This position is located in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The General Counsel, who is appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, is the Department's chief legal advisor and principal legal advisor to the Secretary of DHS and, has final authority and responsibility for legal policy determinations within the Department and its components.

Duties

As Deputy Chief Counsel, the incumbent supervises an office that has both a headquarters and field structure. The headquarters office is located in Washington, D.C., and its activities are divided broadly into three functional areas; Ethics, Labor and Employment; Enforcement and Operations; and Trade and Finance, under the supervision of Associate Chief Counsels. The field structure consists of Associate and Assistant Chief Counsels located in major cities across the U.S. who advise CBP field managers in their geographic areas. The Deputy Chief Counsel is a senior leader within the Department of Homeland Security Office of the General Counsel and contributes to the strategic planning, development, implementation, and administration of all CBP legal programs and initiatives. Renders definitive and precedential legal opinions on both routine and complex issues arising from the interpretation and /or application of all laws and regulations administered and/or enforced by CBP. Advises on other specific criminal and civil laws and regulations related to CBP activities including those involving ethical, financial, personnel, and other internal administrative matters. Provides clearly written legal analyses for senior leaders of CBP and the Office of the General Counsel. Plans and directs the legal review of complex and/or controversial technical decisions, instructions, regulations, memoranda and correspondence prepared in CBP or elsewhere to assure and coordinate conformance to statutory and policy requirements. Reviews materials for inclusion in reciprocal trade agreements and commercial treaties, and advises the Commissioner and others on implications for CBP. Furnishes legal views and factual information to the Department of Justice and other members of the federal Executive inter-agency in connection with litigation in the U.S. Court of International Trade, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the United States Supreme Court and other Federal Courts. Oversees the preparation and presentation of the Government's case in administrative hearings or litigation involving CBP. Reviews the completed work of the Associate Chief Counsels and subordinate attorneys for soundness, consistency with agency policy, possible precedential effect, and overall effectiveness before submission to the Chief Counsel. Interacts with public and private entities conducting business with CBP or impacted by its activities.

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 submit to a pre-employment drug test.
• You must be able to obtain/maintain a Top Secret/SCI security clearance.
• You may be required to undergo periodic drug testing.
• You will serve a one-year probationary period unless you previously completed the probationary period in the SES.
• Selectee will be required to complete form OGE-278, Executive Personnel Financial Disclosure Form.
• You must possess a professional law degree (e.g., J.D., LL.B.) acquired through graduation from a School of Law accredited by the American Bar Association.
• You must be an active member in good standing of the Bar of a state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a territory of the United States.
• Applying to this announcement certifies that you give permission for DHS to share your application with others in DHS for similar positions.

