Paralegal Specialist

Summary This vacancy is for a GS-0950-5/7/9, Paralegal Specialist located in the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard, CG NVDC RECREATIONAL VESSEL DOCUMENTATION DIVISION -NVDC-2 in FALLING WATERS, West Virginia. Responsibilities You will serve as a Paralegal Specialist and be responsible for the review and recordation of instruments related to vessel transactions, maintenance of records for public inspection, and the issuance of documents for all geographical areas of the United States. The employee develops and completes the documentation of a wide variety of cases and other transactions. The position may focus on commercial vessel documentation or on recreational vessel documentation or contain elements of both. Being a Coast Guard civilian makes you a valuable member of the Coast Guard team. Typical work assignments include: Reviewing and evaluating evidence presented for sufficiency, authenticity, and validity. Determining action needed to resolve issues and problems, and acceptable documentation needed to ensure substantial compliance with the intent of applicable laws and regulations. Recording and indexing legal instruments including preferred and chattel mortgages, liens, assignments, and bills of sale. Preparing Certificates of Documentation, forms, and legal instruments such as certificates of ownership, abstracts of title, and endorsements of preferred mortgages and satisfactions of mortgages. Preparing correspondence describing the requirements for both standard and nonstandard transactions, explains options available to applicants or identifies information needed to correct inadequate submissions. 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. Reasonable Accommodation Information Requirements Conditions of Employment All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement. Do NOT include the following types of information in your resume: Social Security Number (SSN) Date of Birth (DOB) Photos of yourself (if included on your resume you will not be considered for this position) Personal information: such as age, gender, religious affiliation, etc. Key Requirements: Must be a U.S. Citizen. Must be registered or exempt from the Selective Service. See To ensure the accomplishment of our mission, DHS requires every employee to be reliable and trustworthy. To meet those standards, all selected applicants must undergo and successfully pass a background investigation. This position requires a public trust clearance. This is not a Bargaining Unit position. Time-in-Grade requirement must be met by the closing date of the vacancy. All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit. 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 HR Office. USA Hire Assessment: After submitting your application, if an additional assessment is required, you will receive an email invitation. Please note that this assessment must be completed within 48 hours of the vacancy closing date and as specified in the email. Qualifications To qualify at the GS-5 grade level, your resume must demonstrate at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-4 grade level in the federal sector. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the ability, skill, and knowledge to successfully perform the duties of this position and is typically in or related to this line of work. Examples of specialized experience include performing the following types of tasks on a regular basis: Reviewing/Analyzing submitted applications for completeness and accuracy; AND Preparing instruments such as abstracts of title and certificates of ownership. OR Applicant must have successfully completed a 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree in an accredited college or university in any field. To qualify at the GS-7 grade level, your resume must demonstrate at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-5 grade level in the federal sector. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the ability, skill, and knowledge to successfully perform the duties of this position and is typically in or related to this line of work. Examples of specialized experience include performing the following types of tasks on a regular basis. Searching files of precedent decisions and regulatory material to make determinations; AND Reviewing application documentation to extract certain data and information related to specified items. OR Applicant must have 1 full year of graduate level education OR Superior academic achievement To qualify at the GS-9 grade level, your resume must demonstrate at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-7 grade level in the federal sector. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the ability, skill, and knowledge to successfully perform the duties of this position and is typically in or related to this line of work. Examples of specialized experience include performing the following types of tasks on a regular basis. Determining actions needed to resolve issues and problems and acceptable documentation needed; Recording and indexing legal instruments including preferred and chattel mortgages, liens, assignments, and bills of sale; AND Reviewing entire application and submitted documentation for completeness and accuracy, and issue a completed certificate of documentation. OR Applicants must have a master's or equivalent graduate degree OR Applicants must have 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree OR Applicants must have LL.B. or J.D., if related NOTE: All experience statements (i.e., duties, specialized experience, or related applicable assessment) copied from this announcement and pasted into your resume will not be considered as a demonstration of your qualifications for this position. NOTE: Education CAN be substituted for experience at this grade level. National Service Experience (i.e., volunteer experience): 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 skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Education This position does not have a positive education requirement. If you are including education on your resume, report only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. See Required Documents section for detail. Are you qualifying based on education? Submit a copy of your college transcript (unofficial is acceptable) from an accredited institution. Once selected & prior to appointment, applicants must provide an official college transcript. Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet Federal qualification requirements if you can show that your foreign education is comparable to education received in accredited educational institutions in the U.S. (see FOREIGN EDUCATION below). College Transcript: If this position requires specific educational course work to qualify, or you are qualifying based in whole or part on education, you are required to provide all unofficial transcripts (undergraduate, graduate, etc.) by the closing date of this announcement or you will be disqualified from further consideration. Transcripts should be legible and detailed, showing course number and department (i.e., bio 101, math 210, etc.), course title, number of credit hours, and grade earned. If course content cannot be easily identified from the title of the course as listed on your transcript, you must submit an official course description from the college/university that reflects the content at the time the course was taken. FOREIGN EDUCATION: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet Federal qualification requirements if you can show that your foreign education is comparable to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States. To receive this credit, you must submit evidence of equivalency as provided by a credentialling evaluation service. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence with your application. See Recognition of Foreign Qualifications click here Only experience and education obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered. Additional Information Due Weight Due weight will be given to performance appraisals and incentive awards in merit promotion selection decisions in accordance with 5 CFR 335.103(b)(3). E-Verify DHS uses E-Verify, an Internet-based system, to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States. Learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities. Fair Chance Act The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act prohibits the Department of Homeland Security and its Components from requesting an applicant's criminal history record before that individual receives a conditional offer of employment. In accordance with 5 U.S. Code § 9202(c) and 5 C.F.R § 920.201 certain positions are exempt from the provisions of the Fair Chance to Compete Act. Applicants who believe they have been subjected to a violation of the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act, may submit a written complaint to View email address on click.appcast.io. Suitability Statement If you receive a conditional offer of employment for this position, you will be required to complete an Optional Form 306, Declaration for Federal Employment, and to sign and certify the accuracy of all information in your application, prior to entry on duty. False statements on any part of the application may result in withdrawal of offer of employment, dismissal after beginning work, fine, or imprisonment. Shared Certificates Statement Applying to this announcement certifies that you give permission for DHS to share your application with others in DHS for similar positions. Special Employment Consideration The Department of Homeland Security encourages persons with disabilities to apply, to include persons with intellectual, severe physical or psychiatric disabilities, as defined by 5 CFR 213.3102(u), and or Disabled Veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more as defined by 5 CFR 315.707. Veterans, Peace Corps, VISTA volunteers, and persons with disabilities possess a wealth of unique talents, experiences, and competencies that can be invaluable to the DHS mission. If you are a member of one of these groups, you may not have to compete with the public for federal jobs. To determine your eligibility for non-competitive appointment and to understand the required documentation, click on the links above or contact the servicing Human Resources Office listed at the bottom of this announcement. If selection is made below the full performance level, the incumbent may be promoted up to the target grade without further competition, if all legal and regulatory requirements are met and when recommended by the supervisor. However, promotion to the full performance level is not guaranteed and is dependent on successful performance at the lower grade level(s). If you are unable to apply online, please contact View email address on click.appcast.io. Decisions on granting reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis. Visit Reasonable Accommodation More than 1 selection may be made from this announcement if additional identical vacancies in the same title, series, grade, and unit occur within 45 days from the date the certificate was issued.