General Attorney

Summary

This position is located within the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), Headquarters, Office of General Counsel and reports directly to the General Counsel.

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Duties

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• Assists with research, formulation, and drafting of federal rulemakings in collaboration with OPM's Office of Workforce Policy & Innovation (WPI) and Office of General Counsel (OGC).
• Conducts legal research on moderately complex to complex questions involving Federal personnel law, labor-management relations law, administrative law, and related statutory and regulatory frameworks.
• Drafts and assists in reviewing official guidance documents, questions and answers, fact sheets, and other policy instruments to assist Federal agencies in understanding and applying OPM rules and regulations.
• Helps review and respond to routine inquiries from Federal agencies, Congressional offices, employee organizations, and the public on legal and regulatory matters.
• Prepares opinions and memoranda and renders legal advice with respect to the meaning and scope of the provisions of Title II of the Labor-Management Relations Act, 1947, including the "commerce" provisions affecting the jurisdiction of the agency, as well as other statutes providing jurisdiction for FMCS services.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
• Selectee must meet/maintain suitability and security requirements, as determined by a background investigation.
• This position is ineligible for inclusion in a bargaining unit.
• You may be required to serve a two-year trial period, if the requirement has not been met.
• The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 requires the applicant selected for this position to submit a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 450) within 30 days of appointment and annually thereafter.
• You must be an active member in good standing of the bar of a U.S. state, territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Qualifications

Basic Requirement: You must have earned a professional law degree (J.D. or LL.B.) from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association, be an active member of the BAR, and have two years of professional legal experience with at least one year being equivalent to the GS-12 level.

Specialized Experience: Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular competencies/qualifications to successfully perform the duties of the position and is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled.

Specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-12 level includes:

• Performing legal research and analysis;
• Drafting and revising regulatory text, legal memoranda, guidance documents;
• Assisting in rendering legal advice on moderately complex issues; and
• Communicating legal analysis clearly and providing well-reasoned recommendations.

Time in grade: Current federal employees applying for a promotion opportunity must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirement of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled.

You must also have experience demonstrating each of the five competencies listed below.

Administrative Law - Knowledge of state and federal administrative laws, including procedures, regulations, guidelines, and precedents related to case preparation and settlements.

Labor Law - Knowledge of state and federal employment laws, regulations, guidelines, and legal precedents related to hiring practices, equal employment opportunity, and wage and hour restrictions.

Legal, Government, and Jurisprudence - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, legal practices and documents, Government regulations, Executive orders, agency rules, Government organization and functions, and the democratic political process.

Manages and Organizes Information - Identifies a need; gathers, organizes, and maintains information; determines its importance and accuracy, and communicates it by a variety of methods.

Planning and Evaluating - Organizes work, sets priorities, and determines resource requirements; determines short- or long-term goals and strategies to achieve them; coordinates with other organizations or parts of the organization to accomplish goals; monitors progress and evaluates outcomes.

Qualifications:

This position requires submission of a 2-page resume, law school official transcript and writing sample.

Your resume will then be reviewed by an HR Specialist and a Subject Matter Expert to determine if you meet the specialized experience and qualification requirements as outlined in the announcement.

Your resume must have complete information. Please ensure your resume accurately reflects the duties and responsibilities under each position you have held with each employer. In describing your experience, please be clear and specific. It is your responsibility to make sure your resume states complete information for each job entry (beginning and ending dates of employment stated as MM/YYYY; and total hours worked per week). If your resume does not provide enough information regarding your work history for us to make a creditable qualification determination, your application package may be rendered disqualified and you will no longer be considered for this position.

Part-time or unpaid experience: Credit will be given for appropriate unpaid work on the same basis as for paid experience. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. To receive credit for such experience you must indicate clearly the nature of the duties and responsibilities in each position held and the number of hours per week spent in such employment.

Qualifications must be met by the Closing Date: You must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements by 11:59pm EDT on the closing date of this announcement.

Education

Must be a graduate of a law school accredited by the American Bar Association with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) or LLM degree, and be currently licensed as an attorney, in active (or equivalent) status and in good standing, with the bar of a U.S. state, territory, or commonwealth.

Additional information

Salary - The salary range indicated in this announcement reflects the minimum locality pay up to maximum locality pay for Washington, DC.

Direct Deposit - Selectee is required to participate in the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service direct deposit of pay program.

Security Background - A Public Trust background is a requirement for this position. Failure to obtain and maintain the required level of clearance may result in the withdrawal of a job offer or removal. If you possess a security clearance, please indicate the level and termination date in your resume. The successful candidate will undergo personnel vetting, which includes a background investigation and enrollment upon onboarding into "Continuous Vetting." Enrollment in Continuous Vetting will result in automated record checks being conducted throughout one's employment with FMCS. The successful candidate will also be enrolled in FBI's Rap Back program, which will allow FMCS to receive notification from the FBI of criminal activities (e.g., arrests, charges, convictions) involving enrolled individuals in near real-time.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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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. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.