Attorney-Adviser (General)

Summary

This position is located within the Defense Legal Services Agency, Office of the Military Commissions, Trial Judiciary (hereinafter "the Office"). The Office is headed by the Chief Trial Judge, a designee of the Secretary of War, for the supervision and administration of the Military Commissions Trial Judiciary.

Learn more about this agency

Duties

Help

Incumbent typical work assignments may include the following:

• Serves as an interface for the Trial Judiciary with high-ranking military and civilian managers across WHS/OSW internal and external agencies.
• Negotiates and resolves complex administrative logistical, and case-specific requirements while strictly protecting the deliberative process and adhering to the Code of Judicial Conduct.
• Conducts comprehensive reviews and evaluations of highly classified documents (up to TS/SCI/SAP) filed during military
  commission proceedings.
• Works under the broad guidance of the Trial Team Leader and specific guidance of the presiding military judge in preparing draft
  rulings and orders and directly support the presiding military judge.
• Conducts legal research of case precedent, legal documents, periodicals and textbooks; studies legal precedents and professional literature.
• Formulates independent legal strategies and recommends cogent courses of action to presiding military judges on matters of national and international significance.

Requirements

Help

Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship is required
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service (see
• May be required to successfully complete a probationary/trial period
• Must be determined suitable for federal employment
• Required to participate in the direct deposit program
• This position is subject to pre-employment and random drug testing
• This position is subject to the DoD Priority Placement Program
• May be required to successfully complete a probationary/trial period
• The incumbent must be able to obtain and maintain a Top-Secret security clearance with Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) and SAP components.
• The incumbent may be required to work other than normal duty hours, which may include evenings, weekends, and/or holidays and/or overtime
• This position may require up to 25% occasional travel away from your normal duty station for official business on military or commercial aircraft

Qualifications

In order to qualify for this position, you must meet the requirements described below.

Basic Requirement: Professional law degree, i.e. Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) or Juris Doctorate (J.D.), from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association. Transcripts are required at the time of application.

Certificate of Good Standing

You may qualify at the GS-14 level, if you fulfill the following qualification requirement:

One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 grade level in the Federal service (experience may have been gained in the private sector) that demonstrates your ability to:

1. Implement criminal litigation in either the military or civilian justice system, or both; and
2. Research and analyze a wide variety of legal and/or historical materials related to issues in military commissions and/or criminal litigation generally.

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.

All qualifications and education requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement and clearly documented in your resume. Your resume may not exceed two (2) pages . For qualifications determinations, it is recommended that applicants include their months and hours worked per week for each employment listed on their resume. If a determination is not able to be made about the duration of your creditable experience for qualification requirements, you will be removed from consideration.

Read more about what should I include in my federal resume at

ACTIVE DUTY SERVICE MEMBERS: Federal agencies treat active duty service members as veterans, disabled veterans, and preference eligible, when they submit, as part of their application package, a "certification" of active service in lieu of a DD-214, indicating the service member is otherwise eligible and will be discharged or released within 120 days from the date of submission. A "certification" letter should be on letterhead of the appropriate military branch of the service and contain (1) the military service dates including the expected discharge or release date; and (2) the character of service. This "certification" must include your rank, dates of active duty service, type of discharge and character of service (i.e. honorable), and date any terminal leave will begin. It must be signed by, or by direction of, the adjutant, personnel officer, or commander of your unit or higher headquarters. Active duty members that fail to provide a valid "certification" of service with their initial application will be found "not eligible". Members may be appointed before the effective date of their military retirement/separation if they are on terminal leave.

Current or Former Political Appointees: Agencies must seek prior approval from OPM before they can appoint a current or recent political appointee to a competitive or non-political excepted service position at any level. If you are currently or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, or Non-career SES employee in the executive branch, you MUST disclose that to the Human Resources Office.

Time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement and clearly documented in your resume.

Education

Education cannot be substituted for experience.

Additional information

Probationary Periods: As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

- your performance and conduct;

- the needs and interests of the agency;

- whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and

- whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

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 an online application, you may request an alternative application. Please send an email to the following address for information on how to obtain an alternative application: View email address on click.appcast.io

Reemployed Annuitants: Applicants in receipt of an annuity based on civilian employment in the Federal Service are subject to the DoD Policy on The Employment of Annuitants (DODI 1400.25, volume 300).

Nepotism : Under the provisions of 5 USC 3110, an individual may not be appointed into a position if the position is under the supervisory chain of command of a relative.

Additional vacancies may be filled by this announcement.

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.

Help

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.

Review our 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.