Attorney-Adviser (General)

Summary

About the Position: This position is located at HQ U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), Office of the Commander-J0, Legal Counsel-J05, Stuttgart, Germany. If you are currently serving in a permanent, competitive service appointment in the Federal service, and are selected for this position, the appointment will remove you from the competitive service while you occupy this position.

Duties

• •Serves as the subject matter expert for government information law, including FOIA and Privacy Act.
• •Prepares written opinions and renders legal advice on a variety of administrative law matters, including but not limited to: Military personnel law, reports of survey, line-of-duty determinations, commander's inquiries, Congressional Inquiries, etc.
• •Conducts classes and training for commanders, staff and other personnel on a variety of administrative and operational areas.
• •Provides legal advice on a wide-variety of administrative-law matters, including but not limited to: Military personnel law, government information law, investigations, and public relations.
• •Drafts, negotiates, and reviews international environmental agreements and other documents relating to international agreements.
• •Prepares opinions and furnishes advice on a wide variety of ethical law issues, including post-employment restrictions, contact with prohibited sources, proper use of government resources including motor vehicles and military air assets.
• •Maintains visibility on all USAFRICOM labor cases, while ensuring that transactional matters associated with these cases are processed by the administrative agent (US Army) for USAFRICOM.
• •Conducts research in connection with cases to analyze factual and legal issues, and to determine what additional facts are needed and legal sources are applicable.
• •Prepares opinions, and drafts and negotiates agreements on legal issues involving US and host nation law (e.g., host nation taxes on official activities of the U.S. Forces, technical experts, private tax relief, and base-stationing agreements).
• •Provides advice and guidance to all levels of the command on fiscal law issues as they relate to contracting and other matters, e.g., travel, personnel.
• •Interprets US and host nation (HN) laws and regulations, international agreements and treaties relating to contracting.
• •Provides advice to military and host nation authorities and other command personnel on procurement fraud investigations and appropriate remedies as required.
• •Provides unusual and precedent-setting deployment contract and fiscal law advice, due to frequent USAFRICOM deployments and contingency operations to hostile and hazardous locations.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: US Citizens Applicants will be evaluated to determine if they meet the minimum qualification requirements and on the extent to which their application shows possession of the following knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) associated with the position. KSA's: Skill in identifying, researching, and analyzing highly technical and complex legal issues across administrative law, government information law (FOIA and Privacy Act), ethics and standards of conduct, civilian personnel/labor law, international and host-nation law, and acquisition/fiscal law. Skill in providing legal, technical, and policy guidance to senior command officials, staff, and host-nation counterparts on matters involving U.S., host-nation, and international law, including international agreements, environmental agreements, Status of Forces Agreements, and contingency/deployment operations. Qualification Requirements: The following minimum qualification requirements must be met before applicants are eligible for further consideration: Education Requirements: Position requires the possession of the first professional law degree (LL.B. or J.D.) AND a member in good standing with the highest court of a State, U.S. commonwealth, U.S. territory, or the District of Columbia. Applicants for initial appointment into attorney positions within the Department of Army must be graduates of law schools accredited by the American Bar Association at the time of the applicant's graduation. As indicated below, a law school transcript must be submitted with your application materials. Bar Membership: Applicants must currently be a member in good standing (as defined by the pertinent bar) of the bar of the highest court of a State, U.S. territory, the District of Columbia, or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. As noted below, proof of such membership and good standing must be submitted with your application materials. Experience: In addition to the requirements above, applicants for the GS-14 or equivalent Attorney positions must also possess 3 years of professional legal experience, acquired after being admitted to the bar, commensurate with the duties and responsibilities of the position. Graduation from an ABA-Accredited Law School in the top 25% of the class or an advanced law degree such as an LLM may substitute for one year of the required professional legal experience. Time in Grade: The Qualifying Authorities (QA's) will make a determination as to the applicability of time in grade based on the requirements of the position. If you are currently employed as an attorney by the Federal government you must have completed one year at the next lower grade level within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement, or previously served at the same or higher grade level as the position being filled. NOTICE OF VETERAN'S PREFERENCE: There is no formal rating system for applying veteran's preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of the 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. The SF 15 will identify the supporting documentation required along with the list of the types of 10-point preference. The SF 15 is available from the OPM at https://www.gsa.gov/portal/forms/type/sf/. Male applicants born after December 31, 1959, must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration. Direct Deposit of Pay is required. If you have retired from federal service and you are interested in employment as a reemployed annuitant, see the information in the Reemployed Annuitant information sheet. When you perform a Civilian Permanent Change of Station (PCS) with the government, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) considers the majority of your entitlements to be taxable. Visit https://www.dfas.mil/civilianemployees/civrelo/Civilian-Moving-Expenses-Tax-Deduction/ for more information.

Education

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.