Closing Date: 31st July, 2024

Description:

Summary:
The Associate Deputy General Counsel provides executive leadership on complex, cross-disciplinary issues of central importance to implementing the Department's strategic goals, particularly those issues requiring immediate attention and swift resolution to avoid or minimize risk to the Department's missions or the missions of its component offices. This position exists to promote coordinated, cross-organizational oversight of and response to important Departmental legal issues and concerns.

Duties:
As Associate Deputy General Counsel, the incumbent serves as a senior legal advisor in OGC and directly oversees two or more divisions or offices within OGC, as determined by the General Counsel or Deputy General Counsel for Administration and based upon the needs and goals of OGC and the Department, typically focused on areas of particular risk or concern. In such capacity, the incumbent assists OGC leadership. Specifically, incumbent:
  • Serves as the principal assistant to the Deputy General Counsel for Administration (DGCA) and will act for the DGCA in his or her absence or in the event that the DGCA position is vacant.
  • Provides counsel and strategically guides the Department and its Bureaus when engaged in issues related to those divisions or offices he or she directs: reviewing legislation, executive orders, and proclamations to determine their legal effect upon the relevant activities of the Department; preparing, advising, or examining for legal form and effect public and internal orders, rules, and regulations issued by the Department in these areas, and providing assistance in these areas to the OGC leadership.
  • Supervises the work of those divisions or offices assigned to him or her: providing legal and strategic advice and guidance to management on a wide range of issues; issuing legal opinions, supervising the development and conduct of litigation before administrative bodies, and assisting the Department of Justice in representing the Department in Federal courts; conducting, overseeing, or reviewing responses to Inspector General referrals, audits, and investigations and other internal investigations initiated by the Department.
  • Performs other special duties as assigned by the General Counsel or the Deputy General Counsel for Administration.

Requirements:
Conditions of Employment:
  • Background and/or Security Investigation required.
  • All members of the SES are subject to geographic relocation.
  • A one-year probationary period is required for new SES members.
  • Subject to pre-employment and employment random drug testing.
  • Public Financial Disclosure (SF-278 filing within 30 days is required).

OPM approval is required before appointing any current or former political appointee to a permanent position in the civil service. This includes anyone who has been a political appointee in the last five years.

Qualifications:
All candidates for SES positions with the Federal Government must demonstrate leadership experience indicative of senior executive level management capability.

To meet the minimum qualification requirements for this position, your resume should demonstrate that you possess the five Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs), and the Professional Technical Qualifications (PTQ's), listed below.

It is recommended that your resume emphasize levels of responsibility, scope and complexity of programs managed, and program accomplishments and results. Typically, experience of this nature will have been gained at or above the equivalent of the GS-15 grade level in the Federal service or its equivalent with state and local government, the private sector, or non-governmental organizations. Failure to meet all executive and technical qualification factors will automatically exclude you from further consideration.

Executive Core Qualifications: The following are the five ECQs and their competencies. The ECQs were developed to assess executive experience and potential, not to evaluate technical experience. ECQs measure whether an individual has the broad experience needed to succeed in a variety of SES positions.
  • ECQ 1 - Leading Change: This core qualification involves the ability to bring about strategic change, both within and outside the organization, to meet organizational goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to establish an organizational vision and to implement it in a continuously changing environment. (Competencies: creativity and innovation, external awareness, flexibility, resilience, strategic thinking, vision).
  • ECQ 2 - Leading People: This core qualification involves the ability to lead people toward meeting the organization's vision, mission, and goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to provide an inclusive workplace that fosters the development of others, facilitates cooperation and teamwork, and supports constructive resolution of conflicts.(Competencies: conflict management, leveraging diversity, developing others, team building).
  • ECQ 3 - Results Driven: This core qualification involves the ability to meet organizational goals and customer expectations. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to make decisions that produce high-quality results by applying technical knowledge, analyzing problems, and calculating risks. (Competencies: accountability, customer service, decisiveness, entrepreneurship, problem solving, technical credibility).
  • ECQ 4 - Business Acumen: This core qualification involves the ability to manage human, financial, and information resources strategically.(Competencies: financial management, human capital management, technology management).
  • ECQ 5 - Building Coalitions: This core qualification involves the ability to build coalitions internally and with other Federal agencies, State and local governments, nonprofit and private sector organizations, foreign governments, or international organizations to achieve common goals. (Competencies: partnering, political savvy, influencing/negotiating).

For detailed guidance on ECQs, applicants are strongly encouraged to review the Office of Personnel Management's Guide to Executive Qualifications at http://www.opm.gov/ses/recruitment/ecq.asp Example of ECQ statements are available at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/senior-executive-service/reference-materials/guidetosesquals_2012.pdf

Professional/Technical Qualifications:
  • Executive experience working with senior policy officials to identify and address legal issues involved in developing and implementing high-profile programs of interest to Congress and the public.
  • Executive experience in planning, implementing, and supervising legal work, providing sound and timely legal counsel on litigation and oversight issues.
  • Executive experience developing strategy for trial and appellate litigation in Federal Courts.

IF Selected, you will be required to complete an ECQ package by drafting narratives for each of the ECQs and be certified by an OPM Qualifications Review Board (QRB) in order to be placed in this position. If you are currently serving in a career SES appointment, are eligible for reinstatement into the SES, or have successfully completed an SES Candidate Development Program and your ECQs were certified by an OPM QRB, you WILL NOT need to draft the ECQs.

Education:
A professional law degree (LL.B. or J.D.) from an accredited law school, Law School transcript required AND active membership of the bar in good standing in any state, territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Additional Information: