The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) is seeking a highly qualified attorney to serve in the Office of Special Reviews (OSR), located in Washington, D.C. OSR broad range of work includes reviews of VA operations, administrative investigations involving senior VA officials, and examinations of whistleblower retaliation allegations involving VA contractors and subcontractors. The office often initiates reviews and investigations at the request of the Inspector General or Congress.
The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) is seeking a highly qualified attorney to serve in the Office of Special Reviews (OSR), located in Washington, D.C. OSR broad range of work includes reviews of VA operations, administrative investigations involving senior VA officials, and examinations of whistleblower retaliation allegations involving VA contractors and subcontractors. The office often initiates reviews and investigations at the request of the Inspector General or Congress.
Open to all US citizens or US nationals; no prior federal experience is required
The following are the duties of this position at the GS-15 level. If you are selected at a lower grade level, you will have the opportunity to learn to perform all these duties and will receive training to help you grow in this position.
Attorneys in OSR have significant investigative and writing experience gained from public or private sector and have often previously served as internal investigations counsel, trial litigators (civil and criminal), appellate attorneys, and federal agency counsel. The day-to-day work includes:
The experience may have been gained in either the public sector, private sector or through volunteer service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/day/year and indicate number of hours worked per week on your resume.
Key Requirements:You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
Be a current member of a bar with a valid license to practice law in a state or territory of the United States, District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Specialized experience: For the GS-13 grade level, you must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position includes:18 months of pertinent legal experience at the GS-12 level, or equivalent level of difficulty in the Federal service or private sector, that has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of this position.
Examples of such experience might include:
Must be a graduate of a law school accredited by the American Bar Association at the time of graduation (a copy of your transcript will be required if selected).
A college or university degree generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools which meet these criteria, please refer to Department of Education Accreditation page.
If you are qualifying based on foreign education, you must submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. Refer to the OPM instructions.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
How You will be Evaluated: Your application includes your resume, responses to the online questions, and required supporting documents. Please be sure that your resume includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position; failure to provide sufficient evidence in your resume may result in a not qualified determination.
Rating: This announcement is issued under excepted service hiring authority for Attorney positions (5CFR 213.3102): all candidates who meet all the qualification and other eligibility requirements may be referred for consideration. Competitive examining rules providing for rating and ranking and veteran preference do not apply.
Referral: If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application may be referred to a selecting official for consideration. You may be required to participate in a selection interview and/or a writing assessment. Applicants who are selected for an interview may ask questions about the evaluation process at the time they are contacted for an interview.
A complete application includes 1. A resume, 2. Vacancy question responses, and 3. Submission of any required documents. Please note that if you do not provide all required information, as specified in this announcement, you may not be considered for this position (or may not receive the special consideration for which you may be eligible).
It is anticipated that there will be significant interest in the announcement. As a result, the announcement will close at 11:59 p.m. ET on the date of receipt of the 200th application or at 11:59 p.m. ET on June 14, 2023; whichever occurs first. Any required documents should be submitted at the time that you apply as documents will not be accepted after the vacancy closes.
All applicants are required to submit a resume either by creating one in USAJOBS or uploading one of their own choosing. (Cover letters are optional.) To receive full credit for relevant experience, please list the month/date/year and number of hours worked for experience listed on your resume. We suggest that you preview the online questions, as you may need to customize your résumé to ensure that it supports your responses to these questions. Please view résumé tips.
VETERAN PREFERENCE DOCUMENTATION: Even though veteran preference does not apply to this excepted service authority you are still encouraged to submit your documentation. Please see applicant guide for required documentation.
EDUCATION DOCUMENTATION: Submit a copy of your transcripts or equivalent. An official transcript will be required if you are selected. A college or university degree generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools which meet these criteria, please refer to Department of Education Accreditation page. If you are qualifying based on foreign education, you must submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. Refer to the OPM instructions.
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
VAOIG has partnered with the Treasury Bureau of the Fiscal Service to provide certain personnel services to its organization. Fiscal Service responsibilities include advertising vacancies, accepting and handling applications, and extending job offers.
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 closing date.
The Bureau provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us if you require this for any part of the application and hiring process.
Once the online questionnaire is received, you will receive an acknowledgement email that your submission was successful. We will review your resume and transcript(s) (if appropriate) to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. We will evaluate each applicant who meets the basic qualifications on the information provided and may interview the best-qualified applicants. After making a tentative job offer, we will conduct any required suitability and/or security background investigation.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
