Supervisory Attorney Advisor, GS-0905-15, FPL: GS-15, (PERM), (Excepted Service), (ED Only)

Federal Student Aid

Chicago, IL

JobSummary

This position is located in the Federal Student Aid, Borrower Defense Branch, in Washington, DC, and in other locations. The branch is responsible for conducting investigations and projects that significantly affect students, higher education institutions, and the public interest.

LowGrade

HighGrade

PromotionPotential

PromotionPotentialAdditionalText

This position is at the full performance level.

OrganizationCodes

ED/EDEN

Relocation

False

HiringPath

fed-excepted
fed-internal-search
fed-transition

MCOTags

TotalOpenings

AgencyMarketingStatement

Federal Student Aid (FSA) directs, coordinates, and recommends policies for programs that are designed to provide financial assistance to eligible students enrolled in postsecondary educational institutions. This assistance includes grants, loans, and work-study assistance to nearly 12.9 million students through approximately 6,100 postsecondary institutions. Additionally, FSA manages the administrative and oversight functions supporting programs authorized under Title I and Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.

TravelCode

ApplyOnlineUrl

https://jobs.monstergovt.com/edu/rospost/?O=1&J=68162

DetailStatusUrl

https://jobs.monstergovt.com/edu/rospost/?O=1&J=68162&S=1

MajorDuties

APPLICATION LIMIT: This vacancy announcement will close at 11:59PM Eastern Time on the listed closing date. We encourage you to read this entire vacancy announcement prior to submitting your application. As a Supervisory Attorney Advisor, GS-0905-15, you will be responsible for: • Supervising teams of employees. Providing professional leadership and guidance to subordinate supervisors and staff in planning, developing, and carrying out program objectives. • Overseeing legal research and analysis, including novel factual issues, and overseeing the resolution of borrower defense claims. Rendering legal advice resulting in the formulation and implementation of decisions by the Branch Chief of Borrower Defense. • Supervising the preparation of memoranda, protocols, and reports that clearly and succinctly outline the relevant facts and legal issues, explain the application of legal principles and precedents to the relevant facts, and justify the recommendations or conclusions. • Providing guidance to the Branch Chief of Borrower Defense on borrower defense matters. Assisting in the development of status reporting and data metrics reporting of the services, deliverables, and performance of the Borrower Defense Branch. •Assisting the Branch Chief of Borrower Defense at meetings and in coordination with enforcement divisions of other federal and state agencies, on matters relating to borrower defense issues and initiatives. Communicating with third parties, including Institutions of Higher Education and advocacy groups, concerning borrower defense claims.

Education

Education cannot be substituted for experience for this position and grade level.

Requirements

Condition of Employment: As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a probationary period or 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 probationary period OR trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. You must meet all qualification requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement. If you are a current federal employee, you must meet all time-in-grade and time-after competitive appointment qualifications within 30 days of the closing date of this vacancy announcement. To verify that you meet these requirements, we will review your responses to the core eligibility questions on the occupational questionnaire, as well as your submitted resume and required documents. To make an accurate determination, you will need to include on your resume your federal position title, pay plan, occupational series, grade level, agency, dates for which you held the grade level (stated as MM/YYYY to MM/YYYY, OR MM/YYYY to PRESENT), and total hours worked per week. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social).

Evaluations

We use a multi-step process to review and evaluate applicants: 1. Eligibility and Minimum Qualifications Once the vacancy announcement closes, we will review your submitted resume and documents to determine if you meet the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements, including any required education, experience, and/or selective placement factors. You will be rated as ineligible if you are outside of the area of consideration (i.e., who may apply) or your application is missing any required documents. You will be rated as not qualified if you do not possess the minimum qualification requirements. 2. Rating and Ranking If you are found to meet both the eligibility and minimum qualification requirements, we will assess the quality of your experience and the extent to which you possess the required KSAs by comparing your submitted resume and documents against your responses to the occupational questionnaire. (The occupational questionnaire is the list of questions in the automated system that you will have an opportunity to answer once you apply for the position). Based on the outcome of this evaluation, you will be assigned a numerical score (out of 100 possible). If your responses to the occupational questionnaire are not substantiated by your submitted resume, you may be eliminated from receiving further consideration. 3. Referral and Selection If you are found to be amongst the most highly qualified applicants, you will be referred to the selecting official. As part of the assessment and selection process, the selecting official may invite you to participate in a structured interview, check your references, and/or request that you submit a writing sample or complete a written assessment or exercise to further evaluate your qualifications for this position. You may preview questions for this vacancy.

