View Common Definitions of terms found in this announcement. Organizational Location: This position is located in the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, in Washington, District of Columbia. This position is a non-bargaining unit position.

Duties

As a Paralegal Specialist (OPLA), at the full performance level, you will perform the following duties: Perform complex legal research using generally accessible sources and commercial databases. Apply laws to make recommendations to attorneys and supervisors on tort claims. Prepare documents, incorporating necessary legal analyses and citations on precedent case law. Develop and evaluate all evidence, facts, and circumstances relating to the cases.

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this position.
• You must successfully pass a background investigation.
• You must successfully pass a drug screen.
• Males born after 12/31/59 must certify registration with Selective Service.
• Requirements by Closing Date: Unless otherwise noted, you must meet all requirements by the closing date of the announcement.
• Time in Grade: Current Federal employees must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade in the Federal service. Time in grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement.
• Probationary Period: This is a full-time permanent position (Career/Career-Conditional appointment). Upon appointment to this position, you may be required to serve a one-year probationary period.

Qualifications

Please limit your resume to 5 pages. If more than 5 pages are submitted, only the first 5 pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility/qualifications. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Do not copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position. You qualify for the GS-11 grade level if you possess one of the following: Experience: One (1) year of specialized experience at the GS-09 grade level or equivalent performing duties such as: Reviewing and analyzing available precedents relevant to cases under considerations for use in presenting case summaries to trial attorneys; Gathering, sorting, classifying, and interpreting data from a variety of sources; Correcting case file deficiencies before sending the case on to the appropriate trial attorney; OR Education: A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree such as LL.M or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree. OR Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of successfully completed education and experience. This will be calculated using your resume and unofficial transcripts or a list of courses/course hours submitted with your application. Graduate level education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level, which is 2 years, may be used to qualify at the GS-11. (To compute the percentage, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then, divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond the second year (total graduate semester hours minus 36) by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify.) You qualify for the GS-12 grade level if you possess one (1) year of specialized experience at the GS-11 grade level or equivalent performing duties such as: Performing complex duties involving the evaluation, analysis, and development of case profiles; Selecting, assembling, summarizing, and compiling substantive information by use of statutes, regulations, department orders, digests, commentaries, legal instruments, and other legal reference material; And Writing routine and nonroutine reports including flagging of trends or inconsistent decisions. Qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Qualification claims will be subject to verification. National Service Experience (i.e., volunteer experience): 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. The Department of Homeland Security encourages persons with disabilities to apply, to include persons with intellectual, severe physical or psychiatric disabilities, as defined by 5 CFR 213.3102(u), and/or Disabled Veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more as defined by 5 CFR 315.707. Veterans, Peace Corps, VISTA volunteers, and persons with disabilities possess a wealth of unique talents, experiences, and competencies that can be invaluable to the DHS mission. If you are a member of one of these groups, you may not have to compete with the public for federal jobs. To determine your eligibility for non-competitive appointment and to understand the required documentation, click on the links above or contact the Servicing Human Resources Office listed at the bottom of this announcement.

Contacts

• Address
• Name: Lashel Cobb
• Phone: (817) 456-9403
• Email: [email protected]