Economist

Summary

With nearly 1,700 attorneys, IRS Chief Counsel is the largest tax law firm nationwide. Our attorneys are among top tax law practitioners and some of the very best legal minds found anywhere. Together with the IRS, we serve the public by applying the tax code with fairness and integrity. After pausing hiring in 2025, we are seeking administrative professionals to support our legal work. Click to learn more: IRS Office of Chief Counsel Careers Site Meet Our People Learn about our Legal Divisions

Duties

• The Strategic Litigation (SL) Division Counsel is a national organization with approximately 90 attorneys and 30 paralegals located in 33 cities nationwide. The SL Division, through its Special Trial Attorneys and paralegals, is responsible for handling the Office of Chief Counsel's most complex, high-profile, and significant cases in the United States Tax Court, which cases often establish national precedent or are otherwise important to tax administration. The SL attorneys and paralegals provide a full range of legal services on all issues, including advising the Internal Revenue Service on its most significant non-docketed cases, handling significant case litigation in the United States Tax Court, and assisting the Department of Justice in the handling of significant cases in both Federal and State Courts. As a Economist, you will: Responsible for providing trial preparation and consultative support to SL trial attorneys handling Tax Court litigation and other Federal Court litigation activities involving the most complex, significant, and difficult cases with nationwide, often precedent-setting impact before the U.S. Tax Court and other Federal Courts. Required to use expert economic and subject-matter knowledge, including but not limited to, statistics, valuation, and transfer pricing (based on the principles set forth in I.RC.§ 482 and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Transfer-Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations), and exercise sound judgment and independence. Provides consultative support to SL trial attorneys on the most complex technical issues requiring incumbent's personal in-depth knowledge, originality, deep technical background, experience, and creativity. Performs research and analysis of tax issues involving economics, statistics, valuation, and/or transfer pricing, related to specific taxpayers and industries applicable to the assigned cases being litigated before the Tax Court or other Federal Courts. Reviews economic, statistical, and subject-matter literature for data and research methodology appropriate for inclusion in the research. In transfer-pricing cases, evaluates the reasonableness of the parties' transfer-pricing positions to the litigation, and, as applicable, may evaluate the reasonableness of foreign tax jurisdiction positions. This is not an all-inclusive list.

Qualifications

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 "Required Documents" for a list of document requirements for all employment authorities. Career Transition Assistance Program Current Chief Counsel Employee Current IRS Employee In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. To qualify for this position Economist of you must meet the qualification requirements listed below by the closing of this announcement: Basic Requirement for an Economist: Completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in Economics, that includes at least 21 semester hours in Economics, and 3 semester hours in Statistics, Accounting, or Calculus. OR Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in economics, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. For GS-15: Specialized Experience: Your resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-14 grade level or pay band in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector. Specialized experience for this position includes expert-level application of economics, statistics, valuation, and transfer-pricing principles to highly complex litigation before the Tax Court and other Federal Courts. The role demands substantial experience analyzing intricate methodologies, reviewing extensive documentation, and advising trial attorneys on technical conclusions and recommended approaches. It requires demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with outside expert witnesses, evaluate expert reports for technical accuracy, and prepare witnesses for deposition and trial. Additionally, the work involves producing comprehensive written and oral work products, developing trial demonstratives, and conducting in-depth research and analysis on tax issues spanning diverse industries and economic concepts. Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify. For this job, you must meet the qualification requirement using experience alone--no substitution of education for experience is permitted. 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. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week, on your resume. Time in Grade Requirement for GS-15: 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-14).

Education

For positions with an education requirement, or if you are qualifying for this position by substituting education or training for experience, submit a copy of your transcripts or equivalent. An official transcript will be required if you are selected. A college or university degree generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools which meet these criteria, please refer to Department of Education Accreditation page. FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. If you are qualifying based on foreign education, you must submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html

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 submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date (09/15/2026) of the announcement to receive consideration. The application process is as follows: Click the Apply Online button. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (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 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 about two (2) 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. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: Visit https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/howto/application/status/. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application.