Skip to main content
U.S. flag

Director of Legal Operations Transformation

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Headquarters, NASA
This job announcement has closed

Summary

The Office of General Counsel (OGC) is recruiting for an attorney with a background in managing legal operations for a diverse legal organization to integrate, manage and operate the legal operations functions for a consolidated, geographically dispersed enterprise legal operation with a $37M budget and operations across a dozen core legal functions that support the entire Agency.

Amended to extend closing date.

Overview

Help
Job canceled
Open date: 07/28/2022
Closed date: 08/17/2022
Location
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
Yes—NASA may consider reimbursement of relocation expenses based on Agency discretion and/or organizational needs; relocation expense reimbursement is not guaranteed
Salary
$188,302 - $194,126 per year
Pay scale & grade
ES 00
Promotion potential
None
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.
Appointment type
Term - Limited Term SES Appointment
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
Yes
Federal service type
This job is in the Senior Executive Service
Drug test
Yes
Security clearance
Sensitive Compartmented Information
Position sensitivity and risk
Special-Sensitive (SS)/High Risk
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Announcement number
HQ-22-ES-11587130
Control number
668027100

Videos

Duties

Help

This is a Limited Term SES position and the initial appointment for this position will be for 2 years and may be extended for an additional year.

The Director of Legal Operations Transformation:

- Serves as the Office of the General Counsel (OGC) Enterprise Director of Legal Operations, and reports to the General Counsel and coordinates closely with the Deputy General Counsel. Supervises staff and other employees and is the executive responsible for developing and maturing OGC operational capabilities. Identifies, implements and evolves sustainable operational approaches to ensure the effectiveness of NASA's legal function. Leads creation of processes and practices to improve the day-to-day efficiency and effectiveness of the legal team, facilitating change and controlling costs.

- Responsible for OGC operations, including project management and planning to facilitate effective and efficient consolidated approaches to legal knowledge management and technology; financial and risk management; key performance indicators and data management, Diversity Equity Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA), and strategic workforce planning, development and utilization.

- Benchmarks legal operations at other in-house legal organizations to recommend new enterprise approaches for legal operations to include evolving OGC's transformation implementation plans. Collects and studies client feedback and other relevant data to glean, communicate and implement best practices and lessons learned. Monitors and optimizes the integration and utilization of NASA legal administrative professionals.

- Provides leadership of aligned Chief Counsels and/or Associate General Counsels and supporting staff who have enterprise operational roles on or in support of the OGC Legal Leadership Team. Provides oversight of the development of strategic plans, integrated management, and daily operations for the OGC legal team.

- Fosters constructive culture change and continuous improvement within the OGC Enterprise and identifies where and how divergent operational approaches at different locations can be optimized.

- Leads a communications function utilizing principles of change management to help explain the transformation of OGC's goals, processes and technologies in order to effect change, control change and help employees adapt to change.

- Manages/Chairs OGC's new Legal Leadership Board (LLB) which serves as the strategic-level governance, decision-making and advisory body within OGC for decisions that affect the legal enterprise. Sets the goals and objectives of LLB and ensures that they are met.

- Leads members of Strategic Working Groups (SWG) and other OGC sub-component governance groups. In addition, leads strategic management of workforce enabling an effective enterprise approach to hiring, internships, talent development, recruitment, retention, awards, and training.

- Ensures risk management is an integral component of strategy, culture, and legal operations.

- Manages enterprise budget and administers the OGC Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) process.

- Evaluates and improves quality and efficiency of legal services, optimizing available resources for benefit of NASA clients.

Requirements

Help

Conditions of employment

  • The individual selected will be required to file an 'Executive Branch Personnel Financial Disclosure Report (OGE-278) in accordance with the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.
  • Successful completion of a background investigation commensurate with the risk and sensitivity level of the position.
  • Successful completion of pre-employment and random drug testing may be required.
  • Must meet qualifications requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
  • Please see the Additional Information section for important information about COVID-19.

Qualifications

This is an SES resume-based application, you must clearly articulate and describe within your ten (10) page resume evidence of progressively responsible supervisory/leadership or professional experience which involved management of a program or organization of significant scope and complexity. IMPORTANT: Your resume must provide information regarding your professional experience and accomplishments that demonstrate your ability to perform the duties of this position and meet the Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) and Mandatory Technical Qualifications (MTQs).

