Job opening: Paralegal Specialist
Salary: $82 764 - 107 590 per year
Published at: Sep 20 2024
Employment Type: Full-time
This position is located in the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Office of the General Counsel, located in Washington, District of Columbia.
Duties
This position provides para-professional legal services and staff support for attorneys within one of the headquarter divisions or regional offices of the Office of the General Counsel (OGC). The incumbent works to ensure proper disposition of administrative claims and cases. Typical work assignments may include:
Assist the attorney in preparation of complex matters or other legal proceedings involving the department.
Research, prepare, and issue correspondence and memoranda in draft on matters of intermediate difficulty with review from the OGC attorneys; organized indexes and maintains litigation and administrative files, often including voluminous amounts of evidentiary materials and other legal documents.
Review written request for legal advice and locate for review and use by the attorney precedent opinion in OGC's computerized legal retrieval system and pertinent case law, statutes, regulations, and policies in legal research databases.
Provide oral advice and consultation when identifying multiple and complex policy and legal issues.
Requirements
- U.S. Citizenship required
- Selective Service: Males born after December 31, 1959 must be registered or exempt from Selective Service - http://www.sss.gov
- If not previously completed, a background security investigation will be required for all appointees. Appointment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication.
- Must meet time in grade requirements.
- One year probationary period may be required
- If you are selected for this position, the documentation that you present for purposes of completing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Form I-9 will be verified through the DHS "E-Verify" System.
- All Federal employees are required to have Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choice.
- Financial disclosure statement may be required.
- Bargaining Unit Position: no
- Drug Screening Required: no
- Research Position: no
Qualifications
Applicants must demonstrate that they meet the Minimum Qualification requirements as noted below.
Minimum Qualifications:
GS-11: You must possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors) performing the duties listed below:
Organizing evidentiary materials and maintaining large litigation files;
Utilizing bound and computerized legal research tools; and,
Assisting attorneys with preparing legal documents.
OR Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related
Documenting Experience:
IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Qualifications are based on breadth/level of experience. In addition to describing duties performed, applicants must provide the exact dates of each period of employment (from MM/YY to MM/YY) and the number of hours worked per week if part time. As qualification determinations cannot be made when resumes do not include the required information, failure to provide this information may result in disqualification. Applicants are encouraged to use the USAJOBS Resume Builder to develop their federal resume.
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.
In accordance with Office of Personnel Management policy, federal employees are assumed to have gained experience by performing duties and responsibilities appropriate for their official series and grade level as described in their position description. Experience that would not normally be part of the employee's position is creditable, however, when documented by satisfactory evidence, such as a signed memorandum from the employee's supervisor or an SF-50 or SF-52 documenting an official detail or other official assignment. The documentation must indicate whether the duties were performed full time or, if part time, the "percentage of times" the other duties were performed. It is expected that this documentation is included in the employee's official personnel record. In order to receive credit for experience in your resume that is not within the official series and grade level of your official position, you must provide a copy of the appropriate documentation of such experience as indicated above.
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; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to gain employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. If such experience is on a part-time basis, you must provide the average number of hours worked per week as well as the beginning and ending dates of the experience so it can be fully credited.
Time-in-Grade Requirement: Under competitive merit promotion procedures, any individual who is currently holding, or who has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet "time-in-grade" requirements (have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade of the grade for which you are applying). You must include an SF-50 (you may need to submit more than one) that supports meeting this requirement with your application package.
OPM Qualification General Policies Website
www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-policies/#url=app
All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement.
Education
If you are claiming education as any part of your qualifications for this position, you must submit an official transcript, unofficial transcript, or a list including courses, grades earned, completion dates, and quarter and semester hours earned.
Special Instructions for Foreign Education: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show that 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. Failure to provide such documentation with your application will result in lost consideration. For further information, visit:
https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.
Contacts
- Address Office of the General Counsel
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, DC 20201
US
- Name: Mid-Atlantic Services Branch
- Email: [email protected]
Map