Attorney

The position is in the Office of the General Counsel, in the Division of Labor, Employment, and Contract Law (LECL). The supervisor is Brian Harris, Assistant General Counsel for LECL. The position IS NOT Bargaining Unit. This position IS Subject to Financial Disclosure and Prohibited Securities Rule.

The successful candidates will serve as attorney under the Assistant General Counsel and Deputy Assistant General Counsel for LECL in the Office of the General Counsel. The selectees will be placed in LECL but may move to other OGC divisions as workload needs change over time. Duties will include providing representation before administrative tribunals and providing advice and legal services related to federal labor and employment law, equal employment opportunity, diversity, reasonable accommodation, harassment, and personnel security. The selectees may also be assigned work in LECL’s other practice areas as workload needs change over time.

The successful candidate will have the experience, poise, temperament, judgment, collegiality, and professional stature required to successfully perform the important duties and responsibilities of an attorney providing legal advice to the General Counsel (and the Deputy General Counsels and Associate General Counsel, if applicable), the Commission, and the NRC staff. The successful candidate will have excellent written and oral communication skills and have a demonstrated ability to make fair and impartial decisions in a timely manner.

The following duties are performed with a high degree of independence:

1. Reviews documents to determine their legal sufficiency; performs difficult original legal research; develops solutions to novel and complex legal issues; provides legal opinions and advice; and identifies and addresses policy matters, including consideration of relevant risks.
2. When serving as lead attorney, provides leadership and guidance to assigned back-up attorneys. In this role, makes assignments to the back-up attorneys and provides comments and revisions to documents and other work products connected with assigned matters.
3. Provides advice and counsel in connection with hiring and discipline of employees, employee pay and benefits, labor and union matters, whistleblower retaliation, reasonable accommodation, equal employment opportunity issues, harassment, and personnel security.
4. Prepares and conducts complex cases dealing with labor and employment, personnel security, whistleblower retaliation claims, harassment, reasonable accommodation, and equal employment opportunity matters before administrative tribunals, e.g., Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC ), Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), Federal Labor Relations Authority, and arbitrators. Prepares motions, briefs, and pre-trial discovery; prepares witnesses, conducts direct and cross-examination, making persuasive arguments and prepares post hearing briefs.
5. Supports the Department of Justice and United States Attorneys in all aspects of litigation of employment law-related cases involving the NRC filed in federal courts.

• $117,962 - $181,216/year

• This is a Drug Testing position.
• Subject to OGE Confidential Financial Disclosure reporting requirements.
• Also subject to NRC's Prohibited Securities rule.
• U.S. Citizenship Required
• Background investigation leading to a clearance is required for new hires.

You must meet the qualifications for this position by no later than 30 calendar days after the closing date of this announcement and before placement in the position.

To qualify for this position, you must have at least one year of specialized experience at the next lower grade level in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE

GG 13: includes experience that is defined as attorney or judicial work experience in a federal or state government legal office, federal or state judiciary, or the private practice of law, which provided the candidate with the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform the work of these positions. Minimally qualified candidates will have multiple years of work experience, including substantial regulatory and statutory interpretation and/or litigation experience sufficient to perform with an adequate degree of independence or with assistance on complex and major assignments.

GG 14: includes experience that is defined as attorney or judicial work experience in a federal or state government legal office, federal or state judiciary, or the private practice of law, which provided the candidate with the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform the work of these positions. Minimally qualified candidates will have multiple years of work experience, including substantial regulatory and statutory interpretation and/or litigation experience sufficient to perform independently on complex and major assignments.

The ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate the following:

1. Ability to interpret and analyze Federal laws, statutes, regulations, and cases as they relate to various aspects of labor and employment law.
2. Ability to effectively identify, analyze, prepare detailed legal opinions, and resolve complex legal issues in federal labor and employment law, labor relations, equal employment opportunity, diversity, reasonable accommodation, anti-harassment, and personnel security.
3. Ability to provide legal advice and support to the General Counsel, the Commission, and agency management on all aspects of labor and employment law.
4. Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in-writing in connection with providing advice on labor and employment law matters and in litigating cases before various tribunals, including the FLRA, MSPB, EEOC, arbitrators, and federal courts.

A description of how you possess these abilities should be included in your application package.

You must be a graduate of an accredited law school with a J.D., LL.B., or equivalent degree, and you must be an active member in good standing of the Bar of a state or territory of the United States or the District of Columbia.

The duty location of this position is (Rockville, MD) . In general, employees are expected to be in the office (4 days per pay period) . Telework schedules are approved, on a case-by-case basis. If selected, telework will be determined in accordance with Agency policy and the Collective Bargaining Agreement, if applicable.

Based on the staffing needs of the agency/area of consideration, additional selections may be made from this vacancy announcement.

The NRC provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. Individuals with disabilities may contact the Selective Placement Coordinator for assistance with the application or hiring process via Deaf applicants may contact the Disability Program Manager by calling the NRC videophone at 240-428-3217.

