Clarification from the agency

All Groups of Qualified Individuals - ALL US CITIZENS

As the Associate Chief Counsel, the incumbent is the principal legal representative of the Office of Chief Counsel, CBP, for his/her jurisdiction, and is responsible for the supervision and performance of all legal duties within the area and such other duties which may be prescribed by delegation from the Chief Counsel.

Under the general direction of the Chief Counsel and the Deputy Chief Counsel, the Associate Chief Counsel (New York) (ACC (NY)) is responsible for the direction and management of the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (New York) and the subordinate Assistant Chief Counsel offices.

The ACC (NY) has full supervisory authority over the staff in his/her territory, including all attorney and non-attorney employees. He/she is responsible for providing the full range of legal advice and representation to all CBP offices in his/her territory, including: U.S. Border Patrol (USBP); the Office of Field Operations (OFO); Air and Marine Operations (AMO); the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR); and the Office of Trade (OT). He/she deals with top CBP officials in his/her territory and CBP officials nationwide; officials of DHS at the Department level and other Government departments; representatives of state, local, tribal and foreign governments; and attorneys from the private sector.

The ACC (NY) provides legal advice and representation on a very broad range of matters, including enforcement of all immigration, customs, and agriculture laws, rules and regulations; enforcement of U.S. laws at the U.S. border; and various Constitutional issues. He/she will deal with matters related to national security, homeland and border security, intelligence, and trade facilitation. He/she ensures the appropriate disclosure of organization information and handles tort claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) and Bivens. He/she provides legal advice under employment law, including the conduct of hearings before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Merit Systems Protection Board and arbitrators.

The ACC (NY) performs a full range of legal duties, including supervising or personally handling: the review of the most complex civil and criminal cases before referral to the Department of Justice (DOJ), negotiation of settlements of large and important cases; the review of other very complex civil and criminal cases at the request of DOJ attorneys and/or CBP managers including such highly sensitive matters as civil rights suits against CBP officials; review of cases for possible appeal and, when appropriate, recommending appeal to a higher court through CBP, DHS and DOJ channels, including meeting with the Solicitor General's Office. He/she prepares detailed memoranda of fact and law recommending action to be taken. He/she has oversight of the preparation and presentation of complex or sensitive cases in administrative or third-party hearings, directs research activities and other preparatory efforts.

As principal attorney, he/she exercises full responsibility for development and presentation of aforementioned cases. He/she also prepares appropriate pleadings, briefs, and discovery documents, interviews witnesses and presents oral arguments as required. He/she is responsible for the formulation of the agency's legal position in all of these matters.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for Selective Service.
• You must submit to a pre-employment drug test.
• You must be able to obtain/maintain a TS/SCI security clearance.
• You may be required to undergo periodic drug testing.
• You will serve a one-year probationary period unless you previously completed the probationary period in the SES.
• Selectee will be required to complete form OGE-278, Executive Personnel Financial Disclosure Form.
• You must possess a professional law degree (e.g., J.D., LL.B.) acquired through graduation for a School of Law accredited by the American Bar Association.
• You must be an active member in good standing of the Bar of a state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a territory of the United States.
• Applying to this announcement certifies that you give permission for DHS to share your application with others in DHS for similar positions.

Qualifications

As a basic requirement for entry into the SES, applicants must provide evidence of progressively responsible executive leadership and supervisory experience that is indicative of senior executive level management capability and directly related to the skills and abilities outlined under Executive Core Qualifications and Technical Qualifications listed below. Typically, experience of this nature will have been gained at or above the GS-14/15 grade level in the federal service or its equivalent in the private sector. As such, your resume should demonstrate that you have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully fulfill responsibilities inherent in most SES positions such as:

• Directing the work of an organizational unit;
• Ensuring the success of one or more specific major programs or projects;
• Monitoring progress toward strategic organizational goals, evaluating organizational performance and taking action to improve performance;
• Supervising the work of employees; and
• Exercising important policymaking, policy determining, or other executive functions.

The application process to recruit for this position is the TRADITIONAL-BASED method. The applicant must address each Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) and Mandatory Technical Qualifications (MTQs) separately.

EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS (ECQs):

Unless you are currently serving under a Career Senior Executive Service (SES) appointment, eligible for reinstatement into the SES, or a SES Candidate Development Program (CDP) graduate, you must address the ECQs. Your narrative must address each ECQ separately and demonstrate the underlying competencies in the narrative. Examples should be clear, concise, and emphasize your level of responsibilities; the scope and complexity of the programs, activities, or services you managed; program accomplishments; policy initiatives undertaken; level of contacts; the sensitivity and criticality of the issues you addressed; and the results of your actions. You should use action oriented leadership words to describe your experience and accomplishments and quantify your experience wherever possible to demonstrate your accomplishments (e.g., number of employees supervised; size of budget managed; amount of money saved, etc.).

Applicants should use the Challenge, Context, Action and Results (CCAR) model below when responding to each ECQ:

• CHALLENGE: Describe a specific problem or goal.
• CONTEXT: Describe individuals and groups you worked with, and/or the environment in which you worked, to address a particular challenge (e.g., clients, members of Congress, shrinking budget, low morale).
• ACTION: Describe the specific actions you took to address a challenge.
• RESULT: Describe specific examples of measures/outcomes that had impact on the organization. These accomplishments demonstrate the quality and effectiveness of your leadership skills.

