Assistant United States Attorney (TERM Appointment, Not-to-Exceed 03/31/2028)

The U.S. Dept. of Justice has prioritized investigations and prosecutions relating to illegal immigration, cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and illegal trafficking of dangerous drugs and human beings. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of NY, is seeking Assistant U.S. Attorneys to work in the Criminal Division in Albany, Plattsburgh, or Syracuse, NY for a term, not-to-exceed 03/31/2028. Find additional information about NDNY at https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndny

Duties

These AUSA positions are in NDNY's Criminal Division, which is comprised of approximately 39 attorneys and are responsible for prosecuting federal crimes.

As a border district, these AUSA positions will specifically work on investigations and prosecutions relating to illegal immigration, illegal trafficking of dangerous drugs and human beings, and targeting the Cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs), designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) pursuant to the process established in Executive Order 14157.

The selected AUSAs may work on any type of criminal casework directly related to these initiatives, including related forfeiture efforts. They will work with law enforcement agencies to investigate such crimes, research and brief legal issues, and represent the United States before grand juries and in hearings, trials, and appeals.

Day-to-day responsibilities may include working with law enforcement agencies and others to investigate such matters, researching legal issues, drafting motions or motion responses, drafting search warrants, appearing before grand juries, and other litigation related duties.

Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as training and experience progress.

Security Requirements: Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory preemployment adjudication. This includes fingerprint, credit and tax checks, and drug testing. In addition, continued employment is subject to a favorable adjudication of a background investigation.

Selective Service Requirement: If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System, or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. See www.sss.gov.

Residency Requirement: Assistant United States Attorneys must reside in the district to which he or she is appointed or within 25 miles thereof. See 28 U.S.C. 545 for district-specific information.

Travel Requirement:Employment will require occasional travel to court at one of the designated District sites, namely Albany, Auburn, Binghamton, Malone, Plattsburgh, Syracuse, Utica, and Watertown. Other occasional travel within and/or outside the District may be required.

Salary

• $73,939 - $195,200/year

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a United States Citizen or National.
• Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory preemployment adjudication. This includes fingerprint, credit and tax checks, and drug testing. Continued employment is subject to a favorable adjudication of a background investigation.
• You must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable.
• J.D. degree and active member of the bar (any U.S. jurisdiction) required.
• This is a TERM position not-to-exceed 03/31/2028. This position may be extended or made permanent without further competition.
• Must reside in the district to which appointed or within 25 miles thereof. See 28 U.S.C. 545 for district specific information.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Applicants must possess a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree, be an active member of the bar (any U.S. jurisdiction), and have at least 1-year post-J.D. legal or other relevant experience.
• Applicants must hold United States citizenship.

Preferred Qualifications:

The ideal candidate will:

• Have at least 3 years of post-J.D. experience that provided significant opportunity to develop strong legal writing, oral advocacy, and courtroom litigation skills;
• Demonstrate facility with federal criminal practice;
• Be comfortable with all aspects of electronic discovery and litigation;
• Collaborate effectively with others, including AUSAs, law enforcement, support staff, and court personnel;
• Possess impeccable integrity; and
• Be self-motivated, justice-oriented, organized, and courteous.

Applicants must meet all qualification requirements upon closing date of this announcement.

All initial attorney appointments to the Department of Justice are made on a 14-month (temporary) basis pending favorable adjudication of a background investigation.

Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory pre-employment adjudication. This includes fingerprint, credit and tax checks, and drug testing. In addition, continued employment is subject to a favorable adjudication of a background investigation.

These are TERM positions, not-to-exceed March 31, 2028. These positions may be extended or made permanent without further competition.

The staffing, continuation, or extension of these positions is subject to the availability of funds.

As needed, additional positions may be filled using this announcement. Education Applicants must possess a J.D. Degree Other Information

Salary: Assistant United States Attorney's pay is administratively determined based, in part, on the number of years of professional attorney experience. The range of basic pay is $63,163 to $165,209 per year, plus a locality pay supplement, where authorized. For Albany, total salary is $76,282 to $195,200, which includes 20.77% locality pay. For Plattsburgh, NY or Syracuse, NY, total salary is $73,939 to $193,394, which includes 17.06% locality pay.

Benefits: The Department of Justice offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, paid vacation; sick leave; holidays; telework; life insurance; health benefits; and participation in the Federal Employees Retirement System. The Benefits link provides an overview of the benefits currently offered to Federal Employees.

Relocation Expenses: Relocation expenses will not be authorized.

