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Translator

Department of Justice
Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys and the Office of the U.S. Attorneys
Office of the United States Attorney, Southern District of California

Summary

For more information on the Department of Justice and the United States Attorneys' Offices, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/.

As needed, additional positions may be filled using this announcement.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Posted today · Apply by 07/30/26
Due by 11:59 p.m. ET on July 30, 2026
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
No
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$70,507 - $132,923 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 9 - 12
Promotion potential
12
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
Permanent
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Represented by a union
No
Drug test
Yes
Security clearance
Top Secret
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
Financial disclosure required
No
Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.
Announcement number
26-SDCA-13003679-DE
Control number
876629600

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

All U.S. Citizens

Duties

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This position is located in the Administrative Division, Translation and Interpretation Section of the United States Attorney's Office (USAO) for the Southern District of California. The incumbent will be required to provide high-quality Spanish/English transcription and translation services for a variety of litigative activities. Typical duties include:

  • Serving as an expert source of information to USAO staff regarding the Spanish language at all levels of complexity to include idiomatic expressions, regionalisms, colloquialisms, culturally based expressions, profanities, slang expressions and technical terms;
  • Preparing certified translations of court documents; law enforcement reports; accounting/financial documentations; vital records, forensic reports - including autopsies, lab reports; medical reports, etc.; text messages; prison records; treaties, statutes and regulations; high level, very formal official government documents; publications, etc. within tight deadlines;
  • Preparing certified transcriptions and translations of post-arrest interviews, intercepted phone calls, body-wire recordings, Port-of-Entry (POE) videos, immigration court proceedings, jail calls, and recorded witness interviews in a fast-paced and challenging environment;
  • Providing summary and sight translations to Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSA) of documentation received by the office;
  • Reviewing and evaluating transcriptions and translations prepared by opposing counsel;
  • Providing interpretation services for USAO personnel at meetings and during case-related activities as needed in criminal and civil matters; and
  • Performing administrative and other related duties as assigned.
Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.

This position is considered a career ladder opportunity, with a full performance level of GS-12. If selected at a lower grade level, you may be non-competitively promoted to the next grade level at the discretion of your supervisor and is contingent upon meeting regulatory and legal requirements for promotion, satisfactory performance, and the availability of higher-level work. Promotion is not guaranteed, and no promise of promotion is implied.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP)- The ICTAP provides eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your ICTAP eligibility; 2) you apply under the instructions in the announcement; and 3) you are found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and receive a score of 85 or better on established ranking criteria. You must provide proof of eligibility to receive selection priority. Such proof may include a copy of your written notification of ICTAP eligibility or a copy of your separation personnel action form. Additional information about ICTAP eligibility is at: http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)-The CTAP provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in the Department of Justice with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your Department of Justice component has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility, 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement, and 3) you are found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and receive a score of 85 or better on established ranking criteria. You must provide a copy of your written notification of CTAP eligibility with your application. Additional information about CTAP eligibility is at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. Citizen or National
  • Initial appointment is conditioned upon a satisfactory pre-employment adjudication. This includes fingerprint, credit and tax checks, and drug testing. Continued employment is subject to a favorable adjudication of a background investigation
  • You must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable
  • If selected, you may be required to complete a one year probationary period.
  • You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement.

Qualifications

GS-9: To be eligible at the GS-9 level, you must meet at least ONE of the following conditions, as defined below: Specialized Experience, Education, OR a combination of Education and Experience.

Specialized experience: One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 level is defined as experience gained in a position designated as a Translator or equivalent that involved knowledge and skill of techniques in the translation of documents from Spanish into English and English into Spanish in the preparation of written material used to further investigations such as: translating material; extracting information and summarizing the information in English and Spanish; Translating Spanish to English using Artificial Intelligence or Computer Assisted Translation Tools.

-OR-

Education: Master's or equivalent degree OR 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in Translation, Interpretation, Linguistics, Spanish Language, or a closely related field or LL.B. or J.D., if related. Education at the graduate level must be in an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of a Translator.

-OR-

A combination of experience and graduate level education can be used if, when combined, are equivalent to 100% of the qualification requirement. Only graduate level education in excess of the first full year can be used in this calculation. To calculate your percentage of graduate education, first determine the total number of graduate level hours that exceed 18 semester hours (or your school's definition of one year of graduate study), then divide the total number of your excess graduate semester hours by 18 (or your school's definition of one year of graduate study). To calculate your percentage of specialized experience, divide the total number of months of qualifying experience by 12. Now, add the two percentages together. The sum of the percentages must equal at least 100%.

GS-11: To be eligible at the GS-11 level, you must meet at least ONE of the following conditions, as defined below: Specialized Experience, Education, OR a combination of Education and Experience.

Specialized Experience: One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 level is defined as experience gained in a position designated as a Translator or equivalent that involved knowledge and skill of advanced techniques in the translation of documents from Spanish into English and English into Spanish in adherence to accuracy, completeness, and impartiality in the preparation of written material used to further investigations. Examples of specialized experience include: producing translations that are grammatically correct and which use a wide range of both technical/nontechnical vocabulary; certifying translations to be introduced as evidence in court hearings or trials; transcribing and translating audio and audio/video recordings; translating materials at all levels of difficulty and subject matter; providing summary and sight translations of court documents, text messages etc.; demonstrating knowledge of technical and legal terminology; Translating Spanish to English using Artificial Intelligence or Computer Assisted Translation Tools and preparing transcriptions using transcription software and managing term bases.

