Attorney-Adviser (General)

About the role

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.

What you will do

• 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.

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 *** and ***

How you will be evaluated

Your application package (resume and supporting documents) will be evaluated for basic qualification requirements and for the skills needed to perform the duties of the position, as described in this vacancy announcement and identified by the Selecting Official.

Veteran's preference requirements do not apply to attorney positions in the excepted service, however the principles of veteran's preference will be followed to the extent which is administratively feasible.

Documents you must provide

• Your resume must be two pages or less and must support the specialized experience described in this announcement.
• Resumes exceeding two pages will be removed from consideration.
• Your resume may be submitted in any format and must support the specialized experience described in this announcement.
• If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content, it will not be used to make eligibility and qualification determinations and you may not be considered for this vacancy.
• For qualifications determinations your resume must contain hours worked per week and the dates of employment (i.e., HRS per week and month/year to month/year or month/year to present).
• If your resume does not contain this information, your application may be marked as incomplete and you may not receive consideration for this position.
• For additional information see: What to include in your resume.
• References: Must provide three (3) licensed attorney references with contact information.
• The following documents are preferred at the time of application, but not required: PLEASE NOTE: If you do not have your law school transcripts, certificate of good standing, or fitness to practice statement, you should not be deterred from applying for this position.
• While not required at the time of application, these documents will be required for the attorney to enter on duty.
• Official Law School Transcripts: Official law school transcript and an official statement of relative standing in class.
• Photo static copies of documents are acceptable when applying but certified documents must be furnished before entering duty.
• Good Standing Certificate: Official certificate showing that you are a member in good standing of the bar dated at any time.
• However, in the event the candidate is selected for an interview and/or during the hiring process, the candidate must provide an official certificate dated within three months.
• The certificate is required to be submitted by all applicants to include attorneys currently appointed to positions under the qualifying authority of The Judge Advocate General (including active-duty Army Judge Advocates).
• Fitness to Practice Statement: A sworn (notarized) statement from you that your fitness to practice law or conduct as an attorney has never been challenged in any jurisdiction to the best of your knowledge, or if either has been challenged, a sworn (notarized) statement concerning the facts and circumstances, together with any explanation that you deem appropriate may be submitted.
• As an alternative to a sworn (notarized) statement, a statement which includes a declaration under penalty of perjury may be submitted in the following format: "I declare (or certify, verify, or state) under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct. executed on (date).
• (your signature)." (28 U.S.C.
• 1746)." The statement must be dated within three months of the date that the application package is submitted.
• The statement is required to be submitted by all applicants to include attorneys currently appointed to positions under the qualifying authority of The Judge Advocate General (including active-duty Army Judge Advocates).
• Writing Sample: Examples of writing skills as demonstrated by legal briefs, memorandum, and/or letters.
• Regardless of the number of writing samples submitted, the page count of all writing samples combined cannot exceed 10 pages in length.
• Extracts of selected sections of larger documents are acceptable.
• Standard Form (SF) 50: If you are a current or former federal employee, provide a copy of your most recent non-award SF50 to the application package.
• NOTE: Documents submitted as part of the application package, to include supplemental documents, may be shared beyond the Human Resources Office.
• Some supplemental documents such as military orders and marriage certificates may contain personal information for someone other than you.
• You may sanitize these documents to remove another person's personal information before you submit your application.
• You may be asked to provide an un-sanitized version of the documents if you are selected to confirm your eligibility.

What to expect next

If you have questions regarding this job posting, please visit: *** and complete the online submission form. To expedite the process please include the Job announcement number, which can be found at the top, right hand side of the job announcement.

If you provided an email address, you will receive an email message acknowledging receipt of your application. Your application package will be used to determine your eligibility, qualifications, and quality ranking for this position. If you are determined to be ineligible or not qualified, your application will receive no further consideration.

Additional information

PLEASE NOTE THAT REQUIREMENTS FOR EDUCATION, TIME IN GRADE, AND EXPERIENCE MAY BE WAIVED BY THE APPLICABLE AUTHORITY AND THE REQUIREMENTS SHOULD NOT DETER ANY INDIVIDUAL FROM APPLYING FOR THE POSITION.

You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.

Position requires a 2 year trial period during which the agency evaluates your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest.

In making this determination, the agency may consider your performance and conduct; agency needs and interests; whether your continued employment supports organizational or Government goals; and whether it promotes the efficiency of the Federal service. Continued employment requires written certification that it advances the public interest.

This is a Career Program 56 Legal position under the PILLAR Career Management Directorate, which falls under the Army Civilian Career Management Activity. Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.

Permanent Change of Station (PCS) allowances may be authorized, subject to the provisions of the Joint Travel Regulations and an agency determination that a PCS move is in the Government Interest. Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from Department of Defense referral system for displaced employees.

Applicants must comply with the Exceptional Family Member Program requirements as outlined in DoD Instruction 1315.19. U.S. citizens overseas under ordinarily resident status are not eligible for appointment under the Status of Forces Agreement.

Locality pay does not apply in the overseas area. On this overseas accompanied tour, medical and DoDDS special education services may not be available in the immediate location of this position.

Movement overseas may require you to initiate a change in your health benefits plan to ensure coverage Employees (and family members) who require medical or dental care in the overseas location will be responsible for obtaining and paying for such care.

Access for civilian employees and their families to military medical and dental treatment facilities is on a space-available and reimbursable basis only. Pay retention may be offered to selected applicants for positions at overseas locations. Pay retention will not be offered as an incentive for employees moving between overseas positions.

Selectees may receive certain foreign area benefits such as: Living Quarters Allowance (LQA) or government quarters, home leave, etc. Selectees will have their eligibility for foreign area benefits determined at the time of hire in accordance with Department of State Standardized Regulation (DSSR) and DoDI 1400.25 volume 1250. *** Defense National Relocation Program will not be authorized.

Recruitment and relocation incentives may be authorized. Student loan repayment may be authorized. Salary negotiations, including an advanced in hire, for candidates new to Federal service or who would otherwise qualified, may be authorized.

Credit for prior non-Federal experience and certain military service for leave accrual rates may be authorized. This in an Excepted service position and is not eligible for Statutory or Administrative return rights IAW DODI 1400.25 and AR 690-300, Chapter 18, Return Rights. Contact your organizations Human Resources Specialist if you have any questions.