This position is located in the Office of Unfair Import Investigations. The incumbent in this position serves as a Paralegal Specialist and is responsible for carrying out assigned functions of the mission of the office. This position is also being announced through merit promotion procedures under announcement MP-25-007-SP. Candidates who wish to be considered under both competitive (U.S. citizens) and merit promotion procedures must apply to both announcements.

Duties

As a Paralegal Specialist, you will provide paralegal support to attorneys in the Office of Unfair Import Investigations, who investigate unfair acts and unfair methods of competition under Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, by collecting , analyzing, synthesizing information and details from statutes, treaties, documents to update legal materials for reports compiled by the Office , including electronic databases and websites maintained by the office; thoroughly cite-checking, shepardizing, proofreading and preparing briefs and other legal documents for filing in administrative proceedings before the Commission; providing assistance in some of the duties and activities of the attorneys, including research and analysis and casebook preparation; preparing administrative records and assisting in litigation preparation; and maintaining litigation files.

Requirements

• U.S. citizenship is required.
• You may be required to serve a one-year probationary period.
• Successful completion of a background investigation is required.

Qualifications

You must meet all the requirements below by the closing date of the announcement and they must be clearly identified in your application, resume, or supporting documents. This includes any general and specialized experience, education, and/or selective placement factors mentioned. These are used to determine if you possess the knowledge, skills, and/or abilities to successfully perform in this position. BASIC REQUIREMENT To qualify at the GS-9 level, applicants must have either specialized experience, education or a combination of experience and education as follows: A. At least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 grade level or comparable pay band in the federal service or equivalent experience in the private sector. Specialized experience is preparing letters and draft affidavits/declarations documents and reports, utilize a variety of automated legal research tools and public information databases to perform legal research; OR B. Master's or equivalent graduate degree, an LL.B or J.D. degree, or have completed two full years of graduate level education leading to such a degree from an accredited college or university. Closely-related degree programs include international trade law, legal studies and law; OR C. Have a combination of graduate-level education and specialized experience (as described above), which, when combined, is equivalent to 100% of the qualification requirement. This experience and education together meets 100% of the qualification requirements for this position. To calculate your percentage of graduate education, first determine the total number of graduate hours that exceed 18 semester hours (or your school's definition of one year of graduate study), then divide the total number of your excess graduate semester hours by 18 (or your school's definition of one year of graduate study). To calculate your percentage of qualifying experience, divide your total number of months of qualifying experience by 12. Now, add the two percentages together. The sum of the percentages must equal at least 100%. To preview the assessment questionnaire, click the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12597199

Education

NOTE: Only degrees from an accredited college or university recognized by the Department of Education are acceptable to meet positive education requirements or to substitute education for experience. For additional information, please go to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and U.S. Department of Education websites at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications and http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html.

Your resume serves as the basis for qualification determinations and must highlight your most relevant and significant work experience(s) and education (if applicable) as it relates to this job opportunity. In order to fully evaluate your application and receive proper credit, your resume should include: (1) paid and non-paid experience, job title, dates held (month and year for qualifying purposes to receive credit), number of hours worked per week, and salary (2) knowledge of the subject matter and technical skills pertinent to this position; (3) specific duties performed that fully detail the level and complexity of the work; and (4) names and phone numbers of your current and/or previous supervisor(s). Your resume should contain sufficient information to make a valid determination that you fully meet the basic/specialized experience requirements as stated in this job opportunity announcement for each grade level(s) for which you are applying. This information should be clearly identified in your resume. Failure to provide information sufficient to determine your qualifications for the position will result in loss of consideration.

Special Instructions for Foreign Education: Qualifying education from colleges and universities in foreign countries must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part in foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree. A listing of these accredited organizations can be found on the Department of Education's website - US Department of Education. Another listing of services that an perform this evaluation is available at the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES). You must provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course by course listing along with your application. Failure to provide such documentation when requested will result in lost consideration.

Contacts

• Address Office of Unfair Import Investigations 500 E St SW Washington, DC 20436 US
• Name: Steve Parker
• Phone: 202-205-2651
• Email: [email protected]