Qualifications

As a basic requirement for entry into the SES, applicants must provide evidence of progressively responsible executive leadership and supervisory experience that is indicative of senior executive level management capability and directly related to the skills and abilities outlined under Executive Core Qualifications and Technical Qualifications listed below. Typically, experience of this nature will have been gained at or above the GS-14/15 grade level in the federal service or its equivalent in the private sector. As such, your resume should demonstrate that you have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully fulfill responsibilities inherent in most SES positions such as: Directing the work of an organizational unit; Ensuring the success of one or more specific major programs or projects; Monitoring progress toward strategic organizational goals, evaluating organizational performance and taking action to improve performance; Supervising the work of employees; and Exercising important policymaking, policy determining, or other executive functions. The application process to recruit for this position is the TRADITIONAL-BASED method. The applicant must address each Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) and Mandatory Technical Qualifications (MTQs) separately. EXECUTIVE CORE QUALIFICATIONS (ECQs): Unless you are currently serving under a Career Senior Executive Service (SES) appointment, eligible for reinstatement into the SES, or a SES Candidate Development Program (CDP) graduate, you must address the ECQs. Your narrative must address each ECQ separately and demonstrate the underlying competencies in the narrative. Examples should be clear, concise, and emphasize your level of responsibilities; the scope and complexity of the programs, activities, or services you managed; program accomplishments; policy initiatives undertaken; level of contacts; the sensitivity and criticality of the issues you addressed; and the results of your actions. You should use action oriented leadership words to describe your experience and accomplishments and quantify your experience wherever possible to demonstrate your accomplishments (e.g., number of employees supervised; size of budget managed; amount of money saved, etc.). Applicants should use the Challenge, Context, Action and Results (CCAR) model below when responding to each ECQ: CHALLENGE: Describe a specific problem or goal. CONTEXT: Describe individuals and groups you worked with, and/or the environment in which you worked, to address a particular challenge (e.g., clients, members of Congress, shrinking budget, low morale). ACTION: Describe the specific actions you took to address a challenge. RESULT: Describe specific examples of measures/outcomes that had impact on the organization. These accomplishments demonstrate the quality and effectiveness of your leadership skills. Your narrative response should not exceed 10 pages, be typed in 12 point font with one-inch margins. It is recommended that you include 2 recent (not older than 10 years) examples per ECQ and draft your ECQs in a Word document before uploading into the system to ensure these guidelines are met. Information that exceeds these guidelines will not be reviewed. Detailed information on each ECQ, the underlying and fundamental competencies, sample narratives and a tips sheet for writing effective ECQs are available in the "Guide To Senior Executive Service Qualifications" Senior Executive Service Executive Core Qualifications and Senior Executive Service Qualifications & Fundamental-Competencies. ECQ 1 - LEADING CHANGE. This core qualification involves the ability to bring about strategic change, both within and outside the organization, to meet organizational goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to establish an organizational vision and to implement it in a continuously changing environment. Leadership Competencies: Creativity & Innovation, External Awareness, Flexibility, Resilience, Strategic Thinking, Vision. ECQ 2 - LEADING PEOPLE. This core qualification involves the ability to lead people toward meeting the organization's vision, mission, and goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to provide an inclusive workplace that fosters the development of others, facilitates cooperation and teamwork, and supports constructive resolution of conflicts. Leadership Competencies: Conflict Management, Leveraging Diversity, Developing Others, Team Building. ECQ 3 - RESULTS DRIVEN. This core qualification involves the ability to meet organizational goals and customer expectations. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to make decisions that produce high-quality results by applying technical knowledge, analyzing problems, and calculating risks. Leadership Competencies: Accountability, Customer Service, Decisiveness, Entrepreneurship, Problem Solving, Technical Credibility. ECQ 4 - BUSINESS ACUMEN. This core qualification involves the ability to manage human, financial, and information resources strategically. Leadership Competencies: Financial Management, Human Capital Management, Technology Management. ECQ 5 - BUILDING COALITIONS. This core qualification involves the ability to build coalitions internally and with other Federal agencies, State and local governments, nonprofit and private sector organizations, foreign governments, or international organizations to achieve common goals. Leadership Competencies: Partnering, Political Savvy, Influencing/Negotiating. NOTE: Those applicants currently serving under a career Senior Executive Service appointment, who are eligible for reinstatement into the Senior Executive Service, or who have successfully completed a Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program approved by OPM, need not submit a narrative statement covering each of the Executive Core Qualifications. However, those applicants must address the following Mandatory Technical Competencies. TECHNICAL QUALIFICATION (TQ)s: In addition to the Executive Core Qualifications, all candidates must show evidence of the following TQs below in order to meet basic qualifications for this position. Please label and include your name on each page. Please give examples and explain how often you used your skills, the complexity of the knowledge possessed, the level of people you interacted with, the sensitivity of the issues you handled managing a large public or private sector organization that administers complex, rules-based benefits or services, etc. It is recommended that you draft your TQ(s) in a word document and then upload into the system. You must address each TQ separately and you should not exceed 2 pages per TQ. You are required to respond to all TQs. If you fail to do so, you will be rated as 'ineligible.' TQ 1. Experience providing legal advice to private sector or government entities concerning some or all of the following: enforcing laws administered and enforced by CBP; criminal and civil violations of law; seizure of individuals or property; national security and intelligence; adjudicating admission of individuals into the U.S.; contract arbitration and unfair labor practices hearings; employee discrimination claims; Federal Tort Claims Act; Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act; debt collection; license revocation proceedings. Experience with the federal rulemaking process. Demonstrated ability to conduct complex legal research and excellent writing skills. TQ 2. Experience managing legal and administrative resources in an agency including budget and personnel. Demonstrated ability to work with legal and policy professionals to evaluate and develop agency objectives, authorities, and programs. DO NOT COMBINE THE TQ AND ECQ STATEMENTS. Failure to meet the basic qualification requirement and address all Mandatory Technical and Executive Core Qualification factors will result in your application being disqualified. Veteran's Preference does not apply to the Senior Executive Service.

Education

You must possess a professional law degree (e.g., J.D., LL.B.) acquired through graduation from a School of Law accredited by the American Bar Association, and be an active member in good standing of the Bar of a state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a territory of the United States. You must submit documentation supporting that you meet this qualification when applying to this job opportunity announcement.

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:http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html.

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.

Contacts

• Address Department of Homeland Security Headquarters OCHCO/HRMS/MS #0170 6595 Springfield Center Drive Springfield, VA 20598-0170 US
• Name: Trinice Clayborne
• Phone: 202-870-2886
• Email: [email protected]