Supervisory Paralegal Specialist

Summary
The Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section (NDDS) supervises and has responsibility for enforcing federal statutes pertaining to narcotic drugs and other controlled substances. The section has direct litigation responsibilities in significant drug and narco-terrorism investigations and prosecutions targeting national and international narcotics trafficking and money laundering organizations. This posting is for a Supervisory Paralegal Specialist position in the Litigation Unit.
This job is open to
Internal to an agency
Current federal employees of this agency.
Clarification from the agency
Current Department of Justice employees with competitive status.
Duties
Assist at all levels in the development of criminal litigation, beginning at the investigative stage through pretrial and trial proceedings with minimal supervision.
Conduct various document searches using document management databases such as Relativity.
Prepare for and provide substantive assistance with interviews, depositions, hearings, and trial.
Conduct extensive and thorough research in a variety of legal and non-legal databases and provide information in response to a wide range of questions.
Work closely with attorneys in the preparation and filing of court documents.
Attend and provide comprehensive paralegal support at trial as needed.
Manage a team of paralegals including the planning, dissemination and organization of work assignments and case staffing.
Engage in analysis and assessment of existing case management databases, software, and hardware; identify shortcomings; and make recommendations for future software and hardware needs.
Formulate training criteria, draft internal training protocols, plans, and monitor development of paralegals, law clerks, and litigation specialists.
Train paralegals to provide superior quality trial support to attorneys including supervising at trial as needed.
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
You must be a U.S. Citizen to qualify for this position.
You must undergo a pre-employment security investigation.
Selective Service Registration is required, as applicable.
You must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
You must meet status eligibility for this announcement.
Direct Deposit: All federal employees are required to have federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of their choosing.
This position has supervisory responsibilities. A one-year supervisory probationary period is required upon selection. This may be waived if you have already successfully completed the supervisory probationary period.
The Criminal Division participates in the Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification Program. E-Verify helps employers to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. For more information, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/.
Qualifications
To qualify for the GS-13 grade level, you must have at least one year of specialized experience, as reflected in their resume, at, or equivalent to, the GS-12 Federal grade level. Examples of specialized experience include: independently conducting and producing discovery, including electronic evidence for criminal litigation; proofreading and cite-checking legal briefs, memoranda and other legal documents; and drafting various legal documents such as indictments, discovery letters, motions, notices, grand jury related documents, and search warrants.
Time-in-Grade: Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements for consideration by the closing date of this announcement.
Education
There is no education requirement for this position.
Additional information
ELIGIBILITY:
You are eligible under merit promotion procedures, if you meet one of the following criteria:
Current DOJ employees with career or career-conditional appointments in the competitive service;
Displaced Federal employees requesting special priority selection consideration under the Career transition Assistance Plan (CTAP); or
Individuals with disabilities - For more information and proof required see https://www.usajobs.gov/help/working-in-government/unique-hiring-paths/individuals-with-disabilities/.
Additional selections may be made from this vacancy announcement to fill vacancies that occur subsequent to this announcement.
Career Transition Programs (CTAP or ICTAP): These programs apply to Federal and/or DOJ employees who meet the definition of surplus or displaced from a position in the competitive service. To receive selection priority for this position, you must:
Meet CTAP or ICTAP eligibility criteria;
Be rated well-qualified for the position with a score of 85 or above based on the competencies listed above; and
Submit the appropriate documentation to support your CTAP or ICTAP eligibility.
If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, please reach out to criminal.crmjobs@usdoj.gov or (202) 514-0361 for alternative application procedures.
Benefits
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the job qualifications listed on this announcement. If you are basically qualified for this job, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses on the online assessment questionnaire. If you rate yourself higher than is supported by your application materials, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job. If you are found to be among the top candidates, you will be referred to the selecting official for employment consideration.
You will be assessed on the following KSA/Competencies:
Attention to Detail
Criminal Law
Writing
Developing Others
Customer Service
Ability to Use Legal Databases
Performance Appraisals and Awards:
You will receive an additional point added to your final score for your most recent fully successful or higher performance rating. An additional point will also be added to your final score for any one performance award received within the past three years that relates to the position for which you are applying. Please provide only one recent award. To receive credit, you must provide a copy of your performance rating and a copy of your performance award SF-50, if applicable.
Required Documents
You are strongly encouraged to convert your resume to an Adobe PDF file prior to submitting your application, especially if you are submitting using a Mac system. Resumes not pre-converted to a PDF file will undergo conversion by the system. This conversion process may cause some formatting changes to your resume, including line and page break errors. To ensure your submitted resume does not display with formatting issues, please submit your resume as a PDF. This error does not affect USAjobs resumes.
