combination of experience and education which totals 100% of the requirement. Minimum Qualification for GS-9: 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-7 grade level in the Federal Service. Examples of specialized experience include performing routine work involving conventional probate cases, issues and problems utilizing general legal principles and research methods, and data analysis; performs research for probate cases by conducting interviews with beneficiaries and interested parties; apply specialized knowledge of probate legal principles to evaluate factual documents and other information to determine the level of legal complexity in probate cases and assemble documentation into a probate case package; verify the accuracy and completeness of a probate case file and the decision, OR masters or equivalent graduate degree, OR 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree (36 semester hours, 54 quarter hours or equivalent) or LL.B. or J.D., if related, OR combination of experience and education which totals 100% of the requirement. Minimum Qualification for GS-11: 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-9 grade level in the Federal Service. Examples of specialized experience include performing work independently on wide variety of probate cases, issues and problems utilizing a high degree of expertise; apply specialized knowledge of probate legal principles to evaluate factual documents to determine the level of legal complexity in probate cases and assemble documentation into a probate case package; perform extensive and thorough research of probate cases by conducting interviews with beneficiaries, interested parties, examining agency and records; review probate cases by examining legal documents to verify ownership status; verify the accuracy and completeness of a probate case file and probate decision; input probate decision into an automated system of record, OR Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, OR 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related, OR combination of experience and education which totals 100% of the requirement. All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Merit Promotion candidates must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the announcement closing date. Preference in filling vacancies is given to qualified Indian candidates in accordance with the Indian Preference Act of 1934 (title 25, USC Section 472). Additional selections may be made from this announcement if identical vacancies occur in the same location within 90 days from the closing date.
Education
If you are qualifying based on your education, you MUST provide transcripts or other documentation to support your educational claims. Unless otherwise stated: (1) official or unofficial transcripts are acceptable, or (2) you may submit a list with all of your courses, grades, semester, year, and credit for the course. All materials must be submitted by the closing date of the announcement. If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) were taken on a pass/fail basis, your claim of superior academic achievement must be based upon class standing or membership in an honor society. One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study. If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education which shows the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: FOREIGN EDUCATION
Required Documents
The following documents are required for this position: Resume which details work experience including dates worked (mm/yy-mm/yy); position title; position series and grade (if federal service); work schedule; hours worked per week; relevant duties performed; supervisor with contact information, and 3 professional references and contact information (Do not include current/former supervisors), etc. Important! If your resume does not show complete information for each job entry, your application will be considered incomplete. Specifically: Beginning and ending dates (mm/yy) of employment, Work schedule (Full-time or Part-time), and Hours worked per week. For more information see What should I include in my federal resume On-line Assessment Questionnaire Transcripts (if using education to qualify) - Unofficial transcripts are acceptable; however, an official transcript may be requested at a later time. Veteran's documentation - (if applicable) VA letter on VA letterhead stating your overall combined rating, SF-15, DD-214 (copy 4) reflecting an honorable discharge and dates of active duty military service. Special Appointing Authority documentation (if applying under a special hiring authority) BIA Form 4432 (if claiming Indian preference) Performance Appraisal (if applying under the Land Management Flexibility Act) Current & Former Federal Employees If you are a current career or career-conditional Federal employee OR a former Federal employee who has reinstatement eligibility, you must submit the following by the closing date of this announcement, or you will not receive consideration as such: -- a copy of a recent SF-50 "Notification of Personnel Action" documenting proof of competitive status, tenure, position title, occupational series, grade level and step; and -- your most recent performance appraisal (if you do not have your most recent performance appraisal, please submit an explanation as to why it is unavailable); and -- if applicable, a list of any awards you received in the last 5 years (i.e., superior performance awards, special act or achievement awards, quality step increase, etc.). If you are applying as a VEOA candidate, you must submit a copy of your DD-214 and your letter from the VA reflecting an honorable discharge and that you either completed three years of active duty service or are a preference eligible. For more information see: https://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/shav/index.aspx#veoa. If you are unable to apply online, require reasonable accommodation in the application process if you are an applicant with a disability, or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application. ALL DOCUMENTS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 11:59 PM Eastern Time ON THE CLOSING DATE OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. If your application package is incomplete in any way, you will not be considered for this position, and requests for extensions will not be granted. Please double check your application package before you submit it. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WILL NOT BE SOLICITED OR ACCEPTED BY THIS OFFICE.
How to Apply
ONLINE APPLICATION SUBMISSION: To apply for this position, you must complete the online application and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. - 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. - Follow the prompts to select your résumé 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. 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/ . Certain candidates may be eligible to apply under a special hiring authority including those for disabled individuals, Peace Corps employees, Foreign Service employees, veterans, etc. For more information, visit the following OPM websites: USAJOBS Information Center: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/; Vets Info Guide: http://www.fedshirevets.gov/. PLEASE NOTE - NO APPLICATION MATERIAL WILL BE ACCEPTED VIA E-MAIL.