Individuals who are eligible for non-competitive appointment under an OPM special appointing authority may apply for consideration under a comparable NRC non-competitive appointing authority. Veterans, please visit:

Selectee's will be required to complete a "Declaration of Federal Employment", (OF-306), prior to being appointed to determine their suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation. False statements or responses on your resume or questionnaire can jeopardize your employment opportunity and subject you to disciplinary action, including removal from Federal service.

A transferable security clearance from another agency or a background investigation leading to a clearance is required for all new hires. To begin work at the NRC without a security clearance, you must be granted a temporary waiver of the required clearance, referred to as a 145(b) waiver. To be eligible for a 145(b) waiver you will need a favorable education verification, reference, credit, and criminal history checks. If a waiver is granted, the successful completion of a background investigation and favorable adjudication is required for continued employment. If you have resided outside the U.S. for an extended period of time, the agency may not be able to (1) grant the 145(b) waiver where the required investigation cannot be completed in a timely manner, or (2) achieve timely completion of the background investigation required for a security clearance.

The NRC is a zero tolerance agency with respect to illegal drug use. Individuals selected for this position will be subject to pre-appointment drug testing unless currently in a NRC position subject to random drug testing AND will be subject to random drug testing upon appointment to the NRC.

List of required supplemental material that may be applicable:
If you are a NRC employee you are required to submit your most recent Rating of Record (Performance Appraisal) or a statement saying that one is not available. Additionally, you must also submit a copy of your most recent SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action which is not an award action).

If you are a current/reinstatement eligible Federal employee with status (Tenure Group 1 or 2), you will be considered under our merit promotion procedures and must submit a copy of your most recent SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action) to verify competitive status or reinstatement eligibility.

Veterans' Preference documentation, if applicable (e.g. DD-214 Member Copy 4 showing type of discharge/character of service; Current Active Duty members must submit a certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions dated within 120 days; SF-15 Form and related documentation; VA letter.) You can find additional information about Veterans' Preference at

If you are applying for a position that requires a college degree, you must submit your College Transcripts.

Applicant must submit with their application an original legal writing sample consisting of no more than 10 pages (an excerpt is acceptable) and preferably dated within the last five years.

All supplemental documents will now be collected electronically and should be submitted before the closing date of this vacancy announcement. You have three choices for submitting your supplemental documents:
1. Use the "USAJOBS" feature to download documents from your USAJOBS portfolio; or
2. use the "Upload" feature to upload documents directly from your computer. The following types of documents can be uploaded: .gif, .jpeg, .png, .rtf, .pdf, and .doc; or
3. use the "Fax" feature to print the Fax Cover Sheet and fax it, along with your supplemental documents to 1-571-258-4052.

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.

We strongly encourage you to complete your USAJOBS profile before you submit your application for this position. Please read the entire announcement. Your application for this vacancy must be received online via the USAJOBS application system BEFORE 11:59 pm Eastern Time on the closing date of this announcement. If you fail to submit a complete online application, you will not be considered for this position.

The NRC requires that applicants submit resumes built using the USAJOBS Resume Builder tool. The Resume Builder tool is activated upon selecting "Build New Resume" under the "Resumes" section of your USAJOBS account. Resumes uploaded to your USAJOBS jobseeker account that have not been built using the USAJOBS Resume Builder tool WILL NOT be accepted and you WILL NOT be allowed to further advance through the NRC application process.

To ensure you are using the correct resume type when applying to our vacancies, please make sure that the resume you are using during the application process is listed with a format type of "USAJOBS Resume" and a source type of "Built with USAJOBS Resume Builder. Verifying this information on your USAJOBS resume before applying will ensure the successful submission of your application to the NRC job vacancy.

Paper applications will not be accepted unless hardship circumstances can be demonstrated. Requests for extensions WILL NOT be granted. If applying online poses a hardship for you, the Human Resources Specialist listed on the announcement will provide assistance to ensure that applications are submitted online by the closing date. Applicants must contact the Human Resources Specialist during business hours BEFORE the closing date of the announcement and speak to someone who can provide assistance for your online submission.

You must answer any job specific vacancy questions. You will be rated based on your responses to any vacancy questions and especially the information provided in your resume. Breadth, recency, and length of experience in the field; training, awards, and commendations; past and current performance; and community or outside professional activities will be considered to determine your level of knowledge, skill or ability for this position. Abbreviated responses to the vacancy questions, such as “significant experience” or “see resume” do not provide enough information and should not be used. You will not be considered for this position if you leave any of the vacancy questions unanswered.

To begin the application process, select the "Apply On-line" button to the right on this screen. Then follow the prompts to login/register, submit all required supplemental documents, and complete the application process.

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Learn more about federal benefits.

As an NRC employee you will enjoy excellent Federal Benefits, including: comprehensive health and life insurance plans; Flexible Spending Account Program for health and dependent care; Dental and Vision Insurance; retirement savings and investment plan similar to 401(k) (Thrift Savings Plan); annual (vacation) and paid sick leave; family friendly leave policies; 11 paid holidays per year; transit benefits. This link provides an overview of the benefits currently offered to Federal employees:

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.