Please DO NOT submit separate documents addressing the ECQs and MTQs. Only your resume will be accepted and considered. Any additional documents submitted will not be accepted.

When preparing your resume-based application, you are encouraged to review OPM's Guide to Senior Executive Service Qualification.

EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS:

ECQ 1 - Leading Change: The ability to bring about strategic change, both within and outside the organization, to meet organizational goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to establish an organizational vision and to implement it in a continuously changing environment.

ECQ 2 - Leading People: The ability to lead people toward meeting the organization's vision, mission, and goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to provide an inclusive workplace that fosters the development of others, facilitates cooperation and teamwork, and supports constructive resolution of conflicts.

ECQ 3 - Results Driven: The ability to meet organizational goals and customer expectations. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to make decisions that produce high-quality results by applying technical knowledge, analyzing problems, and calculating risks.

ECQ 4 - Business Acumen: The ability to manage human, financial, and information resources strategically.

ECQ 5 - Building Coalitions: The ability to build coalitions internally and with other Federal agencies, State and local governments, nonprofit and private sector organizations, foreign governments, or international organizations to achieve common goals.


MANDATORY TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS:

MTQ 1- Please describe in your resume, your demonstrated experience identifying and implementing transformative changes across a legal organization, with diverse operations and locations, that resulted in significant efficiencies.

MTQ 2- Please describe in your resume, your demonstrated experience successfully leading the staff responsible for conducting the legal operations (e.g., developing and executing budget, planning staffing, managing risks and Key Performance Indicators) of a legal organization that had diverse operations and locations.

Education

This position has a positive education requirement. To be eligible, you must clearly state in your resume the following: degree, major and/or minor, and college/university.

You must possess a J.D. or LL.M from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association and be a member in good standing of a bar in a state/territory of the United States, District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR 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. These education credentials must be deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, click here.

Additional information

This is a Limited Term SES position and the initial appointment for this position will be for 2 years and may be extended for an additional year.

If the selectee is a current NASA employee with placement rights, the employee will receive a limited term SES appointment and serves for a period of 2 years. Upon conclusion of the limited term appointment, the selectee will then return to an appropriate position at a grade level no lower than the grade previously held.

If the selectee is not a current NASA employee, the selectee will be placed on an SES limited term appointment for a period of 2 years. Upon conclusion of the appointment, the appointment will conclude.

This appointment may be terminated or extended at any time.

Must be able to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI security clearance.

If you are selected, NASA may request information regarding your vaccination status for the purposes of implementing workplace safety protocols, such as masking, physical distancing, testing, travel, and quarantine.

How you will be evaluated

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

All qualifications requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement. You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

This position will be filled using resume-based hiring method. We will review your resume to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. If you meet the basic qualification requirements, your resume may be referred to and evaluated by an Executive Resources Panel (ERP) and will be placed in one of the following categories: Not Qualified, Qualified, or Highly-qualified. Candidates may receive an interview and/or be asked to provide a list of references. The ERP will make a recommendation to the appropriate approving authority.

Headquarters, NASA

At NASA, we are united by a common purpose: to reach for new heights and reveal the unknown for the benefit of humankind. Our diverse set of engineering, scientific, aeronautics and space exploration missions are leaving an enduring impact on humanity. As our missions grow more complex, we will rely on leaders with vision, creativity, and programmatic and technical expertise to lead us into the new era of exploration. In addition to programmatic knowledge, NASA's strong leadership cadre also plays a vital role in empowering our diverse workforce to achieve our shared goals. At NASA, the key to our success is our people. Join us and contribute to work that matters, while helping us create and sustain an environment that fosters excellence, teamwork, inclusiveness, safety and integrity. Align your talents with your passion, and find out why NASA is consistently named a best place to work in the federal government. Join us as we explore the extraordinary, every day.

Agency contact information

NASA Executive Staffing
Email
Agency-Executive-Staffing@mail.nasa.gov
Address
NASA Headquarters
300 E St SW
Washington, DC 20546
US

Visit our careers page

Learn more about what it's like to work at Headquarters, NASA, what the agency does, and about the types of careers this agency offers.

https://www.nasa.gov/careers

Your session is about to expire!

Your USAJOBS session will expire due to inactivity in 8 minutes. Any unsaved data will be lost if you allow the session to expire. Click the button below to continue your session.