Clarification from the agency

This vacancy is open to applicants who currently live in the Washington, DC metropolitan or commuting and/or current employees of the Federal Judiciary (AO or U.S. Courts).

OLA is responsible for working with the Judicial Conference of the United States and its committees to develop Judicial Conference positions on legislative issues; promoting legislative initiatives the Judicial Conference has approved; identifying and monitoring congressional activity having a major impact on the Judiciary; and developing and coordinating responses to all policy or legislative inquiries from Congress. The incumbent will serve as legislative counsel and advise Administrative Office (AO) executives and the Judicial Conference regarding legislation and policy initiatives. The duties include, but are not limited to:

1. Identifying key issues, monitoring, and analyzing legislation for its potential impact on the Federal Judiciary and its relationship to established Judicial Conference policy;
2. Drafting legislation and accompanying documents that describe and justify legislative initiatives and/or positions on legislative proposals;
3. Developing and maintaining ongoing communications with staff of Congressional committees and Members of Congress on matters of interest to the Judiciary and serving as a point of contact for communications with the Congress;
4. Researching and analyzing complex issues important to the Judiciary and communicating any proposals and views on behalf of the Judicial Conference;
5. Writing, reviewing, and managing a variety of written communications, such as executive correspondence, congressional testimony, speeches, and reports, describing and supporting the Judiciary's legislative activity, proposals and Judiciary's positions;
6. Effectively reporting on Congressional hearings, markups and briefings, as well as conferences and meetings conducted outside of Congress that bear on legislative issues;
7. Developing, proposing, and implementing plans for effectuating legislative priorities;
8. Organizing, conducting, attending, and reporting on briefings, meetings, and presentations within the Judicial Branch, and between the Judicial Branch and Congress, that relate to the legislative priorities of the Judicial Conference;
9. Providing expert advice to Judicial Branch officials, including Conference Committees and their staffs, in the development of policy proposals as they relate to potential or actual legislation, the legislative process, Congressional perspectives, legislative strategy, and on inter-branch negotiations on legislation; and
10. Developing and implementing strategies for presenting information to congressional staff.

Conditions of employment

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

1. All information is subject to verification. Applicants are advised that false answers or omissions of information on application materials or inability to meet the following conditions may be grounds for non-selection, withdrawal of an offer of employment, or dismissal after being employed.
2. Selection for this position is contingent upon completion of OF-306, Declaration of Federal Employment during the pre-employment process and proof of U.S. citizenship for competitive status positions or conversion to a competitive status position with the Administrative Office of the US Courts. In instances where non-citizens are considered for hire into temporary or any other position with non competitive status or when it is confirmed by the AO's Human Resources Office that there are no qualified U.S. citizens for a competitive status position (unless prohibited by a law or statue), non-citizens must provide proof of authorization to work in the United States and proof of entitlement to receive compensation. Additional information on the employment of non-citizens can be found at http://ww.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/non-citizens. For a list of documents that may be used to provide proof of citizenship or authorization to work in the United States, please refer to Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.
3. All new AO employees will be required to complete a FBI fingerprint-based national criminal database and records check.
4. You will be required to serve a trial period if selected for a first-time appointment to the Federal government, transferring from another Federal agency, or serving as a first-time supervisor. Failure to successfully complete the trial period may result in termination of employment.
5. Relocation expenses may be provided, but only if authorized by the Director of the AO.
6. More than one selection may be made from this announcement.
7. All requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Qualifications

Applicants must have demonstrated experience as listed below. This requirement is according to the AO Classification, Compensation, and Recruitment Systems which include interpretive guidance and reference to the OPM Operating Manual for Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions.

Bar Membership: Applicants must currently be an active member in good standing of the bar of a state, territory, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or a federal court of general jurisdiction.Applicants are responsible for citing minimum qualifications such as J.D. and bar membership information (institution name, state(s) for bar, and dates) on their respective resumes. Failure to supply details will constitute an incomplete application. All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Post J.D. Experience: Applicants must also possess at least five years of post J.D. experience.

Specialized Experience: Subsequent to graduation from law school, applicants must have at least one full year (preferably more than three) of specialized experience which is in or directly related to the line of work of this position. Specialized experience is demonstrated experience in ALL of the following areas:

• A broad technical and functional expertise in the federal legislative process that is used to formulate, implement, and lead Congressional activities;
• Expertise in preparing a variety of written communications, such as legal memoranda, legislative, and explanatory materials, Congressional testimony, executive-quality correspondence, speeches, and reports, and appropriately tailoring them to the intended audience;
• Expertise in skillfully and quickly assessing complex information and situations in order to identify key issues and appropriate solutions; and
• Experience in negotiating appropriate legislative and policy solutions for issues of substantial impact, sensitivity and complexity.

• Experience engaging in, or responding to Congressional oversight of a federal department or agency;
• Experience in the proper care and handling of national security-classified materials; and/or
• A graduate degree in addition to a JD, in a relevant field, such as Master of Public Administration.

• Demonstrated experience in identifying and providing analysis of complex legal and legislative issues, both orally and in writing, for executive level decision-makers;
• Demonstrated experience in working collaboratively with others to propose, reach, and execute policy decisions;
• Demonstrated experience as an effective strategist providing constructive advice to executive level decision-makers; and
• Demonstrated experience in exercising sound judgment and communicating in order to negotiate solutions and execute decisions on behalf of executive-level officials.

How you will be evaluated

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

We will review your resume and supporting documentation and compare this information to your responses on the occupational questionnaire to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for this job. If you meet the minimum qualifications for this job, we will evaluate your application package, to assess the quality, depth, and complexity of your accomplishments, experience, and education as they relate to the requirements listed in this vacancy announcement.

You should be aware that your ratings are subject to evaluation and verification. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your resume and/or narrative responses, you will be assigned a rating commensurate to your described experience. Failure to submit the mandatory narrative responses will result in not receiving full consideration and/or rating credit. Deliberate attempts to falsify information may be grounds for not selecting you, withdrawing an offer of employment, or dismissal after being employed.