Paralegal Specialist

About the Position:

The Walla Walla District US Army Corps of Engineers is comprised of motivated and talented employees providing the very best engineering services for communities in the Pacific Northwest. The District helps manage local water resources for navigation, flood damage reduction, disaster assistance, hydroelectric power generation, and other natural and heritage areas.

Who May Apply:

Only applicants who meet one of the employment authority categories below are eligible to apply for this job. You will be asked to identify which category or categories you meet, and to provide documents which prove you meet the category or categories you selected. See Proof of Eligibility for an extensive list of document requirements for all employment authorities.

• Current Department of Army Civilian Employees
• Domestic Defense Industrial Base/Major Range and Test Facilities Base Civilian Personnel Workforce
• Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan
• Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act
• Military Spouses, under Executive Order (E.O.) 13473
• Non-Department of Defense (DoD) Transfer
• People with Disabilities, Schedule A
• Postal Service/Peace Corps and Other Unique Authorities
• Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Reserve (MR) and National Guard (NG) Technician Eligible
• Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Spouse Preference (MSP) Eligible
• Priority Placement Program, DoD MR and NG Preference Eligible Tech Receiving Disability Retirement
• Priority Placement Program, DoD Retained Grade Preference Eligible
• Reinstatement
• Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) of 1998

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or requirements described below. 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. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document.

GS-7 Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes performing a variety of administrative support functions which includes (1) the use of office automation software (word processing, spreadsheet, and databases); (2) retrieval, update and storage of electronic data; (3) and preparing, editing, and formatting of correspondence and/or reports. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-05).

Education: One full year of graduate level education in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: Paralegal or Legal Studies.

Superior Academic Achievement: Successful completion of all the requirements for a bachelor's degree with Superior Academic Achievement. In order to be creditable under this provision, Superior Academic Achievement must have been gained in a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled, such as that identified in Education above. Superior Academic Achievement is based on:
(1) Class Standing - Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses; OR
(2) Grade-Point Average (G.P.A.) - Applicants must have a grade-point average of either (a) 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on your official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or (b) 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum.; OR
(3) Honor Society Membership - Applicants may be considered eligible based on membership in one of the approved national scholastic honor societies listed by the Association of College Honor Societies ( of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) by 18. Add the two percentages.

GS-9 Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes (1) the use of office automation software (word processing, spreadsheet, and databases); (2) retrieval, update and storage of electronic data; (3) and preparing, editing, and formatting of correspondence and/or reports (4) perform legal research and/or assemble information for use by attorneys. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-07).

Education: Master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D. in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: Paralegal or Legal Studies.

Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the first year (total graduate semester hours minus 18) by 18. Add the two percentages.

Time in Grade Requirement: Applicants who have held a General Schedule (GS) position within the last 52 weeks must have 52 weeks of Federal service at the next lower grade or equivalent (GS-5 for the GS-7; GS-7 for the GS-9).