Paralegal Specialist

The position is in the Office of the Legal Adviser, Office of Consular Affairs (L/CA). The office provides legal advice and services relative to all matters, international and domestic, in support of the Department.

Duties

• Relies on experience and training, initiative, resourcefulness, and knowledge of current agency interests and priorities when determining the depth of and time devoted to analysis, interpretation, and application of guidelines and precedents.

• Administers the litigation case management system, which is used to document and track cases. Provides technical assistance to legal staff in using automated case management systems.

• Independently performs legal research of a variety and complexity in the specialty area.

• Prepares reports, exhibits, memoranda, and statistical analyses to be used in litigating cases or answering legal questions.

Salary

• $85,447 - $111,087/year

Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship is required.
• Incumbent will be subject to random drug testing.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all the required qualification requirements described below by the closing date of this announcement. If you are qualifying based on education OR if there are mandatory education requirements listed below, you MUST submit a copy of your college transcript with your application.  NOTE: Applicants must meet time-in-grade and time after competitive appointment requirements, by the closing date of this announcement. Time-In-Grade Requirements: Federal applicants must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade to satisfy time-in-grade restrictions, per 5CFR 300, Subpart F.

Applicants applying for the GS-11 grade level must meet one of the following requirements:

A. Have at least 1 full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level in the Federal service which provided you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the duties of the position.

Qualifying specialized experience must demonstrate the following:

• Experience maintaining, updating, and supporting litigation tracking systems including case management systems and litigation holds trackers, including experience responding to attorney and client office inquiries related to these systems and the information being requested and/or tracked.
• Experience providing direct support to attorneys by preparing, analyzing, and processing legal documents, including for discovery.    

• Experience preparing briefing materials, deposition, trial, and/or other compilations of documents to support attorneys during the course of litigation, and training materials related to litigation resources such as eRecords.
• Experience maintaining data and tracking submissions related to legal cases, including receiving, reviewing and processing legal documents served to an organization or agency, ensuring compliance with legal requirements, and directing submissions to the appropriate attorney or office.

OR

B. Have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, or LL.M. from an accredited college or university.

OR

C. Have a combination of graduate level education and specialized experience (as described above), which is equivalent to the GS- 09 level in the Federal Service. This experience and education together meets 100% of the qualification requirements for this position.

Combination of Experience and Education: When an applicant has less than one year of specialized experience as described in the announcement, he or she may combine successfully completed graduate-level education with experience to meet the total qualification requirements. Generally, 18 graduate semester hours is equivalent to 1 full-time year of graduate study (your school and department determine what constitutes 1 full time year of graduate study). The percentage of specialized work experience and the percentage of graduate study must total at least 100%.

Note: All applicants WILL BE required to submit transcripts as verification of educational requirement. If you fail to provide requested information, or the information you submit is insufficient to verify your eligibility, you may lose consideration for this position.

Education See the qualifications section of this vacancy announcement for education requirements. Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. For a list of accredited organizations recognized as specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials, visit: www.naces.org/members.php. Other Information For reasonable accommodation at the U.S. Department of State, please contact the Office of Accessibility and Accommodations at (202) 663-3474 or OAA@state.gov. If eligible, situational telework agreements may be permitted with supervisory approval. Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement. If eligible, applicants to this announcement may be referred to other similar positions in other Bureaus/Offices in the Department for up to 240 days. Telework eligibility and security clearance requirements may vary for such similar positions. Required Documents

All required documents listed below, that are applicable to you, must be submitted to our automated system by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement.

1. Resume limited to two pages showing relevant work/volunteer experience, education and training. Include the start and end dates (from month/year to month/year) and the number of hours per week worked/volunteered. Your resume serves as the basis for qualification determinations and must support your answers to the completed online assessment questions. Resumes longer than two pages will be deemed ineligible and will not be considered further.

2. Transcripts, if applicable and you are qualifying based on education.  See the Qualification and Education sections of this announcement for more information. If selected, an official/sealed college transcript(s) will be required to verify education prior to employment. 

3.  Most recent SF-50s (Notification of Personnel Actions), if you are a current eligible DOS employee (per 3 FAM 2313.4(a)(5)), including current employees applying under a non-competitive hiring authority. The SF-50s must show: effective date, position title, series, grade, salary, tenure, position occupied, full promotion potential, and name of agency. Multiple SF-50s may be needed to show all required information (e.g., promotion, within-grade increase, and separation SF-50s). Award SF-50s often do not show the required information. 

4.  Performance appraisal, strongly encouraged for current eligible DOS employees. Submit a copy of your most recent (i.e., usually within the last 18 months) final (i.e., not a mid-year review) official (i.e., signed by the rating official and in original format) annual performance appraisal for the hiring manager’s consideration. If a performance appraisal is not available, you may provide a statement and/or a statement from your supervisor explaining the reason one is not available and your servicing HR Office contact information (name, email address, phone number).

Note: You may be requested to provide an appraisal to the hiring official if one was not provided with your application.  To receive a promotion, the employee’s most recent performance rating must be “fully successful” or an equivalent level or higher. Employees who are tentatively selected to receive a promotion will be required to provide performance documentation within two business days of request. Servicing HR Offices may be contacted to verify performance ratings.

5.  Non-competitive hiring authority eligibility documentation, if applicable. If you are a current eligible DOS employee applying under a non-competitive hiring authority (e.g, FS tenured employees, USUN reinstatement eligibles, Schedule A), you must submit proof of non-competitive eligibility with your application.  For information related to Schedule A hiring authority for individuals with disabilities visit OPM’s hiring information site.  

6.  CTAP documentation, if applicable (e.g., reduction-in-force (RIF) separation notice, certification of expected separation, etc.).  In addition submit a copy of your current (or last) performance rating of record which must be at least fully successful or equivalent and submit all required documents listed above that apply to you (e.g., resume, transcripts, SF-50, etc.).

How to Apply

Prepare your application in USAJOBS

To start your application, click Apply and we’ll walk you through the process to attach a resume and any required documents.

During the application process you can review, edit, delete, and update your information. We’ll automatically save your progress as you go, so you won’t lose any changes.  You have until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement to complete the application process.

STEP 1: Select the "Apply" button and follow the instructions to register or sign into USAJOBS.

STEP 2: Submit your resume.  Please see the Required Documents section for specific information that should be outlined in your resume.

STEP 3: Complete the online assessment questions.

STEP 4: Submit all required documentation applicable to you, as listed in the Required Documents section.

To learn how to view the status of your submitted supporting documentation and application, visit the Application Instructions section of our agency’s Civil Service selection process site.

Technical assistance with your on-line application is available through the Help Desk at mgshelp@monster.com or by calling (866) 656-6830 between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. ET

Alternate Application Procedures

If applying online poses an extreme hardship, you may request alternate application procedures to submit your application package. Contact the Human Resources office listed on the announcement between the business hours of 8:15 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. ET at least 2 working days prior to the closing date of this announcement. The application package for alternate application procedures must be submitted and received in the Human Resources office no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on the closing date of this announcement. Paper applications and information sent by mail will not be accepted.