This and other vacancy announcements can be found under Attorney Vacancies and Volunteer Legal Internships. The Department of Justice cannot control further dissemination and/or posting of information contained in this vacancy announcement. Such posting and/or dissemination is not an endorsement by the Department of the organization or group disseminating and/or posting the information.

Applicants should familiarize themselves and comply with the relevant rules of professional conduct regarding any possible conflicts of interest in connection with their applications. In particular, please notify this Office if you currently represent clients or adjudicate matters in which this Office is involved and/or you have a family member who is representing clients or adjudicating matters in which this Office is involved so that we can evaluate any potential conflict of interest or disqualification issue that may need to be addressed under those circumstances.

Political Appointees (Current and Former): The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C or Non-Career SES employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the HR Office. Failure to disclose this information could result in disciplinary action including removal from Federal Service.

EEO Statement: The United States government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service or other non-merit factor.

Required Documents

You must provide a completeApplication Package, which includes the following information/documents in the format specified:

• Required: Your responses to the Online Occupational Questionnaire (This is completed automatically during the apply online process).
• Required: A cover letter not-to-exceed one page addressed to the United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III, C/O Brianna Strauss, Executive Assistant describing your qualifications, interest in NDNY, and desired office location(s) to include Albany, Plattsburgh, and/or Syracuse.
• Required: Your resume not-to-exceed one page including relevant experience and dates of employment (include month/year) for each period (paid or volunteer), date J.D. was awarded (include month/year), and date of Bar Admission (include month/year).
• Required: A writing sample representing written legal advocacy. Please include a cover page to the writing sample with a short description of the source of the sample, the level of editing it received, and the degree of original work.
• Required, if applicable: A recent copy of an SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action), showing title, series, grade, and current salary; and a copy of your most recent performance appraisal.
• Required, if applicable: To get Veterans' Preference, you must indicate your preference in response to the appropriate question in your assessment questionnaire and you must submit the appropriate supporting documentation. See the "How you will be Evaluated" section for details regarding what is appropriate Veterans' Preference documentation. It is also recommended that you include veterans' preference information in your cover letter or resume.

Department of Justice Policies

Outreach and Recruitment for Qualified Applicants with Disabilities: The Department encourages qualified applicants with disabilities, including individuals with targeted/severe disabilities to apply in response to posted vacancy announcements. Qualified applicants with targeted/severe disabilities may be eligible for direct hire, non-competitive appointment under Schedule A (5 C.F.R. § 213.3102(u)) hiring authority. Individuals with targeted/severe disabilities are encouraged to contact one of the Department's Disability Points of Contact (DPOC) to express an interest in being considered for a position. See list of DPOCs.

Suitability and Citizenship: It is the policy of the Department to achieve a drug-free workplace and persons selected for employment will be required to pass a drug test which screens for illegal drug use prior to final appointment. Employment is also contingent upon the completion and satisfactory adjudication of a background investigation. Congress generally prohibits agencies from employing non-citizens within the United States, except for a few narrow exceptions as set forth in the annual Appropriations Act (see, https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/non-citizens/). Pursuant to DOJ component policies, only U.S. citizens are eligible for employment with the Executive Office for Immigration Review, U.S. Trustee's Offices, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Unless otherwise indicated in a particular job advertisement, qualifying non-U.S. citizens meeting immigration and appropriations law criteria may apply for employment with other DOJ organizations. However, please be advised that the appointment of non-U.S. citizens is extremely rare; such appointments would be possible only if necessary to accomplish the Department's mission and would be subject to strict security requirements. Applicants who hold dual citizenship in the U.S. and another country will be considered on a case-by-case basis. All DOJ employees are subject to a residency requirement. Candidates who have lived outside the United States for two or more of the past five years will likely have difficulty being approved for appointments by the Department Security Staff. The two-year period is cumulative, not necessarily consecutive. Federal or military employees, or dependents of federal or military employees serving overseas, are excepted from this requirement.

Current or Former Political Appointees: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office by providing a copy of your applicable SF-50, along with a statement that provides the following information regarding your most recent political appointment:

• Position title;
• Type of appointment (Schedule A, Schedule C, Non-career SES, or Presidential Appointee);
• Agency; and
• Beginning and ending dates of appointment.

How to Apply

To apply for this position, you must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section.

The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 04/21/2025 to receive consideration.

1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.

2. Click the Submit My Answers button to submit your application package. (It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation are submitted prior to the closing date.)

3. To verify your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account, https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the more information link for this position. The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.

To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.

You are encouraged to apply online. Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application. However, should you not be able to apply online, please contact Maria Farrell at 315-448-0963 or via email at maria.farrell@usdoj.gov, prior to the closing date of this announcement to request an alternate method of applying.

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.

Review our benefits