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Summary
The Natural Resources Section handles litigation arising under more than 80 natural resource, environmental, and cultural resource statutes, various treaties and international agreements, interstate compacts, and congressional referrals. The purpose of this position is to provide administrative, management, and litigation support to the Section.
This job is open to
Federal employees - Competitive service
Current or former competitive service federal employees.
Clarification from the agency
Federal Status candidates, VEOA eligibles, certain Military Spouses, Individuals with Disabilities, applicants eligible under the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act, and applicants eligible under other special appointment authorities.
Duties
The incumbent serves as a Supervisory Administrative Specialist in the Natural Resources Section. Duties include but are not limited to:
Supervises and trains support staff; assigns and reviews work; develops performance standards; assigns ratings; initiates minor disciplinary actions; participates in hiring; and furthers the goals of equal employment opportunity.
Provides advice and guidance to support staff as they assist attorneys on litigation matters including court filings, preparing for trials and other in-court proceedings, and case closings.
Researches legislation, regulations, and legislative history for the most complex cases, such as those involving research of esoteric statutory, regulatory, court and/or administrative frameworks, and other legal opinion or documentary materials.
Processes litigation-related funding documents, such as expert witness contracts and reimbursable agreements.
Provides information related to the Division's and Department's policy and procedures on administrative matters.
Manages special crosscutting initiatives and task force groups to accomplish programmatic goals.
Serves as point of contact regarding travel; provides information related to travel policy and procedures for requesting travel arrangements.
Serves as point of contact for time-keeping; provides information related to WebTA policy and procedures.
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
You must be a U.S. citizen or national.
You must complete a background investigation to include pre-employment drug testing.
Selective Service Registration is required, as applicable.
You must complete or have completed a SUPERVISORY probationary period.
You must maintain a bank account for direct deposit of salary.
Qualifications
To qualify for the GS-13: You must have at least one year of specialized experience at, or equivalent to, the GS-12 Federal grade level. Specialized experience is experience providing administrative support in a litigation context, such as case management, discovery management, database management, and trial support; procurement; and contracting.
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). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skill and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
Time in Grade: Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements (one year at the next lower grade) by the closing date of announcement.
YOUR RESUME MUST support your responses to the online questionnaire and provide specific details as to how your experience meets the specialized experience as described in the vacancy announcement if you are using experience to meet all or part of the qualification requirements. Please ensure that your resume includes the month and year that you began and ended each position held or that position will not be credited toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. Part-time employment will be prorated in crediting experience. Failure to provide details will result in an ineligible rating. Your latest resume submitted for this vacancy announcement will be used to determine qualifications and supersedes previous submissions.
Only experience and education obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered.
To preview questions, please click here: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12410509
Education
There is no substitution of education for specialized experience at these grade levels.
Additional information
Career Transition Programs: The Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in DOJ with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) provides eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If you have received written notification of your eligibility for consideration under CTAP/ICTAP, you may receive special priority consideration for this position if you are well-qualified for the position with a score of 85 or better on established ranking criteria.
Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA): VEOA allows eligible veterans to apply and compete for positions announced under merit promotion procedures when the hiring agency is recruiting from outside its own workforce. To be eligible, a veteran must be honorably separated and either a preference eligible or have substantially completed three (3) or more years of continuous active military service. If you are applying for a Merit Promotion announcement and wish to be considered under the VEOA, you must submit a copy of the Member Copy 4 of your DD-214, in addition to any other required documents listed on this announcement. You can find additional information at: http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/veterans-services/vet-guide/
Military Spouses: You're eligible if you are a spouse of an active duty member of the armed forces; a spouse of a service member who is 100% disabled due to a service-connected injury; or a spouse of a service member killed while on active duty. You must meet certain criteria for each of these eligibility categories. Learn more about the specific criteria for military spouses
Schedule A: DOJ welcomes and encourages applications from persons with disabilities and is firmly committed to satisfying its affirmative obligations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to ensure that persons with disabilities have every opportunity to be hired and advanced on the basis of merit within the Department. DOJ also encourages eligible Schedule A applicants to submit their resumes to resume@benderconsult.com, and reference "Federal Career Opportunities" in the subject line. Additional information is found at: www.benderconsult.com
Land Management applicants on a time-limited appointment are eligible to apply. The Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act, P.L. 114-47 was signed into law on August 7, 2015, allowing certain individuals who currently are or formerly were under time-limited competitive appointments at certain land management agencies to compete for permanent positions in the competitive service at a land management agency, or any other agency, under merit promotion procedures.
Benefits: DOJ 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.
