Legal Careers
Assistant United States Attorney - Criminal (Albany, NY)
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York (NDNY) is seeking an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) to work in the Criminal Division in its Albany, New York office.
The United States Attorney’s Office for NDNY serves an area comprised of 32 counties in upstate New York. AUSAs are staffed in offices in Albany, Binghamton, Plattsburgh, and Syracuse (headquarters office), and appear before federal judges there and in Utica. Approximately 55 attorneys and 51 support personnel work in NDNY, along with several subject-matter specialist contract personnel.
Albany is the state capital of New York with a metropolitan area that is home to more than one million people. Located within a three-hour drive of New York City and Boston, the Capital Region offers rich history, extensive cultural opportunities, outstanding schools, and the nearby beauty of the Adirondack Mountains, Lake George, and the Catskills.
Find additional information about the Northern District of New York at https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndny
As the federal agency whose mission is to ensure the fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans, the Department of Justice is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. To build and retain a workforce that reflects the diverse experiences and perspectives of the American people, we welcome applicants from the many communities, identities, races, ethnicities, backgrounds, abilities, religions, and cultures of the United States who share our commitment to public service.
This position is in NDNY’s Criminal Division, which is comprised of approximately 36 attorneys and is responsible for prosecuting federal crimes, including offenses involving drug trafficking and smuggling; child exploitation; gang activity and violence; illegal immigration; national and border security; and fraudulent and/or corrupt conduct in government, health care, banking, securities and corporate activity, federal procurement, bankruptcies, and federal taxation.
The selected AUSA will work with law enforcement agencies to investigate such crimes, research and brief legal issues, and represent the United States before grand juries and in hearings, trials, and appeals.
Day-to-day responsibilities may include working with law enforcement agencies and others to investigate such matters, researching legal issues, drafting motions or motion responses, drafting search warrants, appearing before grand juries, and other litigation related duties.
Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as training and experience progress.
Required:
- Applicants must possess a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree, be an active member of the bar (any U.S. jurisdiction), and have at least 1-year post-J.D. legal or other relevant experience.
- Applicants must hold United States citizenship.
Preferred:
The ideal candidate will:
- Have at least 3 years of post-J.D. experience that provided significant opportunity to develop strong legal writing, oral advocacy, and courtroom litigation skills;
- Demonstrate facility with federal criminal practice;
- Be comfortable with all aspects of electronic discovery and litigation;
- Possess impeccable integrity; and
- Be self‑motivated, justice‑oriented, organized, and courteous.
Applicants must meet all qualification requirements upon closing date of this announcement.
NDNY places a high value on diversity of experiences and perspectives and encourages applications from all qualified individuals from all ethnic and racial backgrounds, veterans, LGBT individuals, and persons with disabilities.
All initial attorney appointments to the Department of Justice are made on a 14-month (temporary) basis pending favorable adjudication of a background investigation. Temporary appointments may be extended or made permanent without further competition.
The staffing of this position is subject to the availability of funds.
Security Requirements:
Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory pre-employment adjudication. This includes fingerprint, credit and tax checks, and drug testing. In addition, continued employment is subject to a favorable adjudication of a background investigation.
Residency Requirements:
AUSAs generally must reside in the district to which they are appointed or within 25 miles thereof. See 28 U.S.C. §545 for district-specific information.
Benefits:
The Department of Justice offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, paid vacation; sick leave; holidays; life insurance; health benefits; and participation in the Federal Employees Retirement System. This link provides an overview of the benefits currently offered to Federal employees: https://help.usajobs.gov/index.php/Pay_and_Benefits.
To apply, applications must be submitted online through USAJOBS, which may be accessed via the following link: USAJOBS - Job Announcement
Please reference the "Required Documents" section of the USAJOBS vacancy for information regarding the specific documents and the format in which they must be submitted to complete your application.
Evaluation Process:
Once your complete application package is received, it will be reviewed to ensure you meet all job requirements. After the application period closes, an attorney interview panel will then review all qualified applicants and make recommendations for invitations to interview. You will be notified if selected for an interview. Our hiring process typically involves two rounds of panel-style interviews.
If you have questions regarding this process, you may contact Maria Farrell, Human Resources Officer at 315-448-0963 or maria.farrell@usdoj.gov.