-OR-

Education: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree in Translation, Interpretation, Linguistics, Spanish Language, or a closely related field or LL.M., if related. Education at the graduate level must be in an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of a Translator.

-OR-

A combination of experience and graduate level education can be used if, when combined, are equivalent to 100% of the qualification requirement. Only education in excess of 2 full years is creditable. To calculate your percentage of education, first determine the total number of hours that exceed 36 semester hours by 18 or your school's definition of one year of study. To calculate, your percentage of qualifying experience, divide your total number of months of qualifying experience by 12. Now, add the two percentages together. The sum of the percentages must equal at least 100%.

GS-12: To be eligible at the GS-12 level, you must possess one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level in Federal Service.

Specialized experience: One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 level is defined as experience gained as a Translator or equivalent that involved expert transcription and translations from live, recorded, and written material without regard to the level of difficulty, subject matter, terminology, dialogue, idioms, colloquialisms, or degrees of inflection from Spanish to English and from English to Spanish. Examples of specialized experience may include: serving as an advanced source of information to an office staff regarding the Spanish language at all levels of complexity; providing high-quality transcription and translation; applying advanced research methods to acquire rapid familiarity with complex and highly sensitive requests; resolving the application of new terms or language peculiarities which may not be available in language dictionaries; translating complex technical and nontechnical documents in a variety of styles and advanced skill; testifying in federal court when challenges are presented to the certified transcription or translation presented as evidence; and providing interpretations needed in criminal and civil matters; Translating Spanish to English using Artificial Intelligence or Computer Assisted Translation Tools and preparing transcription using transcription software; managing term bases; and creating and updating translation memories.

Selective Placement Factor: A selective placement factor is determined to be essential for successful performance in this position. Those candidates who do not meet the following selective placement factor will be rated "not qualified" for the position.

Incumbent must possess professional competence in the English and Spanish languages and be certified by the American Translators Association (ATA). You must include a copy of your certification with your application package, or you will be disqualified from consideration.

Education

All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at a college or university that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, see http://www.ed.gov
OR
Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the above education requirements if you can show that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. It is your responsibility to timely provide such evidence by submitting proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency with your application materials. More information may be found at http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html. All documentation must be in English or include an English translation.

Additional information

Payment of relocation expenses will not be authorized.

The Department of Justice offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, paid vacation; sick leave; holidays; telework; life insurance; health benefits; and participation in the Federal Employees Retirement System.

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. See www.sss.gov.

Reasonable Accommodation Statement: Federal Agencies must provide reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities, where appropriate. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should contact the hiring agency directly. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.

EEO Statement/Policy: The United States government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service or other non-merit factor. More information can be found here: https://www.justice.gov/jmd/media/1425556/dl?inline.

Political Appointees (Current or Former): The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C or Non-Career SES employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the HR Office. Failure to disclose this information could result in disciplinary action including removal from Federal Service.


Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

How you will be evaluated

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

Your complete application package (resume/supporting documentation, online questionnaire, and USA Hire Competency Based Assessment) will be evaluated and rated using DOJ's Category Rating and Selection Procedures. Your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the job qualifications listed on this announcement. If you are basically qualified for this job, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses on the online questionnaire. If you rate yourself higher than is supported by your application materials, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job. If it is determined you meet minimum qualification requirements, your application will then be placed in one of three categories: Best Qualified, Highly Qualified, or Qualified. Within these categories, applicants eligible for Veterans' Preference will receive selection priority over non-veteran preference eligibles. In addition, qualified veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 10% or more are placed at the top of the highest quality category (i.e., Best Qualified).

You will be rated on the following Competencies (see The OPM Website for definitions):
Attention to Detail, Customer Service, Decision Making, Flexibility, Integrity/Honesty, Interpersonal Skills, Learning, Reading Comprehension, Reasoning, Self-Management, Stress Tolerance, and Teamwork

To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys and the Office of the U.S. Attorneys

If you are looking for an exciting and challenging career, this is the position for you! With a talented workforce of over 100,000 people, Justice leads the Nation in ensuring the protection of all Americans while preserving their constitutional freedoms. You will be part of a dedicated team helping to enforce Federal criminal and civil laws that protect life, liberty, and the property of citizens.

San Diego is the eighth largest city in the United States and is commonly referred to as America's Finest City! San Diego has year-round perfect weather with 70 miles of coastline and amazing beaches. Some local major attractions include: Balboa Park, the World Famous San Diego Zoo, LEGOLAND, Belmont Park and Seaport Village. San Diego has beautiful golf courses, hiking trails, the Del Mar Race Track, and Comic-Con. San Diego is also home to nationally recognized colleges and universities, including University of California at San Diego, San Diego State University and University of San Diego. The SDCA is home to the largest concentration of Navy and Marine Corps installations in the world. As a result, San Diego has a vibrant defense industry community. In addition, San Diego is an international leader in life sciences, bio-tech, and healthcare.

Agency contact information

Stefanie Stevens
Phone
6195468904
Email
Stefanie.Stevens@usdoj.gov
Address
Southern District of California
880 Front Street
San Diego, CA 92101
US

Visit our careers page

Learn more about what it's like to work at Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys and the Office of the U.S. Attorneys, what the agency does, and about the types of careers this agency offers.

http://www.justice.gov/usao/

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