Paralegal Specialist

About the Position: This announcement is NOT intended for current, permanent Army employees. Current, permanent Army employees who would like to be consider for this time-limited assignment should instead apply to Announcement # CERH-25-12828790-MP. The duty location will be negotiated after selection. The actual salary will be based on the geographic location of the individual(s) selected for this position.

Duties

• Assist contracts and procurement attorneys with a wide variety of legal services pertaining to contract formation, performance and/or administration.

• Review contract modifications, terminations, suspension/debarment, contractor performance evaluations, contractor labor wage rates and/or contractor payrolls and provide advice to counsel concerning the reviews.

• Provide paralegal support to contract attorneys in litigation, focusing on contract claims, appeals, and bid protests.

• Assist counsel with the review of statement of facts, Contracting Officer’s final decisions, preparation of the record, and formulates recommendations to counsel and the Contracting Officer.

• Catalog and maintain documentary evidence, make arrangements for court reporters, witnesses, and document transport for appearances at trial, hearings, and depositions.

• Perform legal research and writing in a broad array of substantive legal areas.

• Perform additional duties to include case management, report submission, litigation holds, discovery responses, motion practice, and preparing exhibits for trial or hearings.

Salary

• $73,939 - $96,116/year

Conditions of Employment

• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• This position has a Temporary Duty (TDY) or business travel requirement of 10% of the time.

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 Defense (DOD) Civilian Employee (non-Army) Executive Order (E.O.) 12721 Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan Military Spouses, under Executive Order (E.O.) 13473 Non-Department of Defense (DoD) Transfer People with Disabilities, Schedule A Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Spouse Preference (MSP) Eligible Reinstatement In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or 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 1) gathering and organizing facts and relevant evidence relating to legal matters; 2) assisting attorneys and paraprofessionals with preparation of motions, interrogatories, briefs, or litigation reports; 3) preparing written communication such as drafting briefs, pleadings, litigation recommendations, legal documents and/or other correspondence. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-09). OR Education: Ph.D or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M. in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position. OR Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the second year (total graduate semester hours minus 36) by 18. Add the two percentages. 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-09). Education FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. 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 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. A Relocation, Recruitment, Student Loan Repayment, Advance in Hire or Advance Leave Accrual incentive may be authorized if it is in the best interest of the government. Situational Telework may be authorized at the discretion of the agency. Position may be filled as a Term Appointment not to exceed (NTE) 6 years. Term appointments may be extended beyond of six (6) years, up to eight (8) years. With DoD approval, term appointments may be extended beyond eight (8) years. Current permanent Federal employees (to include permanent Army employees) applying for a Term Appointment will be appointed/converted into a Term Appointment with no statutory return rights back to a permanent position. Current, Permanent Army employees that are eligible and would like to be considered for a time-limited promotion, reassignment or change to lower grade not to exceed (NTE) 6 years will need to apply to Announcement # CERH-25-12828790-MP at the following link https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/849574100 Term Appointments may be converted to permanent without further competition should it become available and the employee has completed 2 years with 2 fully successful performance ratings. Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Reasonable_Accommodations_for_USA_Hire 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 must be two pages or less and must support the specialized experience described in this announcement. Resumes exceeding two pages will be removed from consideration.
• For each relevant work experience, make sure you include the employer's name, job title, start and end dates (include month and year), for qualifications purposes, the number of hours worked per week, and a brief description that show you can perform the tasks at the required level listed in the job announcement. If your resume does not contain this information, your application may be marked as incomplete, and you may not receive consideration for this position.
• Use plain language. Avoid using acronyms and terms that are not easily understood. The hiring agency will not make assumptions about what's in your resume.
• 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 additional information, to include formatting tips, 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 has an individual occupational requirement and/or allows for substitution of education for experience. If you meet this requirement based on education you MUST submit a copy of your transcript with your application package or you will be rated ineligible. See: Transcripts and Licenses

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

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section.

The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. The application process is as follows:

1. Click the Apply Online button.
2. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. As a reminder, your resume must be two pages or less and must support the specialized experience described in this announcement. Resumes exceeding two pages will be removed from consideration. For additional information, refer to the 'Required Documents' section. To preview the application questionnaire, click the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12828792
3. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on 11/19/2025.
4. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice.
5. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials.
6. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended.
7. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link.
8. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused.

For more general information, system requirements, reasonable accommodation information, and to request assistance regarding the USA Hire Assessments, review the following resources: https://appsupport.usastaffing.gov/hc/en-us/sections/28980562523540-USA-Hire-Assessments

To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed.

To view the announcement status or your application status: Click on this: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to/application/status. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application.