Clarification from the agency

U.S. Citizens

This position is in the Federal Facilities Enforcement Office (FFEO), Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA), at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The Director serves as an advisor to OECA's Assistant Administrator (AA), Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator and Deputy Assistant Administrator for Management, on the implementation and oversight of the federal facility enforcement and compliance program with respect to EPA's environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, Toxic Substances Control Act, Clean Air Act, and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.

The Office develops and establishes national enforcement policy and guidance for the federal facility enforcement and compliance program, conducts multi-statutory inspections of federal facilities and, in collaboration with the ten regions and other headquarters offices, determines the appropriate enforcement responses to violations of environmental laws.

FFEO is directly involved in enforcement negotiations, including interagency Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act agreements, administrative penalty and/or compliance orders, and in litigation and enforcement against federal facilities.

FFEO reviews proposed federal legislation and develops EPA positions on appropriate federal responsibilities under such legislation.

Specific duties of this position may include, but are not limited to:

- Developing and implementing enforcement policies for the Office.

- Participating in the establishment of operating policies, procedures, priorities, short and long range plans, resource allocation and budgetary utilization.

- Serving as the principal legal advisor to higher management for the assigned areas of responsibility.

- Producing analysis of continually evolving national policy issues on extremely short timelines without established precedents or guidelines.

- Developing and maintaining professional relationships with both internal and external partners.

- Representing the Agency to officials from Congress, other Federal agencies, State and local governments, public interest organizations, private industry, academia, and others.

- Preparing and presenting testimony to Congress as well as interacting directly with members of Congress, Congressional committees, and their staff.

- Reviewing the programs and activities of the Office and then advising the AA on the development or needed revisions of the Office's programs, plans, priorities, procedures, resource allocations, budgets, personnel staffing, and intramural and extramural efforts.

- Ensuring that procurements, contracts, grants, and assistance are managed in accordance with Agency and Office policies, regulatory requirements, and budgetary constraints.

- Overseeing the development, assessment, and improvement of management control systems in order to safeguard programs and achieve results while adhering to the Federal Managers Financial Integrity Act.

- Performing the full range of supervisory human resources duties for the Office and subordinate employees.

Conditions of employment

You must be a U.S. Citizen.

If you are selected, you must complete a 1-year SES probationary period, if not previously completed.

The Ethics in Government Act, P.L. 95-521, requires the applicant selected for this position to submit a financial disclosure statement, OGE-278, prior to assuming the SES position, annually, and upon termination of employment.

REAL ID requirements became effective on 05/07/25. If you are selected for this position and plan to use your driver's license or identification card during the onboarding process (i.e., for employment eligibility verification or to obtain your EPA identification card), the document must be a REAL ID-compliant state-issued driver's license or identification card that includes the REAL ID-compliant star marking, or must be an Enhanced Driver's License (EDL). You will receive information about alternative acceptable documents (e.g., passport) prior to onboarding. For more information about REAL ID, see Dept. of Homeland Security and REAL ID FAQs.

This position has education requirements. See Qualifications/Education section.

EPA and non-EPA applicants must submit transcripts/course-listings.

This position is designated as High Risk and requires a background investigation. Unless an appropriate background investigation is already on record with the Office of Personnel Management, you must undergo a background investigation. All conditions of the pre-employment security process must be met before an official letter of employment can be issued with a report for duty date.

You will be required to obtain and maintain a top-secret security clearance.

Pre-employment drug testing is required and random testing thereafter.

#LI-Onsite

Qualifications

The work of this position is classified in the General Attorney, 0905 series. Applicants must have a LL.M or J.D. degree from an accredited law school; must be admitted to practice before the highest court of a State, U.S. territory, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and must maintain active status as a member of the bar of one of these jurisdictions. The incumbent must have significant experience in providing legal advice and counsel at EPA; other federal, state, or local agencies; or in private practice.

All applicants must have one year of specialized experience at a level close to the work of this job that demonstrates the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities required to successfully perform in this role. Typically this experience can be found in work within this field or a field that is closely related.

As a basic requirement for entry into the Senior Executive Service, applicants must also provide evidence of progressively responsible leadership experience that is indicative of senior level management capability and directly related to the skills and abilities outlined under the Executive Core Qualifications and Technical Qualifications listed below.

A. Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) - Mandatory for competitive applicants - Failure to address these factors within the required 2-page resume will result in your application being disqualified, unless you are a noncompetitive eligible applicant.

ECQ 1 - COMMITMENT TO THE RULE OF LAW AND THE PRINCIPLES OF THE AMERICAN FOUNDING. Involves 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.
ECQ 2 - DRIVING EFFICIENCY. Involves demonstrated ability to strategically and efficiently manage resources, budget effectively, cut wasteful spending, and pursue efficiency through process and technological upgrades.
ECQ 3 - MERIT AND COMPETENCE. Involves demonstrated knowledge, ability, and technical competence to effectively and reliably produce work that is of exceptional quality.
ECQ 4 - LEADING PEOPLE. Involves demonstrated ability to lead and inspire a group toward meeting the organization's vision, mission, and goals, and to drive a high-performance, high-accountability culture. This includes, when necessary, the ability to lead people through change and hold individuals accountable.
ECQ 5 - ACHIEVING RESULTS. Involves demonstrated ability to achieve both individual and organizational results, and to align results to stated goals from superiors.

Your responses should be clear and concise and show a level of accomplishment and a degree of responsibility. Leadership competencies for each ECQ can be found in OPM's Guide to SES Qualifications.

B. Technical Qualifications (TQs) - Mandatory for all applicants - Failure to address these factors within the required 2-page resume will result in your application being disqualified.

TQ 1 - Demonstrated experience leading and/or managing attorneys and technical staff in complex enforcement and litigation matters involving federal environmental protection laws, regulations, and/or programs.

How you will be evaluated

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

We will review your resume and required documents to ensure you meet the basic qualification requirements. If you meet basic qualification requirements, your application will be evaluated based on the experience described in your resume with the required Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) and Technical Qualifications (TQs). It will then be forwarded to a three-member Rating Panel consisting of SES members for further review. The Rating Panel will decide which Best Qualified applicants will be issued to the Selecting Official by the Human Resources Office.