Legal Careers
Supervisory Trial Attorney (Deputy Chief - PSEU)
The Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice is seeking an experienced attorney to fill the position of Deputy Chief for the Policy and Statutory Enforcement Unit (PSEU), within the Office of Enforcement Operations. The PSEU reviews and prepares recommendations to senior Department leadership on a wide variety of requests by United States Attorney's Offices and Department of Justice attorneys for authorization to use or consultation about certain investigative tools or prosecutorial actions. The investigative tools and prosecutorial actions reviewed by the PSEU include requests to: obtain information from or about members of the news media through subpoenas, court orders, or search warrants in federal criminal, civil, and national security cases; close otherwise public judicial proceedings to the public in federal criminal cases; seek court-ordered use immunity for federal witnesses; subpoena attorneys in federal criminal as well as civil proceedings for information relating to their representation of clients; authorization to apply for search warrants for the premises or electronic storage devices of attorneys who are the subjects or targets of federal investigations; and obtain authorization to conduct a dual or successive federal prosecution of an individual under the Department's Petite policy. The PSEU also provides advice when Department of Justice employees have been subpoenaed to provide testimony or to produce evidence in state or federal judicial proceedings. In addition, the PSEU reviews, and provides analysis and guidance on proposed legislation in a number of areas.
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.
The Deputy Chief for the PSEU is responsible for assisting PSEU's Chief with managing PSEU; ensuring the quality and timeliness of the Unit's work; and handling a variety of legal, policy and managerial tasks, as directed. The incumbent manages and supervises attorneys and support staff within the Unit and will:
· Assist in the initial screening of matters submitted to PSEU and in their assignment to attorneys;
· Assist in ensuring the timely completion of matters submitted to PSEU;
· Review (and on an as needed basis draft) memoranda to ensure that they accurately describe relevant facts and issues for determination, contain an analysis of the relevant law and policy as they apply to the facts of the matter, make appropriate recommendations to higher level Criminal Division or Department decision makers (including the Attorney General) and are concise and clearly written;
· Advise attorneys in the Unit, OEO senior managers and other Department officials and personnel on factual, legal and policy matters;
· Interact with Assistant U.S. Attorneys, federal law enforcement agents, and other Executive Branch officials, and, on occasion, represent the Unit with various agency partners;
· Assist in personnel matters, including the evaluation of PSEU attorneys and support staff and time and attendance functions;
· Assist in ensuring that support staff accurately and efficiently perform administrative functions; and
· Assist in facilitating outreach to Assistant U.S. Attorneys.
Required Qualifications: Interested applicants must possess a J.D. degree, be duly licensed and authorized to practice as an attorney under the laws of any State, territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia, and have at least 5 years post J.D. experience. Applicants must be an active member of the bar in good standing (in any jurisdiction).
· To qualify at the GS-15 level, applicants must have five (5) or more years of post-J.D. legal experience, one of which was specialized experience at, or equivalent to, the GS-14 grade level. Examples of specialized experience include: independently performing legal analysis; composing pleadings, briefs and other court documents involving unique and/or difficult legal issues in civil or criminal litigation; conducting highly complex civil or criminal litigation; demonstrated experience working with sensitive investigative techniques and prosecutorial tools;
· Superior legal writing skills and analytical skills;
· Superior communication skills.
Preferred Qualifications: Your qualifications will be further evaluated based upon the following competencies.
· Experience conducting federal criminal investigations;
· Criminal or civil trial experience;
· Extensive writing experience;
· Experience supervising attorneys;
· Experience with the use of sensitive investigative techniques and prosecutorial tools, such as the ones described above.
The Application Package must be received by 11:59 PM, Eastern Time, on the closing date of this announcement.
Please submit your application through USAJOBS. The list of required documents can be found in the USAJobs announcement.
1. If you do not already have an account, please create a USAjobs account before applying Create an Account. You will be able to upload your resume and supporting documents and complete your profile prior to applying.
2. Once you have an account, apply to the USAjobs vacancy: http://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/423552700
This is a permanent position at the GS-15 grade level. The salary range for this position is $128,082.00 to 160,300.00 per annum, which includes locality pay.
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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.