Legal Assistant (OA)

Summary

Office of Chief Counsel, IRS, seeks enthusiastic individuals to serve taxpayers fairly and with integrity by providing correct and impartial interpretation of the internal revenue laws and the highest quality legal advice and representation for the IRS. Please click "Learn more about this agency" to find out more about Chief Counsel's various offices, to view some of the workplace attributes that Chief Counsel's workforce rates most favorably, and to hear from employees themselves.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

See "Who May Apply" in the "Qualifications" section for more information on who is eligible to apply for this position.

Duties

The mission of the Office of Chief Counsel is to serve America's taxpayers fairly and with integrity by providing correct and impartial interpretation of the internal revenue laws and the highest quality legal advice and representation for the Internal Revenue Service. The Associate Chief Counsel, Finance and Management (F&M) organization supports the administrative, financial, and managerial programs of the Office of Chief Counsel and Deputy Chief Counsel on all management matters for the organization nationwide. F&M is also responsible for providing support services to all of Chief Counsel's field offices located in over 50 cities nationwide.

As a Legal Assistant (Office Automation (OA)), you will perform a variety of clerical, technical, and administrative tasks while providing legal support to attorneys and paralegals. Practice areas may include general litigation, tax litigation, criminal tax, and advisory services performing the following duties:

Utilize basic office software such as Outlook (including eFax), Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Desktop Publishing, Access, SharePoint, and Adobe Acrobat to prepare legal documents and correspondence.

Prepare and assemble documents, including necessary transmittal forms and envelopes, in accepted office format pursuant to court rules for timely mailing, submission to courts and service of others as appropriate.

File Chief Counsel court pleadings and follows steps to document that they have been filed or logged with the appropriate recipient. Review outgoing correspondence and documents to ensure proper signature and conformance to style and format requirements and procedural instructions, and necessary attachments and enclosures.

Review mail related to the assigned functional area and input the appropriate tracking data into case management information system.

Receive visitors and phone calls. Ascertain nature of requests and directs callers to appropriate staff, or personally provides the information desired when routine or procedural matters of the office are involved. This is not an all-inclusive list. If selected at a lower grade level, you will have the opportunity to learn to perform the duties of the position and will receive training to help you grow in the position.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

Refer to "Additional Information"

Click "Print Preview" to review the entire announcement before applying.

Must be a U.S. Citizen or National

Qualifications

Who May Apply: Only applicants who meet one of the employment authority categories below are eligible to apply for this job. You will be asked to identify which category or categories you meet, and to provide documents which prove you meet the category or categories you selected. See "Required Documents" for a list of document requirements for all employment authorities.

Career Transition Assistance Program

Current Chief Counsel Employee

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements detailed below by the closing date of this announcement. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application.

To qualify for this position of Legal Assistant (OA) you must meet the qualification requirements listed below by the closing of this announcement:

Typing Requirement: This position requires a typing proficiency of at least 40 word per minute (WPM) based on a 5 minute sample with 3 or fewer errors. Applicants may meet this requirement by passing the appropriate performance test, presenting a certificate of proficiency from a school or other organization authorized to issue such certificates by the Office of Personnel Management local office, or by self-certifying their proficiency. Performance test results and certificates of proficiency are acceptable for 3 years.

For GS-5:

Specialized Experience: Your resume must detail at least one year of specialized experience which includes: 1) Performing administrative and clerical processes to include preparing and/or reviewing documents with legal implications (e.g., court documents, real estate documents, contracts, insurance or benefits claims, mortgage or loan applications, tax forms, or other types of legal documents); 2) maintaining file systems; and obtaining needed information from files or general reference sources.

This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-04).

OR

Education Substitution: You may substitute education for specialized experience as follows:You may substitute education for specialized experience as follows: Four years of education above the high school level obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university.

OR

Combination of Education and Experience: You may qualify by a combination of experience and education: Options for qualifying based on a combination are identified in the online questions.

NOTE: If qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application package.

For GS-6

Specialized Experience: Your resume must detail at least one year of specialized experience which includes: 1) Preparing, receiving, reviewing, and/or verifying legal documents; 2) maintaining legal office records and systems; and 3) locating and compiling data or information from legal files and other data sources.

This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-05).

Time in Grade Requirement for GS-6: Applicants who have held a General Schedule (GS) position within the last 52 weeks must have 52 weeks of Federal service at the next lower grade or equivalent (GS-5).

For GS-7:

Specialized Experience: Your resume must detail at least one year of specialized experience which includes: 1) Analyzing & reviewing information and preparing a variety of legal documents; 2) Reviewing documents for regulatory requirements and inputting into case tracking systems; 3) using automated software to produce legal related reports, documents, correspondence or related materials; and 4) assisting with trial preparation needs.

This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-06).

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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. 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/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week, on your resume.

Time in Grade Requirement for GS-7: Applicants who have held a General Schedule (GS) position within the last 52 weeks must have 52 weeks of Federal service at the next lower grade or equivalent (GS-6).

