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Assistant United States Attorney

Department of Justice
Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys and the Office of the U.S. Attorneys
This job announcement has closed

Summary

If you are looking for an exciting and challenging career, this is the position for you! With a diverse and talented workforce of over 100,000 men and women, Justice leads the Nation in ensuring the protection of all Americans while preserving their constitutional freedoms. You will be part of a dedicated team helping to enforce Federal criminal and civil laws that protect life, liberty, and the property of citizens.

The United States Attorney's Office/Executive Office for United States Attorneys is a great place to work. The Department of Justice ranked #6 out of 18 large agencies and EOUSA/USAO ranked #59 out of 305 agency subcomponents in a study, "The Best Places to Work in the Federal Government, 2016 Ratings" published by the Partnership for Public Service. See http://bestplacestowork.org/BPTW/index.php.

The United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia has an opening for a three-year term as an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) in the Violent Crime and Narcotics Section of the Criminal Division, Charleston, WV Office. The Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia currently has 62 employees. There are two staffed branch offices in Beckley and Huntington, and one un-staffed branch office in Bluefield. The office currently employs 20 Assistant United States Attorneys in the Criminal Division and five Assistant United States Attorneys in the Civil Division.

For more information on the Department of Justice and the United States Attorney's Offices, visit http://www.justice.gov/careers/careers.html.

As needed, additional positions may be filled using this announcement.

This is a temporary appointment not-to-exceed 36 months. This position may be extended or made permanent without further competition.

To view the entire announcement, including instructions on how to apply, click on tabs above.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
09/07/2017 to 09/15/2017
Salary
$60,210 to - $141,275 per year
Pay scale & grade
AD 21
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Charleston, WV
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Within and outside the District will be required. Possibly 2-3 weeks for training and/or local travel for hearings and trials.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Term - Term - 3 years
Work schedule
Full-Time
Service
Promotion potential
29
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Announcement number
17-WVS-10044349-AUSA
Control number
478848100

This job is open to

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Duties

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As an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) within the U.S. Attorney's Office offers unique and challenging experiences for a highly motivated attorney: an opportunity to work on their own caseload and handle their own trials and appeals. Working in the Violent Crime and Narcotics Section of the Criminal Division, the AUSA will be part of a dedicated team helping to investigate and prosecute federal criminal cases and to prepare and argue appeals.

Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a United States Citizen or National.
  • Background Investigation, credit and tax checks, and drug test required.
  • You must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable.
  • J.D. degree and active member of the bar (any U.S. jurisdiction) required.

Type of Position: This is a temporary position not-to-exceed 36 months. This position may be extended or made permanent without further competition.

Security Requirements: Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory preemployment 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: Assistant United States Attorneys generally must reside in the district to which he or she is appointed or within 25 miles thereof. See 28 U.S.C. 545 for district-specific information.

Selective Service: If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System, or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. See www.sss.gov.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications: Applicants must possess a J.D. degree, be an active member of the bar (any U.S. jurisdiction), and have at least two years of legal experience after obtaining the J.D. degree. In addition, applicants must possess superior oral and written communication skills as well as strong interpersonal skills, exhibit good judgment, and be able to function with minimal guidance in a highly demanding environment. The applicant must submit a resume and a writing sample. The local rules of the district court require obtaining membership in the bar of West Virginia within one year of entry on duty.

Preferred qualifications: The ideal candidate will possess outstanding litigation skills, legal writing and research skills, courtroom skills, and be committed to public service. Experience litigating criminal cases in federal court is desirable. A federal judicial clerkship is a plus.

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. You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement.

Education

Applicants must possess a J.D. Degree.

Additional information

Salary Information: Assistant United States Attorney's pay is administratively determined based, in part, on the number of years of professional attorney experience. The range of basic pay is $60,210.00 to $141,275.00 which includes 15.06% locality pay.

Other Benefits:The Department of Justice offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, paid vacation; sick leave; holidays; telework; life insurance; health benefits; and participation in the Federal Employees Retirement System. The Benefits link provides an overview of the benefits currently offered to Federal Employees.

Relocation Expenses: Relocation expenses will not be authorized.

This and other attorney vacancy announcements can be found at: http://www.justice.gov/careers/legal/attvacancies.html.

Department Policies: The U.S. Department of Justice is an Equal Opportunity/Reasonable Accommodation Employer. Except where otherwise provided by law, there will be no discrimination based on color, race, religion, national origin, political affiliation, marital status, disability (physical or mental), age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, genetic information, status as a parent, membership or non-membership in an employee organization, on the basis of personal favoritism, or any non merit 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. 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.

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. Only U.S. Citizens are eligible for employment with the Executive Office of Immigration Review and the United States Attorneys' Offices. Unless otherwise indicated in a particular job advertisement, non-U.S. Citizens may apply for employment with other organizations, but should be advised that appointments of non-U.S. Citizens are 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.

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.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Evaluation Method: Once your complete application package is received, it will be reviewed to ensure you meet all job requirements. An attorney interview panel will then review all qualified applicants and make recommendations for invitation to interview. You will be notified if selected for an interview.

The Occupational Questionnaire will take you approximately 20 minutes to complete.

Veterans' Preference: 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 indicate their preference in response to the appropriate question in their assessment questionnaire (it is also recommended that information is included in their cover letter or resume) and they must submit supporting documentation (e.g., DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty and other supporting documentation) which verifies their eligibility for preference. 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, http://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 his or her retirement was due to a permanent service-connected disability or that he/she was transferred to the permanent disability retired list (the statement or retirement orders must indicate that the disability is 10% or more).

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