HowToApply

Step 1: Create a USAJOBS account (if you do not already have one) at www.usajobs.gov. Step 2: Create a resume using the USAJOBS resume builder or upload a resume into your USAJOBS account. Ensure that your resume demonstrates your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiates your responses to the occupational questionnaire. Step 3: Upload any required documents into your USAJOBS account (must be less than 3MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, or Word (DOC or DOCX)). Step 4: Click "Apply Online" and follow the prompts to complete the occupational questionnaire and attach any required documents. Verify that uploaded documents from USAJOBS transfer into the agency's hiring system. You will have the opportunity to upload any additional required documents in the agency's hiring system. Click “Finish” to submit your application. NOTE: You may update your application or required documents at any time while the announcement is open by logging into your USAJOBS account, clicking on "Application Status," clicking on the position title, clicking "Update Application,” and following the prompts. In order to receive consideration for this position, you must submit your complete application, including all required documents, by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on the closing date of the vacancy announcement. If the vacancy announcement has an application limit, we recommend that you submit your complete application at the time of initial application. We will not accept any required documentation after the closing date of the vacancy announcement. If you have any questions regarding submitting your application, please contact the HR Specialist listed under the Agency Contact Information.

WhatToExpectNext

As an applicant, you may check your application status through your USAJOBS account at any time. We will also notify you via email of your application status at three key stages in the recruitment process. 1. Once the vacancy announcement closes, we will inform you that your application has been received. 2. After we review your submitted resume and supporting documentation, we will inform you if you are eligible and qualified, if your application was referred to a subject matter expert or panel of subject matter experts for further evaluation, and if you were amongst the most highly qualified candidates referred to the selecting official. 3. Finally, we will inform you of your final disposition for this announcement (e.g., if/when a selection is made, if/when the announcement is cancelled).

RequiredDocuments

You must submit (REQUIRED FOR ALL APPLICANTS): •A resume demonstrating your education, experience, training, and accomplishments as it relates to the qualifications for this position and substantiating your responses to the occupational questionnaire. Please limit your resume to 2 pages with the font size no smaller than 10 points. If your resume is more than 2 pages, only the first 2 pages will be reviewed and considered for the qualifications determination.. Cover letter if applicable. You are not required to submit bar card or transcripts to apply to the vacancy announcement, but you will be required to submit them upon request from hiring panel or the HR Specialist. Writing sample and/or list of references may be required of selected applicants at later stages in the selection process.

Benefits

As an ED employee, you will also benefit from our family-friendly work environment. As part of our commitment to maintain a work life balance, we offer excused leave for Parent/Teacher Conferences (3 hours); excused leave for annual health screenings (4 hours); and matching leave for community volunteer service. Other flexibilities that may be available to you include alternative work schedules. You may be eligible to receive a recruitment incentive for this position. To receive this incentive payment, you will be required to sign a service agreement obligating you to remain with the U.S. Department of Education for a specified period as agreed upon. You may be eligible to receive a relocation incentive for this position. To receive this incentive payment, you will be required to sign a service agreement obligating you to remain with the U.S. Department of Education for a specified period as agreed upon. You may be eligible to participate in the Student Loan Repayment Program as a recruitment incentive for this position. To receive student loan repayments, you will be required to sign a service agreement obligating you to remain with the U.S. Department of Education for a specified period as agreed upon.

BenefitsUrl

https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/benefits/

OtherInformation

Veterans' Career Counseling: If you are a veteran interested in receiving tips on preparing a federal resume and/or how to prepare for an interview, you may email sro_recruiting@ed.gov to schedule a session with a career counselor (“Veterans Counseling Session” should be placed in the subject line of the email). Student Loan Default: If selected for this position, we will verify that you have not defaulted on any loan funded or guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Education. If you are found to be in default, we will contact you to make arrangements for repayment prior to making an official offer of employment. Suitability and Investigation: If selected for this position, you will be required to complete the Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306) to determine your suitability for federal employment and successfully complete a pre-appointment investigation/background check. Essential: This position is considered essential for purposes of reporting to work during federal government closures. Financial Disclosure: This position requires financial disclosure. Bargaining Unit: This position is not included in the bargaining unit. Selections: Agencies have broad authority under law to hire from any appropriate source of eligibles and may fill a vacancy in the competitive service by any method authorized. We may make additional selections from this vacancy announcement within 90 days from the date the selection certificates are issued, should vacancies occur. We may also share selection certificates amongst program offices across the agency.

KeyRequirements