To apply for this position, you must provide a complete application package which includes:
Resume (cover letter is optional) - Applicants will be evaluated based on a comparison of the position requirements against the quality and extent of experience or related education as reflected in their resume. Applicants are encouraged to ensure work experiences clearly show the possession of knowledge of the subject matter pertinent to the position and the technical skills to successfully perform the duties of the position. Resumes of any length will be accepted; however, only information contained in the first five (5) pages will be reviewed against the position requirements. Please ensure all information you believe is qualifying for the position is contained in the first five pages, or you may be marked ineligible. Additionally, your resume must include the following information for each job listed: month and year, start/end dates (e.g. June 2007 to April 2008), and full-time or part-time status (include hours worked per week).
SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (if applying as a status candidate with current or former federal service) which shows type of service appointment, tenure group, grade, and salary. If you are applying for a higher grade, please provide the SF-50 Form which shows the length of time you have been in your current/highest grade (examples of appropriate SF-50s include Promotions, Within Grade/Range Increases, and SF-50s over one year old).
Most Recent Performance Appraisal (if applicable).
Any Relevant Performance Award (must attach SF-50)(if applicable).
Documentation of Eligibility for Special Hiring Authorities (if applicable) to prove appointment eligibility. Examples include: Schedule A disability letter, Peace Corps volunteer letter, military spouse hiring authority documentation, etc.
Current or Former Political Appointees (if applicable) - Please note on your resume and attach an SF-50. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) must authorize employment offers made to current or former political appointees. If you are currently, or have been within the last 5 years, a political Schedule A, Schedule C, or Non-Career SES employee in the Executive Branch, you must disclose this information to the HR Office.
Schedule A Documentation (if applicable) - The Criminal Division welcomes and encourages applications from persons with disabilities and is firmly committed to satisfying its affirmative obligations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to ensure that persons with disabilities have every opportunity to be hired and advanced on the basis of merit within the Department. The Criminal Division also encourages eligible Schedule A applicants to submit their resumes directly to the Criminal Division disability POC Areli Parada, at Areli.Parada@usdoj.gov.
CTAP or ICTAP Documentation (if applicable) - If you are a displaced Federal employee claiming eligibility under CTAP or ICTAP:
You must submit your separation notice or agency RIF letter from your agency.
If you have not yet been separated, you can provide the letter of intent to separate you from the agency because of reduction-in-force.
See USAJOBS' Career Transition Programs for more information.
VEOA Eligibility Documentation (if applicable):
If you are a discharged, non-disabled veteran, you must submit a copy of your DD-214 showing character discharge (Member 4 Copy), or other documentation of service and separation under honorable conditions. If you do not have your DD-214, you may request it after discharge from the National Archives at http://www.archives.gov/veterans.
If you are a veteran within 120 days of discharge, you must submit signed documentation from the Armed Forces certifying: 1) your expected release/retirement from active duty, 2) under honorable conditions, 3) your pay grade/rank/rate at time of discharge, 4) dates of active duty service, 5) any campaign or expeditionary medals received, and 6) dated within 120 days of your separation.
If you are a disabled veteran, Purple Heart recipient, or parent or spouse of a disabled or deceased veteran, you must submit a completed SF-15 (https://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/SF15.pdf) and all additional proof required by the SF-15, as applicable, if you do not have your Department of Veterans Affairs letter establishing proof of disability, you may request it at https://www.ebenefits.va.gov or call 1-800-827-1000.
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
How to Apply
To apply for this position, you must provide a complete application package which includes the assessment questionnaire and the required documents indicated below. The application package must be received by 11:59 PM, Eastern Time, on 04/01/2024.
To begin the process, click the Apply Online button to create an account or log in to your existing USAJOBS account. Follow the prompts to complete the assessment questionnaire. Please ensure you click the "Submit My Answers" button at the end of the process.
To verify your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account, https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the More Information link for this position. The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
Reasonable Accommodation Statement: Federal agencies must provide reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should contact the Human Capital staff at Human.capital@usdoj.gov. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Agency contact information
Human Resources
Phone
(202) 514-0361
Email
criminal.crmjobs@usdoj.gov
Address
Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section
c/o Human Resources
1400 New York Avenue NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20004
US
Next steps
Once the application package is received you will receive an acknowledgement email that your submission was successful. After a review of your complete application is made you will be notified of your rating and/or referral to the hiring official. If further evaluation or interviews are required you will be contacted. If a tentative job offer is made, we will conduct a suitability/security background investigation.
An in-person interview in Washington, D.C. may be required for this position prior to final selection. The cost of travel to the interview site will be the responsibility of the applicant unless otherwise stated. Reasonable accommodations requests will be considered on an individual basis as requested by a person with a disability. Declining an invitation to interview may remove you from further consideration.
Additional selections may be made in other Criminal Division sections.