General Employment Information:
DOJ EEO STATEMENT: The U.S. Department of Justice fosters an inclusive and diverse workforce, find our EEO statement online at: https://www.justice.gov/jmd/page/file/1394116/dl?inline
SELECTIVE SERVICE: Additional information is found at: www.sss.gov.
Benefits
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Your resumé and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the job qualifications listed on this announcement. If you are basically qualified for this job, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses on the online assessment questionnaire. If you rate yourself higher than is supported by your application materials, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job. If you are found to be among the top candidates, you will be referred to the selecting official for employment consideration.
All applicants' qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, and other characteristics):
Administration and Management
Litigation Support
Managing Employees
Performance & Awards
Writing
Please Note: Additional candidates may be selected if more positions become available in the Division within 90 days after the HR office issues the selection certificate.
Required Documents
You must submit a detailed resume containing the following information for each job entry listed in your employment history:
Official position title;
Employer name and contact information;
Start and end dates (month and year);
A detailed list of duties & accomplishments,
Your highest salary (or Federal grade/step) achieved; and
Indicate full-time or number of hours worked per week if part-time.
Additional required documents must be submitted by the closing date of the job announcement. Documentation requirements may vary from applicant to applicant based on your eligibility claims. It is your responsibility to carefully review the list below to determine which documents are required for your application.
To apply for this position, you must submit a complete Application Package which includes:
Resumé (Cover letter optional)
SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action which shows career or career-conditional tenure in the competitive service or Federal reinstatement eligibility, such as an appointment action, change in tenure, within-grade increase, or promotion, whichever is most recent. An Award or General Pay Adjustment action will not suffice.
For Federal employees, performance appraisal issued within the last 12 months.
Veteran preference documentation, if applicable for VEOA consideration
Schedule A documentation, if applicable
For Land Management Eligibles, submit a copy of your most recent SF-50 or equivalent proving eligibility for appointment under the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act.
Supporting documents, if applicable for other special appointment authorities
CTAP/ICTAP documentation, if applicable
Your online responses to the Occupational Questionnaire
If you are a Veteran or a qualifying parent or spouse:
Submit all DD-214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, Member-4 Copy) forms.
If you are a Veteran with a service-connected disability rating you will need to submit the SF-15 (Application for 10-point Veterans Preference) and a copy of your VA Letter stating your disability rating.
If you are the qualifying parent or spouse of a disabled, deceased, or deployed Veteran, and are seeking a derived preference eligibility, you must submit appropriate supporting documentation such as the Veterans DD-214, SF-15, VA Letter.
For more information on each type of Veterans Preference, and the documentation required for each, see FedsHireVets.
If you are a person with a disability, claiming eligibility under Schedule A:
You must submit "proof of a disability" documentation ("Proof of a disability" is a letter stating that you have an intellectual disability, severe physical disability or psychiatric disability).
You must get this letter from your doctor, a licensed medical professional, a licensed vocational rehabilitation specialist, or any Federal, state, or local agency that issues or provides disability benefits.
For more information about Schedule A and verification requirements, please see OPM's Schedule A site.
If you are a displaced Federal employee claiming eligibility under CTAP or ICTAP:
You must submit your separation notice or agency RIF letter from your agency.
If you have not yet been separated, you can provide the letter of intent to separate you from the agency because of reduction-in-force.
Additional information about CTAP/ICTAP eligibility can be found at http://www.opm.gov/ctap/index.asp
Only experience and education obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered.
Do not include the following types of information in your profile or resume:
Classified or government sensitive information
Social Security Number (SSN)
Photos of yourself
Personal information, such as age, gender, religious affiliation, etc.
Encrypted and digitally signed documents
If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate content, you may not be considered for this vacancy.
How to Apply
You must apply online through USAJOBS. Click on the APPLY button. Follow the prompts to login or create an account, answer a few questions, and submit all required documents by 11:59 PM (EST) on the closing date to receive consideration.
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//how-to/application/status/
If you are unable to apply online, you must request an alternative application which is available from the Office of Human Resources using the contact information listed below.
Agency contact information
Carmen Browne
Phone
(202) 616-3127
Email
carmen.browne@usdoj.gov
Address
Natural Resources Section
150 M Street NE
Washington, DC 20002
US
Next steps
Once the online questionnaire is received, you will receive an acknowledgement email that your submission was successful. After a review of your complete application is made, you will be notified of your rating and/or referral to the hiring official. We will notify you of the outcome after each step of the recruitment process has been completed. After making a tentative job offer, we will conduct a suitability/security background investigation. We expect to make a final job offer within 80 days after the closing date of the announcement.