This position is located in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of the General Counsel (OGC), General Law Division (GLD), Labor and Employment Law (LEL), Washington, DC. The primary purpose of this position is to perform varied duties encompassing diverse and complex technical issues or problems in support of OGC attorneys. Non-BU: This is a non-bargaining unit position.

Duties

As a Paralegal Specialist, GS-0950-9/11, your typical work assignments may include: Writing technical and non- technical documents of substantial varieties and complexities in various areas of law including preparing litigation documents such as litigation hold requests, discovery requests, declarations, and interrogatories. Analyzing statutes, legislative history, judicial precedents, and agency rules and regulations as they relate to assigned cases and making recommendations for agency action. Performing legal research utilizing automated legal research tools and public information databases. Supporting attorneys by maintaining calendars, making travel arrangements, assisting in preparation of correspondence, maintaining files and managing records. All DHS-HQ announcements have a 5 business day open period due to the number of applications received. This announcement will be open for 5 business days OR until the first 100 applications have been received, whichever happens first. View common definitions of terms found in this announcement: Common Definitions.

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for Selective Service.
• You must successfully pass a background investigation.
• Complete the initial online assessment and USAHire Assessment, if required.
• You must submit to a pre-employment drug test.
• You may be required to serve a one year probationary period.
• Applying to this announcement certifies that you give permission for DHS to share your application with others in DHS for similar positions.

Qualifications

Applicants must demonstrate that they meet the Minimum Qualification requirements as noted below. GS-09 Minimum Qualifications. Applicants must demonstrate they meet the specialized experience requirement, education substitution OR a combination of the two. Specialized Experience: You qualify for the GS-9 grade level if you possess one full year of specialized experience, comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-7 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors) performing the following duties: Conducting legal research and analysis using reference sources such as agency manuals, directives, issuances, court reports, or commercial legal publications. Supporting attorneys in representing the interests of an organization with respect to fact and evidence development and organization. Applying knowledge of the laws, policies and procedures affecting the administration of the discovery process with respect to reviewing documents to determine relevance and privilege in connection with document productions. Supporting the development of technical and non-technical documents in multiple areas of the law. NOTE: Your resume must explicitly indicate how you meet this requirement, otherwise you will be found ineligible. OR Possess a master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related, that provided the knowledge skills, and abilities necessary to perform this work. Note: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted to support your claim. OR A combination of specialized experience (less than one year) and graduate education (beyond one year of graduate education), that when combined equals 100% of the qualification requirement. Note: Only graduate education in excess of one year (generally 18 semester hours) may be used in this calculation. You must submit a copy of your college transcripts (official or unofficial) and your resume must explicitly indicate how you meet the experience to support your claim. GS-11 Minimum Qualifications. Applicants must demonstrate they meet the specialized experience requirement, education substitution OR a combination of the two. Specialized Experience: You qualify for the GS-11 grade level if you possess one full year of specialized experience, comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-9 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors) performing the following duties: Conducting legal research and analysis of statutes, judicial precedents, legislative history, and/or agency rules and regulations to prepare digests of case decisions and/or evaluate the applicability of precedents. Supporting attorneys in representing the interests of an organization with respect to fact and evidence development and organization. Examining discovery requests in accordance with laws, policies and procedures affecting the administration of the discovery process and making recommendations with respect to document responsiveness and privilege. Assisting in the production of electronically stored information in the litigation or investigation context. Drafting technical and non-technical documents in multiple areas of the law (i.e., litigation documents, litigation hold requests, discovery requests, declarations, interrogatories, legal memoranda and/or legal summaries). NOTE: Your resume must explicitly indicate how you meet this requirement, otherwise you will be found ineligible. OR Possess a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, or three full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree, or LL.M., if related, from an accredited college or university that provided the knowledge skills, and abilities necessary to perform this work. Note: You must submit a copy of your college transcripts (unofficial or official) to support your claim. OR A combination of specialized experience (less than one year) and graduate education (beyond 2 years of graduate education), that when combined equals 100% of the qualification requirement. Note: Only graduate education in excess of two years (generally 36 semester hours) may be used in this calculation. You must submit a copy of your college transcripts (unofficial or official) and your resume must explicitly indicate how you meet the experience to support your claim. All qualifications and eligibility requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement. All requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional, philanthropic, religious, spiritual, community, student, social). 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. Current or Former Political Appointees: 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, Non-career SES or Presidential Appointee employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the Human Resources Office.

Education

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; applicant's resumes and supporting documentation should only reflect education received from schools accredited by such institutions. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following Website: https://ope.ed.gov/dapip/#/home.

If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency (a U.S. private organization's interpretation that such education has been deemed at least equivalent to conventional U.S. education programs) with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For more information regarding evaluation of foreign education for federal employment, please visit the U.S. Department of Education webpage on the Recognition of Foreign Qualifications.

Contacts

• Address Department of Homeland Security Headquarters OCHCO/HRMS/MS #0170 6595 Springfield Center Drive Springfield, VA 20598-0170 US
• Name: Lori Pollacci
• Phone: 202-573-0592
• Email: [email protected]