The individual serves as an Attorney-Adviser, GS-0905, in the Office of Proceedings which has primary responsibility for drafting decisions and developing the public record in formal proceedings.
The full performance grade level is a GS-15. The hiring official may select at any grade level from GS-11 through GS-15.
The individual serves as an Attorney-Adviser, GS-0905, in the Office of Proceedings which has primary responsibility for drafting decisions and developing the public record in formal proceedings.
The full performance grade level is a GS-15. The hiring official may select at any grade level from GS-11 through GS-15.
U.S. Citizenship is required.
All qualification requirements must be met by 10/20/2022. Your application package will not receive consideration if it lacks any of the required documents under the "Required Documents" tab.
Trial Period: Two-year trial period may be required.
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 http://www.sss.gov/
Background Suitability Investigation: Continued employment is contingent upon satisfactory completion of a background investigation and the granting of a Federal suitability or security clearance. If selected, you may be offered tentative employment until the background investigation has been fully adjudicated.
Relocation expenses are not authorized.
The Office of Personnel Management has not issued qualification standards for attorney positions. However, successful candidates must possess the following minimum qualifications before the closing date of this posting:
All candidates being considered must demonstrate through their application documents: excellent research and writing skills, incisive legal analytical ability, strong oral advocacy and presentation skills.
GS-11 candidates must possess their first professional law degree and a record of the first professional law degree demonstrating superior law student work or activities (e.g., superior academic standing, significant achievement in law school activities, or other equivalent evidence of clearly superior achievement i.e., law clerk experience or work experience significant to law school of record).
GS-12 candidates must have one year of professional legal experience: analyzing statutes, regulations, and decisional law, and presenting those analyses and relevant legal or policy issues for decision. Federal clerkships count towards creditable experience.
GS-13 candidates must have two years of professional legal experience: analyzing statutes, regulations, and decisional law, and presenting those analyses and relevant legal or policy issues for decision and resolving disputes. Federal clerkships count towards creditable experience.
GS-14 candidates must have three years of professional legal experience: analyzing statutes, regulations, and decisional law; presenting those analyses and relevant legal or policy issues for decision; resolving disputes, and must possess a legal background in transportation, economics, administrative law, or government regulation. Federal clerkships count towards creditable experience.
GS-15 candidates must have four years of professional legal experience: analyzing statutes, regulations, and decisional law, and presenting those analyses and relevant legal or policy issues for decision and resolving disputes in support of an efficient, competitive, and economically viable surface transportation network. Candidates at this level will also have experience providing advice on complex technical issues concerning rail transportation. Federal clerkships count towards creditable experience.
A writing sample is to be submitted with application package.
You MUST provide transcripts or other documentation to support your educational claims. Unless otherwise stated: (1) unofficial transcripts are acceptable, or (2) you may submit a list with all of your courses, grades, semester, year, and credit for the course. All materials must be submitted by the closing date of the announcement.
Foreign Education: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at U.S. accredited college or university. For further information visit: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Once the application process is complete, a review of the resume and supporting documentation will be made to determine if you are qualified for this job. If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your rating may be lowered to more accurately reflect the submitted documentation.
NOTE: ANNOUCNEMENT IS OPEN CONTINUOUS. The first group of candidates who meet the qualifications described above and who file their applications by 20 days after this announcement is issued will be promptly referred to the hiring official for consideration. Subsequent groups of candidates who meet the qualifications will be referred to the hiring official for consideration on a bi-monthly basis.
Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP). ICTAP provides eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if this vacancy is within your ICTAP eligibility, you apply under the instructions in this announcement, and you are found well-qualified for this vacancy. Well-qualified means you must be within the Best and Highly Qualified categories; meet medical, suitability, and minimum educational and experience requirements; all selective factors where applicable and appropriate quality ranking factor levels; be physically qualified, with reasonable accommodation where appropriate, to perform the essential duties of the position; meet any special qualifying condition(s) that OPM has approved for the position; and be able to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position upon entry. You must provide proof of eligibility with your application to receive selection priority. Proof may include a copy of your written notification of ICTAP eligibility or a copy of your separation personnel action form. Information about ICTAP is on OPM's website at http://www.opm.gov/ctap/index.asp.
Preview the Assessment Questionnaire, https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/11459618
Please be advised, the following documents are required even if you are already a current Federal or STB employee:
1. Cover letter indicating why you are applying for this position and why you believe you ought to be selected.
2. Resume that includes the experience you wish to be considered for the review of your qualifications, the dates of employment with month and year, and hours worked per week, if part time. Resumes that do not contain all of the necessary information to determine qualifications may be marked as insufficient and applicants may not receive consideration for this position. Your latest resume submission is the one that will be used to determine your qualifications.
3. Responses to questionnaire.
4. Writing Sample: applicants MUST include an unedited or lightly edited writing sample that demonstrates your ability to perform the duties of the position and illustrates your ability to conduct complex legal research and analysis. selected extracts of larger documents are acceptable. If appropriate, please attach and explanatory cover memo to your writing sample.DO NOT submit any sensitive or classified documents or documents containing personally identifiable information (PII).
5. Supporting documents verifying your eligibility or any preference eligibility along with your application package.
These documents may include, but are not limited to:
To apply for this position, you must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section above.
The complete application package must be submitted before the announcement closes on 10/20/2022. The following instructions outline our application process. You must complete this application process and submit any required documents by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. ET, Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, please contact us by noon ET on the announcement's closing date.
To begin your online application:
You must create a login.gov account, if you don't already have one. You must:
-Create a login.gov account - you only need to do this once.
-Enter an email address during the account set up - use the same email address you use for USAJOBS (your primary or secondary email address).
-Create a new password.
-Have a working phone number (mobile or landline) near you - login.gov will send you a security code.
-Finish setting up your login.gov account.
Once you've finished setting up your login.gov account, you'll go back to USAJOBS to finish the process. Double check your USAJOBS Profile to make sure all of your information is accurate. You must use your login.gov email address, password, and security code every time you want to sign into USAJOBS. Follow the prompts in USAJOBS to take the online questionnaire and submit the required documents. See Required Documents section for more details.
Note: We recommend you don't use a .gov, .mil or .edu email address. Instead, use a personal (non-government) email address when you create your login.gov account. Please do not use an email address you share with someone else
** For any issues signing into login.gov, go to https://login.gov/contact/
This and other STB positions may be filled using Schedule A, 5 CFR 213.3102(u). Schedule A is an excepted service hiring authority used to appoint persons with severe physical disabilities, psychiatric disabilities, and intellectual disabilities. Such individuals may be converted to permanent status after two years of satisfactory service. Documentation of disability is required, that is, a Schedule A Letter, which is used to verify that the applicant qualifies under Schedule A. This documentation must be provided at the time of application. A Schedule A letter can be obtained from a licensed medical professional (e.g., a physician or other medical professional certified by a state, the District of Columbia, or a U.S. territory to practice medicine); a licensed vocational rehabilitation specialist (i.e., state or private); or any Federal agency, state agency, or agency of the District of Columbia or a U.S. territory that issues or provides disability benefits. A VA letter does not qualify as a Schedule A letter. If you are an individual with a disability and need an accommodation for the application process, please include the accommodation request with your Schedule A letter. Reasonable accommodation requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Because this vacancy announcement is a competitive announcement, in order to be considered under Schedule A, you must email your Schedule A documentation and resume directly to Keyonna Washington at Keyonna.washington@stb.gov, instead of applying through USAJobs.
All candidates will be referred to the hiring manager for further consideration and possible interview.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
