Attorney-Adviser

Summary

Joining the Secret Service, Office of the Chief Counsel allows you to provide legal advice and counsel to, and representation of, the agency in connection with its protective, investigative, and administrative programs/activities. The Office is seeking attorneys in a variety of legal disciplines, with priority on fiscal and appropriations, procurement, personnel and employment, litigation, and operational law enforcement. For definitions of terms found in this announcement, please click here.

Duties

• This is an open continuous announcement. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis. The first review of applications will occur two weeks after the opening date. Applications received after this cut-off will be reviewed and referred as additional vacancies become available. The selectee will serve as an Attorney-Adviser in the Office of the Chief Counsel. Typical work assignments include: Making recommendations and advising on regulatory and policy changes required by new legislation or court decisions. Engaging in legal research into problems that involve the interpretation and application of laws and regulations enforced by or affecting the Secret Service. Assisting with representing the agency in litigation matters by providing support to senior agency and/or Department of Justice attorneys, to include furnishing legal advice, and support regarding discovery matters, witness preparation, and preparing written and oral advocacy for litigation proceedings. Assisting with drafting legal instruments, letters, memoranda, documents and informal and formal legal opinions. Drafting, interpreting, or applying legislation, regulations, contracts, orders, or decisions. Apply for this exciting opportunity to support the agency's protective and investigative mission by providing timely, thorough legal guidance for all agency operations, in-service legal training, legal representation in administrative and judicial forums, and on-scene at events and incidents.

Qualifications

To be considered qualified for this position you must meet the following qualification requirements for the respective grade level in which you are applying. Applicants must demonstrate that they meet the Basic Requirements AND Minimum Qualification requirements as listed below: BASIC REQUIREMENTS: A. A first professional law degree (Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) or Juris Doctor (J.D.)) obtained from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association at the time the degree was obtained. AND B. Be an active member in good standing of the bar of a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a territory of the United States. (Note: Supporting documentation must be included with the application package). IN ADDITION TO MEETING THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS ABOVE, YOU MUST ALSO MEET THE FOLLOWING MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: You qualify for the GS-11 level if you possess one of the following: Superior achievement as a law student that indicates the ability to independently perform legal work, as demonstrated by at least one of the following: Law school transcript that demonstrates successful mastery of law school curriculum. Work or achievement of significance on one of the Attorney's law school's official law reviews or journals. Special high-level honors for academic excellence in law school (e.g., membership in the Order of the Coif, Latin Honors (summa cum laude, magna cum laude, cum laude)). Significant involvement in a moot court competition (e.g., winning a moot court competition, or membership on the moot court team that represents the Attorney's law school in competition with other law schools). Full-time or continuous participation in a legal services program while in law school (one-time, intermittent, or casual participation on its own would not demonstrate superior achievement). Significant law office clerk experience while in law school (involving legal or quasi-legal, not clerical, work). Other evidence of clearly superior accomplishment or achievement while in law school. OR A second professional law degree (Master of Law (LL.M)) obtained from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association at the time the degree was obtained, if at least one full year of graduate study was required to obtain the degree. You qualify for the GS-12 level if you possess one of the following: One year of professional legal experience equivalent to the GS-11 level, following obtaining first professional law degree (LL.B. or J.D.), that has equipped the applicant with the particular skills and experience to perform successfully the duties of the position (generally, the experience is in or related to the work of the position to be filled). OR One year of experience in judicial clerkship(s). The qualification requirements listed above must be met by the closing date of this announcement. 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. Current or Former Political Appointees: 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 Human Resources Office.

Requirements

U.S. Citizenship is required. Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for Selective Service. If selected for this position, you will be required to: Obtain and maintain a Top Secret Tier 5 clearance. For more information visit OPM Mythbuster Page. Submit a credit check after a conditional offer of employment has been accepted. Submit to a drug test prior to your appointment and random drug testing while you occupy the position. Submit a financial disclosure report. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year trial 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.

Education

For positions with an education requirement, or if you are qualifying for a position by substituting education or training for experience, you MUST submit a copy of your transcripts or equivalent. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted that includes your name, the name of the educational institution, course title(s), number of credits, grade, and date of completion. An official transcript will be required if you are selected.

How to apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section.PLEASE NOTE: Only resumes up to a total of two pages will be accepted. Applicants with resumes exceeding two pages will be removed from consideration. If your materials are not received by the closing date, your application will be evaluated solely on the information available, and you may not receive full consideration or may not be considered eligible. Also, if you do not provide a valid email address, you may not be notified of the outcome of your application. The application process is as follows: Click the Apply Online button Answer the questions presented in the application and submit the required documents. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59PM (ET) on the announcement closing date. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access to USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. To preview the questionnaire please click the link https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12982833. The questionnaire is required in addition to the USA Hire assessments. For more general information, system requirements, reasonable accommodation information, and to request assistance regarding the USA Hire Assessments, review the following resources: USA Hire Help. 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 here: USA Hire Reasonable Accommodation. The vacancy questionnaire includes four short, free-response essay questions. This provides an opportunity for you to highlight your dedication to public service for the hiring manager and agency leadership (or designee(s)). While your responses are not required and will not be scored, we encourage you to thoughtfully address each question. Please provide a response of 200 words or less to each question. You will be asked to certify that you are using your own words and did not use a consultant or artificial intelligence (AI) such as a large language model (LLM) like ChatGPT or Copilot. We strongly encourage you to apply online. If you cannot apply online, you may contact the United States Secret Service at [email protected] by calling (202) 406-6420 or TDD at (202) 406-5390 between the hours of 9:00 am and 5:30 pm EST (excluding Federal holidays) prior to the closing date of this announcement to receive assistance. The Secret Service provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities, on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us if you require this for any part of the application and hiring process.