Job Description

REGIONAL & FIELD OPERATIONS LEGAL DIVISION (RFOLD)

VACANCY: IC-13/14 CORE DEPLOYABLE FIELD COUNSEL – DUTY STATION (VARIOUS)

PLEASE SEE INFORMATION AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT FOR APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS.

OCC’s Regional and Field Operations Legal Division has an open position on our team of Deployable Field Counsel (DFC).  The DFC deploy to FEMA’s Joint Field Offices (JFOs) and other field locations to provide on-scene or virtual legal support to Federal Coordinating Officers and FEMA program staff.  The incumbent will report to one of the Deputy Associate Chief Counsels for Field Operations.  The individual’s duty station is flexible and is typically co-located with their residence. 

The incumbent will:

• Analyze and interpret FEMA’s statutory authorities under the Stafford Act, Homeland Security Act, National Flood Insurance Act, and other relevant laws, regulations, executive orders, and policies.
• Provide legal advice related to government-wide laws and regulations, such as fiscal law, environmental and historic preservation laws, the Privacy Act, Freedom of Information Act, Federal Travel Regulations, and other relevant laws, regulations, and executive orders.
• Provide legal advice on FEMA’s implementation of its mission support and program responsibilities.
• Coordinate closely with other FEMA attorneys to ensure accuracy and consistency of legal advice.
• Review decisions, documents, agreements, and correspondence received or generated by the JFO that may have legal implications.
• Coordinate with attorneys of other federal agencies, as well as state and local government attorneys.
• Serve as an ethics attorney, providing training and guidance on the Standards of Conduct applicable to federal employees as implemented by 5 CFR Part 2635.

The incumbent must be organized, have strong written and oral communication skills, excellent legal research and analysis skills, the ability to work independently, and the ability to represent the agency professionally both internally and externally.  The incumbent must be available for extensive deployments and should expect to be physically deployed up to 300 days per year.

Application Instructions:

The position is a Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery Employee (CORE) position.  This is a temporary appointment in the Excepted Service, not to exceed two (2) years, with the option to extend based on workload and funding availability.  The Deployable Field Counsel attorney will be filled at the IC-13/14 level.  This means that RFOLD may fill the position at either the IC-13 or IC-14 level.  An individual hired at the IC-13 level may later be promoted to the IC-14 level.  The work hours, work at locations other than the official duty station, and duties other than those specified in the employee's official position description may fluctuate depending on the needs of agency mission requirements.  Travel requirements in support of emergency operations may be extensive in nature (weeks to months), with little advance notice, and may require employees to relocate to emergency sites with physically austere and operationally challenging conditions.

Applicants must meet the qualification requirements for the grade level to which they are applying by the closing date of this announcement. 

YOU QUALIFY FOR THIS POSITION AT THE IC-13 LEVEL IF YOU POSSESS THE REQUISITE SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE AND OTHER QUALIFICATIONS:

• Applicants must have at least two (2) years of full-time legal experience.  Legal experience means experience in which the candidate’s job duties required the provision of legal advice or representation, and which required the candidate to be an active member in good standing of the Bar of any state or territory, or the District of Columbia.

• Applicants must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience that is directly related to the line of work of this position, which has equipped the applicant with knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position and must be at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to that of an attorney at the IC-12 level.  Specialized experience for this position includes:

• Independently analyzing and interpreting federal and state statutes, regulations, policies, Executive Orders, and judicial and administrative decisions while rendering legal advice.

• Working in one or more of the following areas: administrative law, personnel law, fiscal law, procurement, grants management, environmental law, floodplain management, hazard mitigation, disaster response and recovery, environmental and historic preservation laws, and emergency preparedness.

• Experience providing legal advice and/or representation on complex administrative law, personnel law, fiscal law, procurement, grants management, environmental law, floodplain management, hazard mitigation, disaster response and recovery, environmental and historic preservation laws, and emergency preparedness.

YOU QUALIFY FOR THIS POSITION AT THE IC-14 LEVEL IF YOU POSSESS THE REQUISITE SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE AND OTHER QUALIFICATIONS:

• Applicants must have at least three (3) years of full-time legal experience.  Legal experience means experience in which the candidate’s job duties required the provision of legal advice or representation, and which required the candidate to be an active member in good standing of the Bar of any state or territory, or the District of Columbia.

• Applicants must have at least two (2) years of specialized experience that is directly related to the line of work of this position, which has equipped the applicant with knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position.  At least one of the two years of specialized experience must be at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to that of an attorney at the IC-13 level.  Specialized experience for this position includes:

o   Independently analyzing and interpreting federal and state statutes, regulations, policies, Executive Orders, and judicial and administrative decisions while rendering legal advice.

o   Working in one or more of the following areas: administrative law, personnel law, fiscal law, procurement, grants management, environmental law, floodplain management, hazard mitigation, disaster response and recovery, environmental and historic preservation laws, and emergency preparedness.

o   Experience providing legal advice and/or representation on complex administrative law, personnel law, fiscal law, procurement, grants management, environmental law, floodplain management, hazard mitigation, disaster response and recovery, environmental and historic preservation laws, and emergency preparedness.

APPLICANTS MUST BE THE GRADUATE OF AN ABA ACCREDITED LAW SCHOOL AND BE AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE BAR OF THE HIGHEST COURT OF A STATE, THE COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO, OR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

Interested applicants must provide the following documents via email to the OCC-DACCs-FO at OCC-DACCs-FO@fema.dhs.gov BY 5PM EASTERN, ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2023:

1. a RESUME of no more than 5 pages that includes their current pay grade and city of residence, AND

2. a COVER LETTEr of 2 pages or less explaining their interest in and qualifications for the position.

Company Description

Federal Emergency Management Agency's mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate all hazards.