Clarification from the agency

All U.S. Citizens or U.S. Nationals; No prior Federal experience is required.

Duties assigned to this position could include:

Provide legal analysis and advice on matters and problems that arise in the development of highly visible legislative and regulatory proposals, focused on energy conservation standards for residential appliances and commercial equipment.

Advise program offices on rulemaking requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act and compliance with applicable enabling statutes, Executive Orders, and other statutes governing the regulatory process.

Develop, draft, review, participate in negotiations, and provide comment on legal documents primarily concerned with DOE's responsibilities in this area.

Coordinate with the Office of the Assistant General Counsel for Litigation and the U.S. Department of Justice to defend against legal challenges to energy conservation standards issued by DOE.

Provide legal analysis and advice as program counsel for certain other programs within DOE. This analysis and advice will span several statutory authorities and will require coordinating legal advice among several offices within DOE's Office of the General Counsel.

Review and advise program offices on the development of regulations, directives, reports, guidance, correspondence, and other agency documents, and ensuring compliance with applicable enabling statutes, Executive Orders, and other requirements.

Participate in the development of pending legislation, draft legislative proposals and supporting documents, obtain interagency clearances from the Office of Management and Budget, review bill comments, and provide technical drafting assistance to Congressional committees.

Review and comment on rulemaking and regulatory/deregulatory activities of DOE or other agencies to ensure adequate consideration of DOE concerns, and to assess the impact of those activities on DOE's statutory missions or policies.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a United States Citizen.
• This employer participates in the e-Verify program.
• 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 www.sss.gov.
• If selected, your appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• If selected, you may be required to complete a two year trial period.
• GS-13 and above are required to submit a Financial Disclosure Statement, OGE-450, Executive Branch Personnel Confidential
• If selected, you must self-identify if you are or were (within the last 5 years) a Schedule A, Schedule C, or non-career SES political appointee as OPM approval is required prior to finalizing your selection.
• Proof of current active member in good standing in the bar of a State, District of Columbia, territory of the United States, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
• Employees must maintain active bar membership while employed as an attorney with DOE.
• This position is included in a Bargaining Agreement.
• If selected, occasional travel will be required.

Qualifications

You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

1. Meet the minimum education requirements of successful completion of a full course of study in a school of law accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) with a professional law degree (LL.B. or J.D.); AND
2. Must be a current, active member in good standing of the bar of a state, territory of the United States, District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:

GS-11 Qualifications:

• Advanced educational attainments that clearly indicate the ability to independently perform legal work and active membership in a state or District of Columbia bar. The educational background should include course work beyond the first professional degree in a field directly related to the work for which he/she is being considered.

• One year of professional (attorney) legal experience and active membership in a state or District of Columbia bar and advanced educational attainments that clearly indicate the ability to independently perform complex legal work. The educational background should include course work beyond the first professional degree in a field directly related to the work for which he/she is being considered.

GS-13 Qualifications:

• One year of professional (attorney) legal experience and active membership in a state or District of Columbia bar and advanced educational attainments that clearly indicate the ability to independently perform complex legal work.; AND
• One additional year of professional (attorney) experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to that of an attorney at a level of difficulty comparable to the GS-12 level in the Federal service.

GS-14 Qualifications:

• Three years of professional (attorney) legal experience and active membership in a state or District of Columbia bar and advanced educational attainments that clearly indicate the ability to independently perform complex legal work.; AND
• One additional year of professional (attorney) experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to that of an attorney at a level of difficulty comparable to the GS-13 level in the Federal service.

"Experience" refers to paid and unpaid experience. Examples of qualifying unpaid experience may include: volunteer work done through National Service programs (such as Peace Corps and AmeriCorps); as well as work for other community-based philanthropic and social organizations. Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills; and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

How you will be evaluated

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

Your evaluation involves determining the relevance and quality of your experience and education and whether you meet the minimum qualifications as required. You will be evaluated for this job based on the qualifications above, your Writing Sample that shows your knowledge level and ability to put that into words showing your technical abilities, and your Cover Letter (no more than 3 pages) that describes your interest in this role at the Department of Energy and describes your experience. When describing your experience, please give examples that demonstrate the complexity of the knowledge you possess, the level of the people with whom you interacted, and the sensitivity of the issues you handled. Describe your applicable experience, if any, that touches on the following range of tasks:

• Undertake legal research and provide written legal analysis, advice, and recommendations on complex legal and policy matters.
• Prepare and review rulemakings, orders, Federal Register notices and responsive comments, public filings, policy statements, reports to the President and Congress, and congressional testimony. Review and comment on legislation to determine the potential impact on client activities, and draft amendments.
• Represent clients in meetings, hearings, and other proceedings.
• Support litigation efforts, including the preparation and filing of motions and other documents, in federal and state regulatory proceedings.
• Support transactional work, including the preparation of agreements and performance of due diligence and compliance review.

Minimum Requirements: Your application must show that you meet all requirements, including the education and/or experience required for this position. You will be found "not qualified" if you do not possess the minimum competencies required for the position. If your application is incomplete, we will rate you as ineligible.

Referral: Since this is an Excepted Service position, a non-rated method of evaluation will be used. We will evaluate your application by comparing your description of your work experience, level of responsibility, and accomplishments with the requirements of the position to determine whether you meet all the qualification requirements. Although competitive examining rules for rating and ranking and veterans' preference do not apply, veteran's preference will be considered as a positive factor. Candidates who meet all the qualification and other eligibility requirements will be referred to the selecting official for consideration and possible interview.