Attorney-Advisor (General Law and Ethics)

You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement. Specialized experience for the GS-14: You must have a minimum of two years (24 months) of experience practicing as a licensed attorney. The experience must include one year of experience at the GS-13 level or equivalent level of difficulty in the Federal service or private sector including acting independently as a lead agency or client representative in administrative or judicial proceedings, preparing drafts of legal briefs for court proceedings, drafting legal memoranda regarding effects of proposed legislation or regulations, or drafting briefing papers on legal issues for senior government officials or private sector clients. Specialized experience for the GS-15: You must have two years (24 months) of experience at the GS-14 level, or equivalent level of difficulty in the Federal service or private sector, and have the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position. Examples of such experience might include independently handling cases involving sensitive or highly visible issues that may contain facts which are difficult to develop and prove or matters of a precedent-setting nature.

TTB's mission is steeped in America's history, from the time of the Whiskey Rebellion to the work of agents like Eliot Ness. We are a nationwide team dedicated to collect alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and ammunition excise taxes and ensure that alcohol beverages are labeled, advertised, and marketed by law. We rank among the top 15% of agency subcomponents in the 2024 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government.

This position is located at Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), Office of the Chief Counsel - General Law and Ethics Division. The following are the duties of this position at the GS-15. If you are selected at a lower grade level, you will have the opportunity to learn to perform all these duties, and will receive training to help you grow in this position. Advises managers and employees on complex matters concerning compliance with employment, personnel and labor law, as well as disclosure, fiscal, contract and ethics laws and regulations. Represents TTB in administrative hearings, including before the Merit Systems Protection Board, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Board of Contract Appeals. The incumbent reviews requests for information or documentation and appeals of their denial made under the Freedom of Information Act, Privacy Act and other disclosure laws and advises agency officials on the appropriate response. Prepares agency responses to requests for discovery or the production of documents. Assists the Assistant Chief Counsel (GLE) and the Chief Counsel/Deputy Ethics Official in managing the Bureau's ethics program. This includes periodic evaluation of the Bureau's standards of conduct regulations, the financial disclosure systems and post-employment enforcement systems; educating and counseling employees concerning ethics and conflicts of interest; and the maintenance of close liaison with the Department of the Treasury Senior Counsel for Ethics, and the Office of Government Ethics concerning the ethics program. Prepares advice for the Chief Counsel/Deputy Ethics Official, Deputy Chief Counsel/Alternate Deputy Ethics Official and Assistant Chief Counsel (GLE) on matters pertaining to the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, other ethics or conflicts of interest statutes or regulations and standards of professional responsibility and conduct. Responsible for reviewing appeals of initial decisions by the appropriate TTB officer or an administrative law judge in alcohol and tobacco permit proceedings, providing legal advice to the TTB appellate authority, and preparing the final agency decision in the matter. Conducts legal research, investigation, and negotiation on matters of general law. Renders legal advice and technical legal guidance to TTB officials concerning the most complex aspects of procurement law and appropriations law. In the areas of contracting, claims, and appeals, analyzes and evaluates facts, determines questions of law, and either recommends adoption of decisions prepared by Contracting Officers or drafts independent decisions for consideration by the Contracting Officers. Prepares recommendations to compromise, terminate or suspend claims against TTB for damages or loss of property under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) and advises in the defense of civil complaints brought under the FTCA. Advises in the defense of cases involving civil or criminal actions against investigators or other employees of the Bureau resulting from official actions taken by such employees.

The experience may have been gained in either the public sector, private sector or volunteer service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/day/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week on your résumé. Key Requirements: Click "Print Preview" to review the entire announcement before applying. Must be U.S. Citizen or U.S. National

Your application includes your résumé, responses to the online questions, and required supporting documents. Please be sure that your résumé includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position; failure to provide sufficient evidence in your résumé may result in a "not qualified" determination. Rating: Your application will be evaluated among others regarding your experience, education, training, performance appraisals and awards relevant to the duties of this position. Since this is an Excepted Service position, a non-rated method of evaluation will be used. We will evaluate your application by comparing your description of your work experience, level of responsibility, and accomplishments with the requirements of the position to determine whether you meet all the qualification requirements. Competitive examining rules for rating and ranking do not apply. There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau considers veterans' preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. Applicants eligible for veterans' preference are encouraged to include that information in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documentation (e.g., DD Form 214 or other substantiating documents) to their submissions. Referral: If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application may be referred to a selecting official for consideration.

The following instructions outline our application process. You must complete this application process and submit any required documents by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. ET, Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, please contact us by noon ET on the announcement's closing date. Are you unsure how to write your federal resume? We are here to help. The Treasury Recruitment Service regularly offers Writing Your Federal Resume training sessions, and other career-related information sessions, to assist you in your career search journey. To register for a session, click here to go to our Career Information Sessions webpage. The Bureau provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us if you require this for any part of the application and hiring process. To begin, click Apply to access the online application. You will need to be logged into your USAJOBS account to apply. If you do not have a USAJOBS account, you will need to create one before beginning the application. Follow the prompts to select your résumé and/or other supporting documents to be included with your application package. You will have the opportunity to upload additional documents to include in your application before it is submitted. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process. After acknowledging you have reviewed your application package, complete the Include Personal Information section as you deem appropriate and click to continue with the application process. You will be taken to the online application which you must complete in order to apply for the position. Complete the online application, verify the required documentation is included with your application package, and submit the application. To verify the status of your application: -Log into your USAJOBS account (USAJOBS Login). A list of announcements in which you have applied is at the Welcome screen. -Under "application status," click "Track this application" and you will be taken to the agency website where you can check your application status. For more information regarding the job and applicant status, please refer to USAJOBS Help Center - How to see your application and job status If you wish to make changes/updates to your application and the vacancy is still open, you can click on the job announcement and "Update Application" to be taken back to your application. No updates can be made once the announcement has closed. Please notify us if your contact information changes after the closing date of the announcement. Also, note that if you provide an email address that is inaccurate or if your mailbox is full or blocked (e.g., spam-blocker), you may not receive important communication that could affect your consideration for this position. For additional information on how to apply, please visit the Partnership for Public Service's Go Government website. The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act prohibits the Department of Treasury and its bureaus 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 § [phone removed] 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 Treasury by email at, [contact via application link]. To learn more, please visit our page at: Treasury.gov/fairchanceact. To preview the questionnaire: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13012007