Supervisory Attorney Advisor

About the role

This position is in the Department of Transportation, Office of the Secretary, Office of the General Counsel, Office of Federal Financial Assistance, Acquisition, and Fiscal Law and will assist in the supervision and management of all legal matters related to the Department of Transportation's administrative operations, including fiscal issues, procurement matters, federal financial assistance, and innovative financing and public private partnerships.

What you will do

• Assists the Assistant General Counsel for Federal Financial Assistance, Acquisition, and Fiscal Law in monitoring and overseeing the Federal Financial Assistance, Acquisition, and Fiscal Law activities of the Department.
• Aids in the supervision of all aspects of work performed by the attorneys and administrative staff in the Office of Federal Financial Assistance, Acquisition, and Fiscal Law, as well as any temporarily assigned honors attorneys, law clerks, and interns.
• Under the supervision of the Assistant General Counsel for Federal Financial Assistance, Acquisition, and Fiscal Law, the Supervisory Attorney reviews and assigns projects, directs, and evaluates performance, acts on recommendations, furnishes advice and assistance, approves, or overrules proposed actions, and exercises all other appropriate supervisory functions.
• Ensures that the Office of Federal Financial Assistance, Acquisition, and Fiscal Law renders effective legal advice and recommends the most appropriate way to develop or to implement new or amended departmental policies.
• The Supervisory Attorney is also responsible for ensuring that these policies are consistent with the intent of the law and are administratively sound, efficient, and economical in operation.
• Performs legal research and analysis, conducts necessary conferences and consultations prepares memoranda and opinions and maintains continuing contact with Departmental officials and others affected to assure understanding of the legal and policy positions involved.
• Renders expert written or oral counsel, opinions, or decisions on the legal aspects of matters within the purview of the Office of Federal Financial Assistance, Acquisition, and Fiscal Law.
• The ideal candidate is highly motivated, self-reliant, and skilled individual willing to work in a challenging, fast-paced environment with experienced professionals committed to ensure that our nation has the safest, most efficient and modern transportation system in the world.
• This individual should have a keen interest in the broad range of legal issues involving the department's administrative operations including appropriations, fiscal law, acquisitions and federal financial assistance.
• The ideal candidate can handle multiple projects, cases, and issues simultaneously.
• The ideal candidate exercises a high degree of initiative and must be creative and imaginative in coping with exceptionally difficult legal and policy problems and must have the ability to set priorities in the exercise of assigned responsibilities.

Requirements

• Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered for Selective Service.
• BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: You may be required to complete a background/security investigation and meet preliminary requirements prior to onboarding.
• TRIAL PERIOD: This is an Excepted Service position.
• This job will be filled by an alternative hiring process and is not in the competitive service.
• Applicants selected for an excepted service position may be subject to a two-year trial period.
• ETHICS/CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT: All employees are subject to the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch, set out in Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 2635, including restrictions on owning financial interests that may conflict with performance of their duties.
• Some employees, like those involved in contracting or regulating non-Federal entities, are subject to Executive Branch Financial Disclosure requirements set out in Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 2634.
• GOVERNMENT TRAVEL CARD: This position involves travel.
• A government contractor-issued travel card will be issued and must be retained for official business only.

Education

MANDATORY EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS: In order to qualify for this position, candidates must have successfully completed a full course of study in a school of law accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) and have a professional law degree, or have completed a structured, multi-year apprenticeship under the supervision of a practicing attorney or judge equivalent.

Candidates must currently be a member in good standing of the bar of a State or Territory of the United States or the District of Columbia.

How you will be evaluated

DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE: PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC.

WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

To receive full credit during evaluation, your assessment responses must explicitly point back to your resume, as HR cannot make assumptions about your experience.

You must write your narrative answers in full paragraph format, beginning each response with the exact position title, organization, employment dates (MM/YYYY–MM/YYYY), full-time/part-time, average hours worked per week, and federal series/grade (if applicable) as listed on your resume.

Within the paragraph, clearly describe your specific individual duties, actions taken, tools used, and measurable outcomes to prove your level of expertise.

HR will cross-check your narrative against your resume; if your resume does not fully support every detail and timeframe claimed in your written response, the claimed experience will be disallowed, which may result in an ineligible determination. You will not be considered for the position if any part of the application or supporting documentation is incomplete.

Falsifying your background, education, and/or experience is cause for not hiring you or adverse action after hiring. Applicants will not be rated or ranked. All applications that are verified to meet the basic qualifications will be referred to the selecting official.

You may preview questions for this vacancy.

Documents you must provide

• The following is a list of documents that are only required based on the type of position.
• Please review each of the following sections to determine which documents you need to provide with your application.
• RESUME: In accordance with the OPM memorandum titled Merit Hiring Plan, dated May 29, 2025, resumes with a maximum of two (2) pages in length will be accepted as part of your application.
• These should be legible and in a readable font size.
• A determination of your eligibility and/or qualifications will be based only on those two (2) pages.
• Your resume MUST contain specific information that can be used to make a qualification determination, including employment beginning and ending dates for each position, whether employment is Full-time or Part-time, or average number of hours worked per week, and position titles.
• If the position is/was in the Federal government, you will need to provide the position series and grade level.
• The resume should show relevant experience and education, as well as support the required specialized experience.
• For assistance with the resume builder, please visit: *** COMPLETED QUESTIONNAIRE.
• PROOF OF BAR MEMBERSHIP: Must currently be a member in good standing of the bar of a State or Territory of the United States or the District of Columbia.
• TRANSCRIPTS - Transcripts are REQUIRED as there is a stated education requirement for the series.
• The transcripts need not be official, but must show that you meet the stated education requirements, including specific major or class requirements.
• A listing of these accredited organizations can be found on the Department of Education's website - click here.
• WRITING SAMPLE: If selected for an interview, a writing sample may be requested.
• VETERANS: Department of Transportation attorney positions are in the excepted service, not the competitive civil service.
• There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of Transportation considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor in the attorney hiring process.
• If you are eligible for veterans' preference in hiring, you are encouraged to include that information in your application along with supporting documentation, e.g., SF15, DD214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, or other supporting documentation.
• Failure to submit any of the required documents by the closing date of the vacancy will result in your removal from consideration for this position.
• Please review your application prior to final submission and ensure you have submitted all appropriate documents.
• Uploading documents to USAJobs does NOT ensure inclusion with your application to our system.
• You must verify that the documents are in the system with your application prior to final submission.

What to expect next

You may check your application status by logging into USAJobs.com (Select "My USAJobs" and click "Applications". Within two weeks of the closing date, a Human Resources Specialist will evaluate your application. Qualified candidates will be referred to the hiring manager.

Appropriate veteran's preference will be applied. If you are selected for an interview, the hiring agency will contact you directly. Once the position is filled, we will notify all applicants of their final status.

Additional information

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest.

In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your 2-year trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act prohibits the Department of Transportation and its Operating Administrations from requesting an applicant's criminal history record before that individual receives a conditional offer of employment.

In accordance with 5 U.S. Code § 9202(c) and 5 C.F.R § 920.201, certain positions are exempt from the provisions of the Fair Chance to Compete Act. Applicants who believe they have been subjected to a violation of the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act, may submit a written complaint to the Department of Transportation by email at, ***.

To learn more, please visit our page at: The Fair Chance to Compete Act | US Department of Transportation This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if similar vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.