Applicants should familiarize themselves and comply with the relevant rules of professional conduct regarding any possible conflicts of interest in connection with their applications. In particular, please notify this Office if you currently represent clients or adjudicate matters in which this Office is involved and/or you have a family member who is representing clients or adjudicating matters in which this Office is involved so that we can evaluate any potential conflict of interest or disqualification issue that may need to be addressed under those circumstances.
Pay for AUSAs is administratively determined based, in part, on the number of years of professional attorney experience. The range of basic pay is $74,684 to $191,800, which includes a locality pay supplement applicable to the Albany, NY area of 20.25% where authorized.
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Department Policies
Equal Employment Opportunity: The U.S. Department of Justice is an Equal Opportunity/Reasonable Accommodation Employer. Except where otherwise provided by law, there will be no discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex - including gender identity, sexual orientation, or pregnancy status - or because of age (over 40), physical or mental disability, protected genetic information, parental status, marital status, political affiliation, or any other non-merit based factor. The Department of Justice welcomes and encourages applications from persons with physical and mental disabilities. The Department is firmly committed to satisfying its affirmative obligations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to ensure that persons with disabilities have every opportunity to be hired and advanced on the basis of merit within the Department of Justice. For more information, please review our full EEO Statement.
Reasonable Accommodations: This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Outreach and Recruitment for Qualified Applicants with Disabilities: The Department encourages qualified applicants with disabilities, including individuals with targeted/severe disabilities to apply in response to posted vacancy announcements. Qualified applicants with targeted/severe disabilities may be eligible for direct hire, non-competitive appointment under Schedule A (5 C.F.R. § 213.3102(u)) hiring authority. Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to contact one of the Department’s Disability Points of Contact (DPOC) to express an interest in being considered for a position. See list of DPOCs.
Suitability and Citizenship: It is the policy of the Department to achieve a drug-free workplace and persons selected for employment will be required to pass a drug test which screens for illegal drug use prior to final appointment. Employment is also contingent upon the completion and satisfactory adjudication of a background investigation. Congress generally prohibits agencies from employing non-citizens within the United States, except for a few narrow exceptions as set forth in the annual Appropriations Act (see, https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/non-citizens/). Pursuant to DOJ component policies, only U.S. citizens are eligible for employment with the Executive Office for Immigration Review, U.S. Trustee’s Offices, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Unless otherwise indicated in a particular job advertisement, qualifying non-U.S. citizens meeting immigration and appropriations law criteria may apply for employment with other DOJ organizations. However, please be advised that the appointment of non-U.S. citizens is extremely rare; such appointments would be possible only if necessary to accomplish the Department's mission and would be subject to strict security requirements. Applicants who hold dual citizenship in the U.S. and another country will be considered on a case-by-case basis. All DOJ employees are subject to a residency requirement. Candidates must have lived in the United States for at least three of the past five years. The three-year period is cumulative, not necessarily consecutive. Federal or military employees, or dependents of federal or military employees serving overseas, are excepted from this requirement. This is a Department security requirement which is waived only for extreme circumstances and handled on a case-by-case basis.
Veterans: There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of Justice considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. Applicants eligible for veterans' preference must include that information in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documentation (e.g., the DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty and other supporting documentation) to their submissions. Although the "point" system is not used, per se, applicants eligible to claim 10-point preference must submit Standard Form (SF) 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, and submit the supporting documentation required for the specific type of preference claimed (visit the OPM website, www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/SF15.pdf for a copy of SF 15, which lists the types of 10-point preferences and the required supporting document(s). Applicants should note that SF 15 requires supporting documentation associated with service- connected disabilities or receipt of nonservice-connected disability pensions to be dated 1991 or later except in the case of service members submitting official statements or retirement orders from a branch of the Armed Forces showing that their retirement was due to a permanent service-connected disability or that they were transferred to the permanent disability retired list (the statement or retirement orders must indicate that the disability is 10% or more).
USAO Residency Requirement: Assistant United States Attorneys must reside in the district to which appointed or within 25 miles thereof. See 28 U.S.C. 545 for district specific information.
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This and other vacancy announcements can be found under Attorney Vacancies and Volunteer Legal Internships. The Department of Justice cannot control further dissemination and/or posting of information contained in this vacancy announcement. Such posting and/or dissemination is not an endorsement by the Department of the organization or group disseminating and/or posting the information.