About the Position: Incumbent serves as an Assistant to the District Counsel for contract formation, administration, and appeals. The incumbent will also be called upon to practice in other areas of law relevant to the office's mission, to include administrative, environmental, or labor and employment. Responsible for planning and accomplishment of work assignments, resolving conflicts , coordinating with others, and interpreting policy on own initiative in terms of established objectives.

Duties

Provides advice, guidance and direction to District staff elements, higher headquarters and others regarding complex and controversial contract formation and administration problems on construction, service, supply and Architect-Engineer contracts. Provides legal guidance and assists in formulating the District's position on all contract claims, disputes and appeals. Assists in preparing final decisions of the contracting officer in disputed claims. Serves as trial attorney in procurement matters before the agency boards of contract appeals. Supports DOJ, acts as principal agency representative at trial and may act as "of counsel" when appeals are taken to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Provides guidance and advice to District management and staff elements in the review of various environmental laws, regulations, and policies, administrative law matters, FOIA, torts, or EEO and labor relations policies and procedures. Represents the District in adversarial hearings relating to matters before various federal tribunals, such as EEOC and MSPB.

Requirements

• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• This position requires pre-employment financial disclosure and annually thereafter in accordance with DoD Directive 5500-7-R.
• This position has a Temporary Duty (TDY) or business travel requirement of 20% of the time

Qualifications

Who May Apply: US Citizens In order to qualify, you must meet the education requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document. Applicants must meet the requirements described below to qualify. Bar Membership: Applicants must currently be a member in good standing of the bar of a state, territory of the United States, District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Must have one year of Specialized Experience equivalent to a GS-12 grade level or pay band. Specialized experience includes the following: Professional legal experience in excess of two (2) years, acquired after being admitted to the bar, commensurate with the duties and responsibilities of the position. Examples of this experience are: Performs legal review and provides advice on contract solicitations and award documents which involve innovative contracting strategies for which there is little or no established procurement policy. Serves as Agency counsel for bid protests involving extremely complex factual or policy issues. Prepares litigation reports and drafts pleadings or other legal documents required by the Department of Army and Department of Justice in various federal courts or administrative tribunals. Provides legal advice and assistance to managers, the District Engineer and the EEO Office in the broad area of Federal Employment law. Performs legal reviews and provides advice to managers in areas relating to environmental laws and regulation, FOIA, the federal tort claims act, ethics, and other administrative law matters. Represents the District in adversarial hearings before tribunals, such as Federal Court, Merit System Protection Board and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (Experience must be documented in your resume.) This level of experience is equivalent to a GS-12 or equivalent pay band in the Federal Government. Applicants meeting the basic qualification requirements above will have their application packages forwarded to management. Management will evaluate you further on your level of competency in the following areas: Your resume will also be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency in the following areas: 1. Knowledge of and experience level in contract claims and appeals, particularly in the area of government contract claims and appeals. 2. Knowledge of and experience level in the formation of contracts and handling any resulting bid protests, particularly in the area of government contracts and bid protests. 3. Knowledge of and experience level in Litigation, particularly in Federal court or Federal tribunals. 4. Knowledge of and experience level in federal environmental laws, regulations, and policies. 5. Knowledge of and experience level in other areas relevant to federal legal practice, such as labor and employment law, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), torts, and ethics. "Time in Grade Restriction: Applicants who have held a General Schedule (GS) position within the last 52 weeks MUST meet the Time in Grade Restriction. NOTICE OF VETERANS' PREFERENCE: There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of Defense considers veterans' preference eligibility a positive factor for attorney hiring. Applicants eligible for veterans' preference must include that information in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documentation (e.g., DD Form 214, "Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty") to their submissions. Although the point-preference system is not used, applicants eligible to claim a 10-point preference must submit a Standard Form (SF) 15, "Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference," and supporting documentation required for the specific type of preference claimed. (SF 15, which lists the types of 10-point preference and the required supporting documents, is available from the Office of Personnel Management Website at www.opm.gov.).

Education

Applicants must have successfully completed a full course of study in a school of law accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) and have the first professional law degree (LL.B or JD). Only a law degree from an accredited college or university recognized by the American Bar Association is acceptable to meet positive education requirements.

Contacts

• Address RH-W07105 US ARMY ENGINEER DISTRICT-KANSAS CITY DO NOT MAIL Kansas City, MO 64106 US
• Name: Army Applicant Help Desk