This position is located with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Sisseton Agency, Superintendent - Sisseton Agency, Deputy Superintendent - Trust Services, Probate and Estate Services, in Sisseton, South Dakota. This is a Bargaining Unit position, for more information see What are bargaining units? NOTE: TRAVEL AND RELOCATION EXPENSES WILL NOT BE AUTHORIZED. ANY RELOCATION EXPENSES ASSOCIATED WITH REPORTING FOR DUTY WILL BE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SELECTED EMPLOYEE.

Duties

Provides legal assistance to, consults, and interprets decisions with attorney advisors in the Bureau and administrative law judges in the Office of Hearing and Appeals. Evaluates factual documents and other information to determine the level of legal complexity in probate cases. Provides guidance in estate planning in accordance with federal, states, and tribal inheritance codes to Indians who own trust or restricted lands and resources. Examines legal documents for the purpose of ascertaining ownership status of lands and resources held in trust or restricted status and to ensure the accuracy of legal descriptions. Assembles inventories, account ledgers and all legal documents, including heirship data, wills, and codicils into a probate case package. Research land titles and prepares an inventory of real property in Indian estates; collects information regarding trust and restricted funds in Indian estate accounts Drafts and supervises the execution of wills, codicils, revocations of wills and other property disposition documents in accordance with the intent of Indian clients in compliance with federal statutes and regulations, and tribal and state laws. Performs legal research to assist the decision makers in resolving problems arising under federal, tribal, and state case law applicable to the testamentary disposition of property, title status, and genealogy and probate matters. At the close of probate proceedings, takes all actions necessary to effect new land and resources ownership data and payment of any trust and restricted funds in the estate account. Prepares reports that set forth the principal and interest amounts of trust and restricted funds.

Requirements

• U.S. Citizenship Required
• Preference in filling vacancies is given to qualified Indian candidates in accordance with the Indian Preference Act of 1934 (title 25, USC Section 472). Form BIA -4432 must be submitted with the application if claiming Indian Preference.
• You will be required to have federal payments made by Direct Deposit
• You may be required to successfully complete a probationary/trial period
• A background security investigation will be required for all new hires. Appointment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication.
• If you are a male applicant born after 12/31/1959 and are required to register under the Military Selective Service Act, the Defense Authorization Act of 1986 requires that you be registered or you are not eligible for appointment in this agency.
• Incidental Operator position. If you are required to operate a motor vehicle in order to properly carry out assigned duties, the 25 IAM 4 Motor Vehicle Safety Program Policy applies. A Link is provided in the Additional Information Section.

Qualifications

EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS: (OPM Operating Manual, Qualification Standards for Administrative and Management Positions, GS-0901). GS-7: One (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level in the Federal service that included work, but not limited to, processing legal documents for review; use of automated systems for the purpose of data entry and record keeping; use of other systems used for purposes of accurately identifying individuals and their relationship to others; maintain communication with officials, staff, federal, state, and tribal government officials; ensuring the correct distribution of trust assets through legal research, interviews, and consultation to individuals and tribal government officials. Determines heirs of trust or restricted lands and resources; and verifies the accuracy and completeness of probate case files. These examples are not all inclusive (refer to the summary of duties for specialized experience) OR EDUCATION: One (1) full year of graduate level education (18 semester hours, 27 quarter hours or equivalent); OR Superior Academic Achievement (SAA). GS-9: One (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 grade level in the Federal service that includes work, but not limited to, review, interpretation and understanding legal/financial documents and their effect on land and/or individuals; detected errors and omissions in documents and initiated corrective action; review and determine purpose and effect of documents; posted or updated exiting abstracts, ledgers, databases or other systems with pertinent document information; applied document data to the TAAMS, TFAS and ProTrac systems. These examples are not all inclusive (refer to the summary of duties for specialized experience) OR EDUCATION: Master's or equivalent graduate degree or two (2) full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree (36 semester hours, 54 quarter hours or equivalent); or LL.B. or J.D., if related to this position. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform successfully the duties of the position and is typically in or related to the position to be filled. SUPERIOR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: Superior Academic Achievement (S.A.A.) must have been gained in a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled. S.A.A. is based on (1) Class standing-applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class, based on completed courses; or (2) Grade-Point Average-applicants must have a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or (3) Election to membership in a National Scholastic Honor Society - membership in a freshman honor society cannot be used to meet the requirements of this provision. All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Merit Promotion candidates must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the announcement closing date. Preference in filling vacancies is given to qualified Indian candidates in accordance with the Indian Preference Act of 1934 (title 25, USC Section 472). Additional selections may be made from this announcement if identical vacancies occur in the same location within 90 days from the closing date.

Education

If you are qualifying based on your education, you MUST provide transcripts or other documentation to support your educational claims. Unless otherwise stated: (1) official or unofficial transcripts are acceptable, or (2) you may submit a list with all of your courses, grades, semester, year, and credit for the course. All materials must be submitted by the closing date of the announcement.

If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) were taken on a pass/fail basis, your claim of superior academic achievement must be based upon class standing or membership in an honor society.

One academic year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study.

If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education which shows the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: FOREIGN EDUCATION

Contacts

• Address BIA Center for Recruitment Anadarko P.O. Box 1487 Anadarko, OK 73005 US
• Name: BIA Human Resources
• Phone: 405-247-1600
• Email: [email protected]