Clarification from the agency

All U.S. Citizens, Senior Executive Service (SES), and Federal Employees in the Excepted or Competitive Service.

As the Director, the successful candidate:

• Plans and directs a nationwide program to enforce federal civil rights laws through handling Division cases in the United States Courts of Appeals and, in cooperation with the Office of the Solicitor General, in the Supreme Court.
• Recommends, based on input from other chiefs, staff, litigating sections, and the general counsels of other agencies, whether appellate review in the Supreme Court or courts of appeals should be sought of adverse judicial decisions and whether the Division should seek to participate as amicus curiae in the Supreme Court, federal courts of appeals, or state appellate courts.
• Assesses the quality and content of all appellate briefs and oral arguments handled by the Division, to ensure that they are persuasive, supported by the facts and law, and consistent with Department policy and priorities.
• Personally handles particularly sensitive, high-profile, or difficult civil rights appeals. Such cases often involve the establishment of legal precedents of great significance.
• Exercises management oversight of the Section, including setting enforcement priorities; supervises an office of approximately 25 fulltime positions, including managers, trial attorneys, and professional administrative support staff.
• Is responsible for overall management of personnel, litigative program development, budget, and other matters, and participates in the decisional process relating to these subjects. The chief supervises - both directly and through subordinate managers - the Section's
  attorneys and support personnel.
• Consults with and advises the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights and the Deputy Assistant Attorneys General.
• Coordinates with the Division's other Section Chiefs and Deputies as appropriate.
• Confers with the Office of the Solicitor General, as appropriate, regarding all important stages of appellate litigation.
• Meets, coordinates, and fosters good working relationships with United States Attorneys' Offices, other Department of Justice components, and other federal departments and regulatory agencies.
• Coordinates with counsel for private litigants in cases in which the Government intervenes or participates as amicus curiae.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to qualify for this position.
• The Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) and Mandatory Technical Qualification must be demonstrated in your resume.
• You must complete a background investigation, to include pre-employment drug testing. Continued employment is contingent upon successful completion and adjudication of your background investigation and award of a Top-Secret security clearance.
• You must have a Juris Doctorate degree from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association and be an active member in good standing of the bar of a state or territory of the US, the District of Columbia or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
• Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement.
• Applicants seeking initial career appointment to the Senior Executive Service are subject to a one-year probationary period.
• Veterans' preference is not applicable to the Senior Executive Service.
• 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.
• This position requires you to submit a Public Financial Disclosure Report (OGE 278) upon entry, and annually thereafter in accordance with DOJ and Federal ethics guidelines.
• Resume cannot exceed two (2) pages.

Qualifications

***READ THIS JOB OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT CAREFULLY AND IN ITS ENTIRETY. It contains detailed information required to ensure you are appropriately considered for the position.***

The application process for Senior Executive Service (SES) is RESUME-ONLY. Resumes exceeding two pages will be removed from consideration.

Your resume file must be 5 MB or smaller. For best results, save and upload your resume as a PDF to preserve its formatting and page count. You may also upload files in GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, ODT, or Word (DOC or DOCX) formats. Do not upload PDF portfolios, as the system will not accept them.

It is recommended that applicants use a clean, common font such as Lato, Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open Sans, Source Sans Pro, Roboto, or Noto Sans. Set margins to 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point font for section titles and 10-point font for the main text.

The Resume Builder can also support these recommendations and uses information from your USAJOBS profile to help you get started.

**Note: If you are a current SES career appointee, a former SES member having reinstatement eligibility, or an OPM-certified graduate of an approved SES Candidate Development Program and have had their ECQs certified by OPM, you must provide a copy of your certificate. Possessing an SES certification does not remove the requirement to address the position's MTQs. You must submit the appropriate SF50 (showing SES status) or an OPM Qualifications Review Board certificate.

We recommend that your resume emphasize your level of responsibilities, the scope and complexity of the programs managed, and your program accomplishments, including the results of your actions. You will be evaluated to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications required of the position and on the extent your application demonstrates that you possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities required of theDirector, Appellate Section. Be sure to give concrete examples of your experience and demonstrate the complexity of the knowledge you possess. Applicants must clearly demonstrate their leadership abilities by addressing the Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) and Mandatory Technical Qualifications (MTQs) in their resume. Make sure your accomplishments clearly show how you meet each qualification.

ECQS

1. COMMITMENT TO THE RULE OF LAW AND THE PRINCIPLES OF THE AMERICAN FOUNDING. Demonstrated knowledge of the American system of government, commitment to uphold the Constitution and the Rule of Law, and commitment to serve the American people.

2. DRIVING EFFICIENCY. Demonstrated ability to strategically and sufficiently manage resources, budget effectively, cut wasteful spending, and pursue efficiency through process and technological upgrades.

3. MERIT AND COMPETENCE. Demonstrated knowledge, ability and technical competence to effectively and reliably produce work that is of exceptional quality.

4. LEADING PEOPLE. Demonstrated ability to lead and inspire a group toward meeting the organization's vision, mission, and goals; To drive a high-performance, high-accountability culture.

5. ACHIEVING RESULTS. Demonstrated ability to achieve both individual and organizational results, and to align results to state goals from superiors.

MTQs

How you will be evaluated

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

Only experience obtained by the 11:59pm EST on the closing date 05/28/2026 of this announcement will be considered.

After this announcement closes:

1. An HR Specialist will review your resume and supporting (required) documentation.
2. Applicants found minimally qualified will be referred to an Executive Resources Board (ERB).
3. The ERB will evaluate applications to determine the best qualified applicants for referral to the hiring official.
4. The hiring official may contact applicants to participate in an interview. Interviews may be in a virtual setting or in person at DOJ offices.
5. The hiring official will make a selection, which must be approved by CRT's Assistant Attorney General.
6. The selectee will receive a tentative offer from the agency; however, before an agency can appoint a new SES member, the selected individual will be subject further evaluation through a structured interview by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualifications Review Board (QRB) as required by law. OPM must review the executive qualifications of each new career appointee to the SES prior to appointment.