Your narrative response should not exceed 10 pages, be typed in 12 point font with one-inch margins. It is recommended that you include 2 recent (not older than 10 years) examples per ECQ and draft your ECQs in a PDF document before uploading into the system to ensure these guidelines are met. Information that exceeds these guidelines will not be reviewed. Detailed information on each ECQ, the underlying and fundamental competencies, sample narratives and a tips sheet for writing effective ECQs are available in the "Guide To Senior Executive Service Qualifications" Senior Executive Service Executive Core Qualifications and Senior Executive Service Qualifications & Fundamental-Competencies.

ECQ 1 - LEADING CHANGE. This core qualification involves 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. Leadership Competencies: Creativity & Innovation, External Awareness, Flexibility, Resilience, Strategic Thinking, Vision.

ECQ 2 - LEADING PEOPLE. This core qualification involves 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. Leadership Competencies: Conflict Management, Leveraging Diversity, Developing Others, Team Building.

ECQ 3 - RESULTS DRIVEN. This core qualification involves 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. Leadership Competencies: Accountability, Customer Service, Decisiveness, Entrepreneurship, Problem Solving, Technical Credibility.

ECQ 4 - BUSINESS ACUMEN. This core qualification involves the ability to manage human, financial, and information resources strategically. Leadership Competencies: Financial Management, Human Capital Management, Technology Management.

ECQ 5 - BUILDING COALITIONS. This core qualification involves 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. Leadership Competencies: Partnering, Political Savvy, Influencing/Negotiating.

NOTE: Those applicants currently serving under a career Senior Executive Service appointment, who are eligible for reinstatement into the Senior Executive Service, or who have successfully completed a Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program approved by OPM, need not submit a narrative statement covering each of the Executive Core Qualifications. However, those applicants must address the following Mandatory Technical Competencies.

TECHNICAL QUALIFICATION (TQ)s:

In addition to the Executive Core Qualifications, all candidates must show evidence of the following TQs below in order to meet basic qualifications for this position. Please label and include your name on each page. Please give examples and explain how often you used your skills, the complexity of the knowledge possessed, the level of people you interacted with, the sensitivity of the issues you handled managing a large public or private sector organization that administers complex, rules-based benefits or services, etc. It is recommended that you draft your TQ(s) in a PDF document and then upload into the system.

TQ 1. Demonstrated experience in providing legal advice to private sector or government entities on some or all of the following areas: criminal and civil immigration, customs, trade enforcement, counter-terrorism, national security, intelligence, agriculture laws, and search and seizure of individuals and/or property; contract arbitration and unfair labor practices hearings; employee discrimination and adverse action claims; claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act; actions pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act; debt collection; and license revocation proceedings.

TQ 2. Demonstrated management abilities encompassing both legal and logistical aspects within an agency, law firm, or similar organization. Ability to collaborate with legal and policy professionals to assess and refine agency objectives, authorities, and programs. Ability to produce excellent legal and non-legal written work product that showcased clear and concise analysis.

DO NOT COMBINE THE TQ AND ECQ STATEMENTS. Failure to meet the basic qualification requirement and address all Mandatory Technical and Executive Core Qualification factors will result in your application being disqualified.

Veteran's Preference does not apply to the Senior Executive Service.

How you will be evaluated

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

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

A multi-step process is used to evaluate and refer applicants:

1. Minimum requirements: Your application must show that you meet all requirements including the education and/or experience required for this position. You may be rated "not qualified" if you do not possess the qualification requirements for the position. If your application is incomplete, you may be found "ineligible".

2. Rating and Ranking: A panel of subject matter experts will review your application and evaluate your qualifications for this position based on the information in your application. Your application will be rated, based on the extent and quality of your experience, education, and training relevant to the duties of this position. Interviews will be at the discretion of the panel and/or selecting official.

3. Referral: If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application will be referred to a selecting official for consideration and possible interview. The DHS Executive Resources Board (ERB) will review results and make recommendations on final selections to the appointing authority where final interviews and reference checks may occur. Only the selectee will be required to write Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) narratives.

Your supporting documents are an integral part of the process for determining your qualifications for the position. If your responses are not supported by your resume, you will be eliminated from consideration. After reviewing your resume and supporting documentation, if a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Incomplete or late applications will not receive further consideration.

The application process to recruit for this position is the TRADITIONAL-BASED method. You must address each ECQ separately and limit your statements to no more than two pages per ECQ, totaling no more than ten pages addressing all ECQs. Combine all ECQ responses into 1 document (i.e., all narratives in 1 PDF document). Additionally, you must address each TQ separately, and you should not exceed two pages per TQ. You are required to respond to all TQs. If you fail to do so, you will be rated as 'ineligible.' DO NOT COMBINE THE TQ AND ECQ STATEMENTS.

Unless you have already been certified by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualifications Review Board (QRB) in the past, your ECQs must be certified by the QRB before appointment can occur.