Education

For positions with an education requirement, or if you are qualifying for this position by substituting education or training for experience, submit a copy of your transcripts or equivalent. An official transcript will be required if you are selected.

A college or university degree generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools which meet these criteria, please refer to .

FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. If you are qualifying based on foreign education, you must submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. For further information, visit:

Additional information

We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies.

Relocation expenses are not authorized.

This is a bargainingunit position.

We offer opportunities for telework.

We offer opportunities for flexible work schedules.

The salary range indicated in this announcement covers multiple locality areas. Your salary will be adjusted based on the post of duty for which you are selected.

Applicants are limited to selecting up to 2 locations on this vacancy announcement. Conditions of Employment Continued:

Subject to a 1-year probationary period (unless already completed).

Complete a to determine your suitability for Federal employment, at the time requested by the agency

If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, certify that you have registered with or are exempt from having to do so.

Have your salary sent to a financial institution of your choice by Direct Deposit/Electronic Funds Transfer.

Go through a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) process that requires two forms of identification from the . Federal law requires verification of the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires in the U.S.

Obtain and use a Government-issued charge card for business-related travel.

File a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report within 30 days of appointment and annually from then on.

Undergo an income tax verification.

The employment of any candidate, including a current employee or a new hire, selected for this position may be conditional upon classification and/or audit of federal tax returns. This audit may include up to 2 years of returns.

This position requires that the successful candidate undergo personnel vetting, which includes a background investigation and enrollment upon onboarding into "Continuous Vetting." Enrollment in Continuous Vetting will result in automated record checks being conducted throughout one's employment with Treasury. The successful candidate will also be enrolled into FBI's Rap Back service, which will allow Treasury to receive notification from the FBI of criminal matters (e.g., arrests, charges, convictions) involving enrolled individuals in near real-time.

There are three key documents that contain important information about your rights and obligations. Please read and retain these documents:

, for those who undergo an FBI fingerprint-based criminal history record check for personnel vetting, which includes Rap Back,

(this is the same statement used when your fingerprints are submitted as part of your background investigation), and

, (applicable to those who hold a sensitive position or have eligibility for access to classified information)"

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your application includes your resume, responses to the online questions, and required supporting documents. Please be sure that your resume includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position; failure to provide sufficient evidence in your resume may result in a "not qualified" determination.

Rating: Your application will be evaluated in the following areas: Clerical, Computer Skills, Customer Service (Clerical/Technical), Information Management, Oral and Written Communication, and Technical Documentation. Your application will be rated and ranked among others, based on your responses to the online questions, regarding your experience, education, training, performance appraisals and awards relevant to the duties of this position.

Referral:If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application may be referred to a selecting official for consideration. You may be required to participate in a selection interview. We will not reimburse costs related to the interview such as travel to and from the interview site. If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee (eligible for the ), you must receive a score of 80 or better to be rated as "well qualified" to receive special selection priority.

Bargaining Unit Chief Counsel employees will be given first consideration. To receive first consideration, Bargaining Unit Chief Counsel employees seeking reassignment must be on the Master First Consideration List (MFCL). In regard to this announcement, the MFCL is only for reassignments of employees currently occupying Bargaining Unit positions. If you are applying for a promotion, please apply to the announcement.

Required Documents

A complete application includes 1. A resume, 2. Vacancy question responses, and 3. Submission of any required documents. Please note that if you do not provide all required information, as specified in this announcement, you may not be considered for this position (or may not receive the special consideration for which you may be eligible). All applicants are required to submit a resume either by creating one in USAJOBS or uploading one of their own choosing. (Cover letters are optional.) To receive full credit for relevant experience, please list the month/year and number of hours worked for experience listed on your resume. We suggest that you preview the online questions, as you may need to customize your resume to ensure that it supports your responses to these questions. Please view .

Current and Former Federal Employees - Documentation Relating to Your Federal Employment- Submit a copy of your SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, which shows your current (or most recent) grade and competitive service status. (The "position occupied" block on the SF-50 should show a "1" and your "tenure" block should show a "1" or "2".)- Indicate on your application the highest permanent grade you have held; if this grade is different from your current grade, submit a copy of an additional SF-50 showing this grade.- Submit a copy of your most recent, signed, completed annual performance appraisal which includes the final rating. If it is not dated within the last 12 months or if you have not received a performance appraisal, please explain why in your application.

Current Chief Counsel Employees on an Excepted Service Veteran's Recruitment Appointment (VRA) or Schedule A (Employee with Disability) Appointment - If you are eligible in this category, you are required to submit an SF-50 showing current Chief Counsel Excepted Service VRA or Schedule A (Employee with Disability) Appointment (block 24 must be a "1" or "2" AND block 34 must be a"2.").

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) Documentation If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee, click for eligibility and a detailed list of required documents.

EDUCATION DOCUMENTATION: For positions with an education requirement, or if you are qualifying for this position by