This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/482233300. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
This is a Public Notice. Please read this Public Notice in its entirety prior to submitting your application for consideration.
The directions for applying to this announcement can be found in the “How to Apply” section of this Public Notice.
An extraordinary opportunity is available to start your legal career in fall 2018 in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of the General Counsel by gaining a position through its selective Attorney Honors Program. The NOAA Office of the General Counsel employs approximately 110 attorneys at headquarters in the Silver Spring, MD/Washington, DC area and six regional offices. The Office provides legal advice to the NOAA Administrator and NOAA program offices on a wide variety of legal issues including U.S. and international fisheries, marine mammals, endangered and threatened marine species, preservation of coastal areas, marine sanctuaries, and licensing of commercial satellites.
NOAA is a premier environmental agency located within the U.S. Department of Commerce and employs over 12,000 individuals nationwide. NOAA is an agency that enriches life through science. Our reach goes from the surface of the sun to the depths of the ocean floor as we work to keep citizens informed of the changing environment around them.
From daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings and climate monitoring to fisheries management, coastal restoration and supporting marine commerce, NOAA’s products and services promote economic vitality and affect more than one-third of America’s gross domestic product. NOAA’s dedicated scientists use cutting-edge research and high-tech instrumentation to provide citizens, planners, emergency managers and other decision makers with reliable information they need when they need it.
NOAA traces its roots back to the Nation’s first scientific agency, the Survey of the Coast, established in 1807. Since then, NOAA has evolved to meet the needs of a changing country. NOAA maintains a presence in every state and has emerged as an international leader on scientific and environmental matters.
NOAA’s mission touches the lives of every American and we are proud of our role in protecting life and property and conserving and protecting natural resources. For more information see www.noaa.gov and www.gc.noaa.gov.
10/18/2017 to 11/14/2017
$66,510 - $123,234 per year
GS 11 - 13
3 vacancies in the following location:
Occasional travel - Overnight domestic travel foreign travel may be required.
No
Permanent - Full-Time
Full-time - Permanent - Excepted Service Appointment
13
No
SO-OGC-2017-0011
482233300
As an Attorney-Advisor in the Attorney Honors Program, you will work closely with experienced NOAA scientists and other program specialists on a variety of cutting-edge issues relating to the management and conservation of natural resources. This position requires interaction with other NOAA General Counsel Office attorneys, NOAA scientists, policy makers and technical staff, Department of Commerce officials, other Federal and state agency officials, members of the regulated community, and representatives of public interest organizations. It also involves active participation, in concert with U.S. Department of Justice attorneys, in prosecuting and defending NOAA cases brought under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Oil Pollution Act, the National Marine Sanctuaries Act and other similar laws. The work involves complex and challenging legal issues on important matters.
REQUIREMENTS:
Applicants must be admitted as an active member of a state bar (any U.S. jurisdiction).
The incumbent is required to complete a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 450), within 30 days after entrance-on-duty date, and annually thereafter.
Applicants must be a law student who will receive his/her J.D. degree by June 30, 2018; or a graduate law student with a J.D. who will receive his/her L.L.M. by June 30, 2018; or a recent law school graduate with a J.D. who will complete a judicial clerkship or a legal fellowship by September 30, 2018.
Significant academic achievement in law school (such as ranking in the top 20% of the class), graduation with honors, judicial clerking experience, or participation in law review, will be favorably considered.
Attorneys in the Honors Program are hired at the GS-11 pay grade. If you served as a judicial law clerk or in a legal fellowship for at least one year or earned an advanced law degree (LLM or equivalent) within two years of obtaining your J.D., you may start at the GS-12 pay grade. Attorneys joining the Attorney Honors Program following multiple-year judicial clerkships may be hired at the GS-13 pay grade. The decision will be made on a case-by-case basis. Please check OPM's salary tables for current salaries for the Silver Spring, MD/Washington, DC area: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/pdf/2017/DCB.pdf
As part of your training, you will initially serve two to three rotations of three to six months each, in sections located in the Washington, D.C. area. You may volunteer to work in a regional office as one of your rotations. We will make reasonable efforts to accommodate your preference for rotations, consistent with the needs of the Office.
At the end of the rotations and consistent with the needs of the Office, you will be permanently placed in a specific legal section, making reasonable efforts to take into account your preferences for a permanent location. While we expect to place attorneys in one of the Silver Spring, MD/Washington, D.C. area sections, you may request permanent placement in one of the six regional sections. If a permanent placement involves a change in location, you will be responsible for your relocation costs.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Applicants will be evaluated based on the Qualifications described above. Please be advised that NOAA Attorney positions are in the Excepted Service. As such, these positions are not covered by the usual civil service hiring procedures. There are no numerical rating systems through which to apply veterans preference; however, the NOAA Office of the General Counsel favorably considers veterans preference eligibility in hiring. Applicants eligible for veterans preference are encouraged to include that information in their cover letter or resume, and to attach supporting documentation (e.g., the DD Form-214 or other substantiating documents) to their submissions.
To preview questions please click here.
A complete application consists of the following:
Cover Letter, resume and unofficial law school transcript (in one PDF file). Please include your GPA and class rank in your resume, if available. Your resume must indicate your citizenship, and whether you are registered for Selective Service if you are a male born after 12/31/59.
Please note that prior to receiving a formal offer, you will be asked to submit an official law school transcript or a list of courses that includes the following information: Name of accredited institution, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned. Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the requirements.
Special Instructions for Foreign Education: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part in foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree. A listing of these accredited organizations can be found on the Department of Education's website. You MUST provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course by course listing along with your application. Failure to provide such documentation by the closing date of the announcement will result in lost consideration.
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
Application is made by emailing a cover letter, resume, and unofficial law school transcript in one PDF file to: GCHonors.Program2018@noaa.gov
Applications sent by any other method will not be accepted.
Emailed applications must be received by November 16, 2017. Applications received after this date will not be considered. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
Applicants will not be notified that their application has been received. Interviews may be arranged at the discretion of NOAA for those subject to further consideration based upon qualifications.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/482233300. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
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